Kiawah Island 21st Anniversary Trip

This is what TWENTY ONE years together looks like. Wow! We are amazing! 

 

This year we decided to go to Kiawah Island in South Carolina to celebrate our anniversary. It's a very beautiful area by the beach near Charleston. I had a hard time finding last minute trips in the Caribbean (and with all the Covid restrictions) on the beach so we decided to just drive and leave the kids at home on their own. 

We got to the Sanctuary right on time for dinner. It's a super fancy place with marvelous atmosphere. 

So many memories between the two of us! 

Gotta get some pictures on this beautiful Southern evening. 

Although we didn't stay AT the Sanctuary, we decided to hang out a little bit inside in the common area of the hotel. 

Big thank you to my photographer! 

We chatted a bit, called our kids and enjoyed each other's company.

The next morning we went for a bike ride on one of the many beautiful island trails! I was just amazed that I was able to bike with no problems! 

This is what Kiawah Island looks like.

And the place where we were staying. 

We were situated very close to the beach, so we were able to just walk our bikes and take a ride on the beach as well. 

The famous cafe--the Salty Dog Cafe. First time we visited this cafe was on Hilton Head in 2017. It's pretty iconic around this area.

A bit of cuteness on the beach. We deserve it celebrating twenty one years together! 

Another dinner out on a beautiful night! 

Before we left Kiawah Island we went for one last walk on a beach. 

And on the way out of the island we visited this famous 1000 year old oak tree--the Angel Oak on Johns Island. 

We believe in making time for these short trips on our own even if it's sometimes a lot of work to get everything (and everyone) organized. Every even year, I choose our trip, and on odd years Robert does. Usually I am the one who ends up planning the whole thing anyway but I do enjoy it.

 Where should we go next time??

Destination Birthday-VA Beach

Now that Katya was out of the house, our travel options have become limitless! Just kidding...we have been missing her spunky (cranky?), bubbly comments from the back row of the minivan. 

So...Mark had a tournament to play in Virginia Beach, and it was over Lyana’s birthday weekend. I (Lyana) had been to Virginia Beach once before and loved it, so I decided to take the whole family with us this time, minus Katya, clearly. The awesome part about this was that we were able to stay on base, at a Navy Inn. And it was AWESOME!!! Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, living room. Super cool! 

First evening in VA, we got some Japanese for dinner. Quirky place, but so good! I mean the boys faces say one word and one word only--“quirky”! 

The following day Mark had a couple of matches. Singles only. We all watched, of course. Including Brianna (by the way). Brianna is Mark’s tennis friend, who was playing this tournament as well. 

It’s always so much joy to watch Mark play. That sounds fake actually. It’s not always JOY, it’s fun most of the time, let’s say it like that, but sometimes it’s just pure stress. Working on that-hahaha. I admire his resilience, his grit, his strength and desire to win. It doesn’t happen all the time, but he doesn’t give up. 

Here is our post-win picture.

And one more. Almost my birthday here. 

On the night of Sep 11th, we drove to Mount Trashmore Park (that’s a real name!) and watched a commemoration event for September 11th. Twenty years! It was very moving and thought provoking. 

The following day Mark played in the semi finals, but sadly lost to a much stronger opponent who actually also turned out to be LDS. Mark lost the play offs for 3/4 in a tie break. So it was sad, but that’s ok! We got some ice cream and went to the beach.

The beach in Virginia Beach is absolutely beautiful! I love it! 

I guess it’s pretty much like ours in North Carolina-hahahaha. This area just has a ton more hotels situated right on the beach, but we don’t have that in the spots where we go in NC.

So happy we were able to spend my special day with the people I love (and thought of Katya all the time). 

Lyana.