Charleston with Kids

One of our FamiLee goals is to take our children to see all the major cities in the South. We are covering some good ground but Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi are still relatively unconquered for us. One of the things that strikes a tourist about the American Southeast is how well-preserved many structures are, largely because the weather is more gentle than, say, Boston where colonial homes have weathered Nor-easter after decades of Nor'easters. The exception to this preservation is the many buildings that suffered fires which were incredibly common--even into this past century.

Our recent visit to Charleston, SC took us on the requisite carriage tour where we learned about the importance of the fire insurance medallion. I'll spare you the history lesson but Baby Girl was fascinated with how volunteer fire squads would totally leave a building to burn to ashes if it didn't have this emblem near the front door, indicating that it wasn't insured. Baby Girl talked about it at length, the whole phenomenon of that, and it gave me hope that maybe our daughter would grow up to understand the travesty of racial profiling, to resist the temptation to judge others' based on their income or insuredness, to be a real pillar of justice. Meanwhile, Little Man was downright indignant that he had missed seeing The Medallion. He was obsessed for the rest of the carriage ride with seeing a bona fide medallion, like it was a gold coin in Mario he kept bypassing, and his life, virtual or otherwise, would perish without.

Kids, man.

But we love them and we like to travel with them and explore new terrain with them. Here are some pointers I can offer if you venture with kidlets to Charleston, the belle of South Carolina:

Accommodations: Our favorite lodging situation is always AirBNB, especially as having separate bedrooms is really nice now that our kids are getting older. We stayed on James Island at a fantastic home that I highly recommend. It had 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, games, DVDs, a beautiful fenced backyard with deck + grille, and the host was very cool. Here's a code for $20 off your first AirBnB stay anywhere.

Attractions: Loverpants calls the beach "Nature's Babysitter" because our kids could dig in sand and troll for seashells for almost as long as you could binge-watch a whole season of "Fuller House." Although we were only in the Charleston area for about 48 hours, we made visiting Folly Beach a priority. We walked the boardwalk and hit the beach in the evenings and our last morning there. Even though it was too cold to swim, I recommend bringing the standard beach pail and shovel accoutrements if you're ever near sand and have kids who need to be thoroughly worn out in order to hit the pillow in peace each night.

Exploring King St. with one of my besties Ashley

As mentioned, we took a carriage ride through the Battery district in downtown Charleston. Lovely thing, that. The carriage tourism is highly regulated and I'm told all the companies charge the same and give roughly the same tour depending on what lottery ball the driver draws. This blogger explains the system better than I could. Tours cost $25/adult and $15/child. There are always coupons, if you are inclined.

King St., College of Charleston, and Rainbow Row were all destinations that we tried to check off our list, with intermittent reminders that whining was prohibited in Charleston and that using public restrooms that were not trees was encouraged. Hashtag five year-olds out in the wild.

Food We generally try to bring our breakie with us (instant coffees, bagels, Clif bars) when we travel because waking up hungry and uncaffeinated and tending to the needs of littles who are hangry is not a winning way to start the vacation day. We kept lunch casual in Charleston (may I recommend Freshii on King St.) and had the best sorbet/gelato/coffee at this place down by the water. I'm serious. It was so fresh and so good.

We had two unexpectedly great dinners on Folly Beach. The first was at the 'Wich Doctor who carried Maine Root Beer which was my first sign that this place didn't mess around. Some fusion menu items that you wouldn't expect from a beach cafe, and the sweet potato pizza was just really good. Our second dinner was at Rita's, which looks every bit tourist trap but is actually a good family eatery. Kids' meals were served on frisbees as plates. Hard to beat.

Pizza-holding photo-bombing at 'Wich Doctor

This place was nice, too, and they have a laptop-free policy ;) Please subscribe to our seasonal lovemail if you'd like more updates such as these in our Seeing the South with Kids series.

Fuller House, fuller heart

I was not the first to board the "Fuller House" bus. I was not in the least bit hype about seeing Uncle Jesse curling his Elvis lips or Uncle Joey insisting we "cut-it-out" for the kabillionth time. The repackaging of shows and movies is such a dull formula for ratings and box office success. They so often miss the mark in trying to deliver on the present-day relevance, when really all we want is for Brandon and Brenda Walsh to grapple with all the problems of racism in 45 minutes like they did in 1997, rather than be all heavy handed with consciousness like the revival was. Yet, something compelled me tonight to give "Fuller House"--exclusively on Netflix--a whirl while I suffered through my nightly torture by Tracy Anderson.

I didn't quite know what that strange compulsion was. Within 5 minutes of test-driving "Fuller House," though, with its familiar kitchen gags about Danny Tanner cleanliness and Kimmy Gibbler's feet, I knew what it was. Full House was always 30 minutes of corny, clean humor. It was manageable conflict with well-cued resolution. That's what sit-coms used to offer us: predictability. It's even in the theme song, for crying out loud. A very predictable set of characters and situations that could only be viewed at a certain timeevery week unless, of course, you remembered to tape it on a VCR.

There is very little about my own kids' entertainment that is nostalgic for me. They play Go Fish and color in coloring books but their cartoons are hyperactive, they understand the mechanics of Snapchat, and they don't have to blow on a Nintendo cartridge to access a video game. "Fuller House" harnesses all of this by setting in contrast the children of DJ Tanner and Kimmy Gibbler who are cellphone-dependent with their parents' steady repetition of their old shticks including a dry erase Chore Chart posted in the kitchen. Ah! DJ has to do everything! Whatever will she do? Cue piano keys of reckoning! 

It doesn't take a PhD to deconstruct why "Fuller House" is a win. Sometimes you just want to go back to a seemingly simpler time and even if you don't get MK + Ashley, just about everything else? You got it, dude. 

A newish musician you need to know: Ben Mixon

I tried hard to make a joke about how Ben Mixon's last name predestined him to a career mixing songs, but nothing quite flowed. Which could not be said of his new album "Waters." Aptly named, the whole album flows. Mixon is young in his years but his commitment to his craft is commendable. His second self-produced his album, following up on 2015's "From Greenery with Love" EP, mixes his own vocal tracks with ambient electronics. Each song elides from one track to the next in an atmospheric haze of longing. The ache in Mixon's voice is strong but doesn't overpower the score and evokes the feeling of exploring a cave, being acutely aware of the sensorial world within. A major theme of the album is one of longing for a love departed, as with the tracks "I was sleeping when you left me" and the introductory track, "She keeps me warm" which does well to set this mood, seeking for what came before and what one is now seeking. An especially interesting track is "Beneath" with shades of Bjork in the latter half.

The album as one organic composition shows Mixon's mastery of conjuring atmosphere and plays well with a pot of tea and latenight studies. I look forward to seeing where Mixon takes his production work, whether remaining a solo recording artist or collaborating with the likes of other ambient mixologists.

***

Special thanks to Ben Mixon for entrusting a musically illiterate professor with the tracks for listening. Follow Ben on Twitter @benmixon, Instagram, Spotify or on Soundcloud. Stay tuned for more tracks to be release on iTunes/iMusic, as well.

Other endorsements:

THE SUPPORT OF THE MUM pic.twitter.com/VlOSUqiWrR

— BENMIXON (@BenMixon) February 21, 2016