Charleston Marriott

The last time I stayed in a Marriott hotel was in Guatemala City, Guatemala when JP’s nanny brought him to me for the final time. He was ten months old. For those of you who don’t know, my son is adopted from Guatemala. For that reason, this stay was special to me. Having said that, this time was VERY different! I can remember being SO stressed way back then. I was a first-time mom in a foreign country and had NO idea what I was doing. (That’s the only thing that hasn’t changed – I still have NO idea what I’m doing).

This time we were not stressed. Far from it, actually. From our very first communication over the phone, the Marriott made our stay 100% smooth and enjoyable.

I’m afraid we’ve created little monsters. These boys have grown to love hotel life as much as I do.

I think I may hear this pool calling our name once summer gets here!

I am torn between wasting your time and telling you the over-the-top-ridiculous story of the five of us walking through the conference center (b/c we parked 150,000 miles from the front entrance) to get to the lobby. I think I may save that for another day.

Preston scored a new Sea Life Coloring Book when we checked in, which made him happy.

Between all the travel and the trek from our car to the lobby (remember, we’re the Griswolds), all we wanted to do once we got to the room was chill.

When we first walked in, the air had not been flowing, and there was a brief moment when I thought I might suffocate. We later found out that they have a system that can tell when a room is occupied – the fan turns on and off on its own! How cool is that (no pun intended)?! Thankfully, it cooled everything off very quickly and in no time all of us were super comfortable. We didn’t have too much time to kill – dinner was at 6:30 at Virginia’s on King. Stay tuned tomorrow for the restaurant review.

When we got back from dinner, we took advantage of the courtyard lounging area. JP and Preston enjoyed the fire pits while the adults appreciated the soft chairs.

(FYI, we sat down after a couple left these seats… the drink doesn’t belong to Preston! I’m pretty sure I don’t have to clarify that, but in the world we live in, you NEVER know!)