Hey Palmetto Parents,

We had a very busy weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina, and somehow managed to pack a lot into a little family adventure. The kids visited their first Bass Pro Shop and absolutely loved it, and we also had Shake Shack for the first time in maybe four years, which really hit the spot. You can check out all the details from our weekend trip in the Palmetto Piece.

In addition to our Raleigh adventure, we have details on a fun Charleston outing with the Daniel Island Ferry, a whole weekend dedicated to all things pickles at Picklepalooza at Cannon Distillery this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and a great special date night spot at Tempest Charleston.

Have the best week!

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If your kids think riding a boat is an actual event, we have a very easy Charleston adventure for you. It’s nice to do a big Saturday or Sunday on the boat, but sometimes a short and sweet trip works best for families. We have the best compromise that will keep everyone happy!

The Daniel Island Ferry runs between Daniel Island and downtown Charleston, and the ride takes about 30 minutes. So instead of sitting in traffic over the bridge, you get to sit on a boat, look for dolphins, wave at other boats and enjoy the Charleston Harbor views. Basically, transportation becomes the activity.

The ferry leaves Daniel Island from the North Dock at One River Landing and arrives downtown at The Cooper Hotel Dock by the pineapple fountain. Round-trip tickets are currently $28 for adults and $18 for kids, while children 3 and under ride free. The ferry also has a bathroom onboard, and yes, you can bring your stroller, which is always an important piece of information when you are traveling with small children.

If you’re looking at a Saturday, there are a few different ways to build your day around the ferry. An average Saturday schedule has downtown departures to Daniel Island at 4:30pm, 6:10pm and 9:15pm, while Daniel Island departures to downtown are at 12:30pm, 5:30pm, 8:30pm and 10pm. There’s also a 10:30am downtown Dolphin Watch and a 7pm Daniel Island Sunset Harbor Cruise, so you can turn the ferry into a whole little harbor adventure.

Our ideal plan would be to take the boat downtown, grab dinner or walk around Waterfront Park, and then take the ferry back to Daniel Island. You get the excitement of a boat ride without committing your entire day to an elaborate family outing.

And if you have a child who is currently obsessed with boats, congratulations. You have just found a very Charleston-specific way to make a regular Saturday feel like a vacation.

Schedules can change, so check the ferry’s current schedule before heading out.

If your family has ever argued over whether a pickle counts as a vegetable, Charleston has an event for you this weekend.

Pickle Palooza is coming back to Charleston September 18-20 for an entire weekend of pickle themed food, drinks, music, games, vendors and general briny chaos. This year’s event is at 1734 Signal Point Road (Cannon Distillery) in Charleston, and the festival has expanded from a single day into three completely different pickle filled experiences.

And yes, this is actually family friendly. Kids 12 and under get in free when accompanied by a parent or guardian, although anyone drinking will need to be 21 or older with a valid ID. The organizers also say there will be regular food options for anyone who is not particularly passionate about eating a pickle in every possible form.

Friday night is the Palooza Kickoff Party from 6 to 10pm. Think pickle themed happy hour that slowly turns into a dance party. There will be pickle infused cocktails and drink specials, a DJ and dance floor, themed photo opportunities, pickle bites, snack vendors and early access to Pickle Palooza merchandise. The official website basically describes it as the warm up, so if you are bringing children, this is probably the night for the parents to claim as their own.

Saturday from 2 to 6pm is the main festival and probably the day most families will want to check out. There will be more than 40 food, retail and artisan vendors, live entertainment, pickle competitions, pickleball activities, interactive games, themed photo installations and plenty of opportunities to sample things you probably never thought needed pickle added to them.

The Saturday lineup gets especially ridiculous in the best possible way. There will be pickle eating, pickle juice chugging, pickle bobbing, pickleball challenges and the Clash of the Cukes competition, where local restaurants compete for pickle supremacy. There will also be pickle mascots Dillbert and Briney Spears, which is probably all the information you need to know about the general vibe.

There is also a bigger pickleball component this year, with courts, coaches, challenges and interactive games. The festival says there will be opportunities for people who are completely new to pickleball as well as experienced players!

Sunday is the calmer option, with Pickle Brunch and Market from 11:30am to 3:30pm. There will be pickle inspired brunch dishes, a mimosa and Bloody Mary bar, local vendors, vintage style shopping and live acoustic music. It is basically the recovery portion of the weekend, which feels appropriate after an entire Saturday devoted to pickle juice competitions.

For families, I would probably make Saturday the main event. You can wander through the vendors, let the kids try some of the weird pickle creations, check out the games and pickleball activities, take approximately 700 photos in front of pickle themed installations and then leave before everyone reaches their personal pickle limit.

One thing to know before you go is parking. The festival says there is limited free parking at the venue and encourages guests to carpool, Uber or Lyft. Organizers have also announced additional parking partnerships for Saturday and said they would release an official parking map, so I would check the festival’s social media before heading over rather than assuming you can just pull up and find a spot.

Tickets are available for individual days, and there is also a VIP weekend pass that includes all three days, 30 minute early entry, exclusive swag and access to a VIP lounge on Saturday.

Basically, Charleston has somehow turned the humble pickle into a three day festival. If your kids love trying weird foods, your husband is suddenly very interested in pickleball or you simply want to see how many different things can be made with a cucumber and vinegar, this is one of those very Charleston weekends where you might as well lean into it.

And if nothing else, your kids will probably come home knowing exactly what a pickle juice chugging contest is. Parenting is beautiful.

If you have a babysitter lined up and are trying to decide where to actually go for dinner, put Tempest on the list. This is definitely a date night restaurant, not a “bring the kids because they technically serve pasta” restaurant. Tempest is located at 32 N. Market Street, right in the middle of downtown Charleston, so you can make a whole evening out of it instead of just eating dinner and immediately driving home.

