My last day in Charleston, Nicole and I basically vegged out until meeting up with Joe for lunch. We grabbed a bite at a Joe Pasta, near Joe’s work. Everything there was nice, but it’s what came after that was awesome. We discovered Paolo’s was open and decided more gelato is always a good thing. Since Paolo changes the flavors daily, there were a new batch of options for me to choose from, but banana was one of them, so it was an easy choice. From there, we walked Joe to work, where Joe and I said our goodbyes, then Nicole and I opted to wander around a little. bit.

The night before, after dinner, Joe and Nicole drove me around historic Charleston so I could see some of the houses in the area. These are some of the oldest homes in Charleston. Many of them are at least 200 years old and are just architecturally amazing. Most of them are at least three stories tall, with piazzas on every floor and even rooftop gardens where I’m sure many sat to enjoy the breeze during the early years of the United States. I would give anything to have a few million dollars to buy any one of these homes.

One of these homes happens to be the Calhoun mansion, which was built in 1876. The Calhoun Mansion is the largest single family residence in Charleston, at 24,000 square feet, and has been featured on A&E’s America’s Castles. While Nicole and I were wandering around, we decided to stop by and take a tour of the home and I’m so glad we did. It’s currently owned by a local lawyer who uses it as his permanent residence, so of course pictures of the inside were not allowed, but there are a ton on the house’s Web site. The interior can also be found in the movie The Notebook as it was used to film the interior shots of Ali’s parent’s house. It’s packed to the brim with antiques, as the current owner is a big collector.

Even so, we were able to tour two of the houses three floors, including the 14 foot by 65 foot entrance way and the upstairs music room. This room has some amazing history of it’s own as it was built to have amazing acoustics. However, it was also built with a huge skylight, which was covered by a false ceiling when sailors took it over at one point. Above the false ceiling, the beautiful domed ceiling and skylight lay covered and forgotten about for three decades until the house was being restored and the false ceiling discovered and removed.

Even the outside is amazing with it’s perfectly manicured gardens and ornate fountains.

From here we just bummed around a little more until it was time to go to the airport. Joe was able to get off work and make it there in time to say goodbye to me one last time. We took one last picture and then I was off. Or so we though. I ended up having to change my flight once it kept getting delayed due to tornado warnigns. On the plus side, this meant one more night with Joe and Nicole and Nicole and I went to Hardee’s the next morning for breakfast before my flight, where I got to eat biscuits and gravy, the best breakfast dish ever. This time I was actually able to take off and head for home, with me and my bag arriving on the same flight.

I’ve said it to Joe and Nicole multiple times and I’ll say it again, this really was the best vacation ever. For the first time in a long time I came home from a trip feeling refreshed and reenergized. Joe and Nicole were the perfect hosts and the perfect tour guides through what has quickly become my favorite city in the world.