Our Anniversary Vacation Part 2: Downtown Columbia, SC

If you read Part 1 of this story, you know that my 6-year anniversary vacation didn't start out the way I had hoped. But I'm happy to report that things turned around and we still had a wonderful time!

After arriving to the hotel and bringing in all our bags, we decided to relax for an hour to decompress! We turned on the TV, made some snacks and coffee, and just laid around together. After we felt somewhat refreshed, we decided to head out and explore downtown Columbia, SC. Just a short walk from the hotel was the capitol building, and there is a beautiful park surrounding it, filled with gorgeous landscaping and monuments. We walked around the park and enjoyed taking in the scenery and the history. The only thing that could have made it better was being a little less tired and not quite so hot! Grayson was excited to discover so many birds and squirrels! (again, why are we paying for the zoo?? haha!)

We walked a little further down into the city and then decided to head back because we were all really hot and we wanted to get freshened up before going to dinner. On our way back, we walked through a really old and ornate church cemetery. I know that seems a little weird, but I just love the history you can find in an old cemetery! It was a brief walk-through, but I managed to snap a few pictures. Is it creepy to take pictures of tombstones? 

We made it back to the hotel, took showers, and got ready for dinner. We opted for a more casual dining option, since we were all a little tired and we figured Grayson might not be the best company at a fancier establishment! While he's an awesome kid, he's not great at eating out. Mostly because we so rarely eat out; I don't think he's used to it! We went to Liberty Tap Room and Grill, and shared chicken nachos and a BBQ chicken pizza. Classy! haha! It was tasty food and a fun atmosphere. I loved all the exposed brick on the walls. Even Grayson pointed out the bricks! (He has taken an interest to bricks lately because we recently removed the giant blanket from our fireplace hearth, revealing the bricks underneath.)

After dinner, we walked to a cupcake shop and ordered two cupcakes. We failed to snap a picture of the cupcakes themselves, but Scott was sure to document the joy and excitement on Grayson's face! As soon as we walked up to the counter to choose our cupcakes, he started grabbing for them and saying, "Some? Please??" It would seem the kid is familiar with cupcakes... ha!

We were all pretty tired at that point, so we just went back to the hotel. We gave Grayson a bath, turned off all the lights and closed the curtains until he fell asleep, then Scott and I quietly watched HGTV and drank wine in bed. Yes, this is an anniversary vacation with a toddler! :)

Grayson got his own bed this time! No more pack 'n play for this little bean! (And he had been asleep for about an hour by the time I took this pic...in case you were wondering about the time on the clock! ha!)

The next day Grayson woke us up around 6 am. The zoo didn't open until 9, and we were only about 5-10 minutes away, so we had plenty of time to eat breakfast, watch Disney Junior, take showers, and pack up. Then, we finally headed to the zoo! Woohoo!!

Last vacation post tomorrow -- documenting our zoo visit! :)