Tempest describes itself as a Coastal Modern American restaurant, with a menu built around seasonal ingredients, seafood, pastas and dishes prepared using both raw and charcoal cooking techniques. The restaurant is in a historic building that used to be the Harriott Pinckney Home for Sailors, and the space itself feels very much like a special occasion restaurant without being overly stuffy.

We started with the wedge salad, and honestly, I was not expecting a wedge salad to be the thing I would still be thinking about afterward. The pistachio miso dressing was crazy good. It had that perfect combination of creamy, salty and savory that made me want to scrape every last bit of dressing off the plate.

One of the things that makes Tempest different is their Mibrasa charcoal oven, which gets up to around 700 degrees. Several dishes are roasted in the oven, giving the food that smoky, high heat flavor without making everything taste like a backyard cookout. We had the roasted shrimp, which was delicious, and I had the salmon. My husband went with the pasta Bolognese, which is a great option if seafood is not really your thing. The restaurant's current menu also includes favorites like rigatoni Bolognese, steak frites and a rotating selection of seafood and charcoal roasted dishes.

And then there is the part I really love about Tempest: they make the end of dinner feel like an experience. After your meal, you can get a complimentary cognac tasting, and the restaurant has become known for little touches like this that make the dinner feel more special. If you are extra lucky, you might recieve a flower at the end of the meal, which is a pretty fun little surprise when you are already out for a date.

After dinner, you can walk right out into the Charleston City Market area and wander around for a bit. This is one of my favorite things about doing a date night downtown. You do not have to plan some elaborate second activity. Eat dinner, walk around the market, window shop, talk without someone asking you for a snack every four minutes and pretend you are people who regularly have uninterrupted conversations.

Tempest also has a happy hour at the bar from 5 to 7 pm Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday, with $10 featured cocktails and select half price wine bottles on Wednesdays. Dinner runs until 10pm Sunday through Thursday and 10:30pm Friday and Saturday. Street parking is available around the restaurant, although, as always with downtown Charleston, I would give yourself a little extra time to find a spot.

The restaurant is definitely on the nicer side, so I would save this one for a night when you actually have a babysitter and want to enjoy yourself. Dress up a little, order the wedge salad, get something from the charcoal oven, take the complimentary cognac shot at the end and then walk around the market together.

Basically, this is the kind of dinner where you remember that you and your spouse used to go on dates before you started spending every evening negotiating bedtime.

Delish. And definitely one to put on the Charleston date night list.

My husband had a sort of optional work trip from Charleston to Raleigh, and instead of him going by himself, we decided to crash it and make a little family weekend out of it. Was traveling with three kids more stressful than my husband simply going to work? Absolutely. But there is something about dragging your kids along for these little life adventures that makes them feel much bigger and more significant.

You are not just going somewhere. You are showing your kids things, creating memories and getting to experience the world alongside the little people you are actually raising. Our first stop was a UNC field hockey game, which was very specifically for me. If you don't know who Erin Matson is, you are like most people who don't know much about field hockey. Matson is one of the most decorated players in UNC field hockey history, became the head coach of the Tar Heels after graduating from UNC, and won a national championship in her very first season as a head coach. She was just 23 when she led Carolina to the 2023 NCAA title, making her the youngest coach to win an NCAA Division I national championship.

One of my little bucket list items was to watch a UNC field hockey game and, of course, get Coach Matson to sign my field hockey stick, which was probably made in 2007. Obviously I was going to say it was for my daughter and keep it for myself! Unfortunately, I couldn't talk to any of the players or coaches afterward because we had to get to our Airbnb before someone had a late night meltdown. Also, not sure if the NCAA team talks to the fans or if that is saved for professional sports. But honestly, I had the best time. I got to sit front row, watch an incredible game and explain the rules to my daughter while she sat on my lap. When I asked if she wanted to play field hockey at UNC one day, she said “No I can’t run around and get sweaty.”

That night we stayed in a slightly questionable Airbnb that was clean and perfectly fine, but somehow all five of us ended up sleeping in one room. The homeowner also had literally 400 CDs, so naturally we had a family dance party. We put on Michael Jackson, and boy, does the King of Pop really get my two year old in a groove. The next morning, my husband went off for a big golf outing with one of his colleagues while I took the kids to Notasium, an indoor musical playground in Cary. It has bounce houses, a giant guitar slide, a two story percussion play structure, a huge floor piano and karaoke booths, so my kids thought I had taken them to the greatest place on Earth.

For lunch, we had beef sticks and Cheddar Bunnies from a Target run, because nothing says family getaway quite like eating snacks purchased during an emergency Target trip. Eventually we met back up with my husband at the hotel. He took the kids to the indoor pool while I went to the mall by myself, which honestly felt like its own vacation. I came back with Cheesecake Factory and Chick-fil-A for dinner, and we all ate in the hotel room with the kids.

Sunday morning we headed to downtown Cary Park and checked out The Nest, which was named USA TODAY’s number one public playground in America in 2025. The kids ran around, we explored for a while and then eventually loaded everyone back into the car and headed home to Charleston. It was not Paris or Manhattan or L.A. It was Raleigh, a field hockey game, a questionable Airbnb, Michael Jackson on CD, Target snacks, a hotel pool, Cheesecake Factory and a playground in Cary. But it was so much fun to have a little adventure in a different city.

I think that is the thing I am learning more and more as a mom: life does not have to be a huge trip or a perfectly planned family vacation to be meaningful. Sometimes it is just getting in the car with the people you love and letting the weekend become a story you will all remember.

Have the best week!

Love, Jenna