The SCs in SC: The royal treatment

After our ginormous lunch, we decided to try to take a stroll around downtown Charleston to get the lay of the land.  We browsed in some antiques shops, some art galleries, and the city's downtown market before deciding our full bellies and the South Carolina heat were too much.  We headed back to the hotel, eager for some air-conditioning and relaxation.  As we were introduced to our room, it became very clear that the attention to detail was not limited to the hotel's front desk.  We had a congratulations card and a half-bottle of champagne waiting for us, which pretty much served as a sumptuous cherry on top of a glorious, gorgeous room. 

Our room wasn't overly spacious; however, what it may have lacked in square footage it more than made up for in amenities.  The bathroom was huge, the closets had the ever-awesome hotel robes, and the bed, ohhh the bed.  It was gigantic, and it had some of the most impressive linens I've ever experienced.  This is the only equivalent I can think of:

Image via We Heart It; Art from Disney

After getting cleaned up for dinner, we headed downstairs to the hotel's signature restaurant - The Peninsula Grill.  As soon as we claimed our reservation, the hostess immediately responded with a "Oh, hello Mr. and Mrs. Snow Cone!  Congratulations on your wedding!" which impressed us, to say the least.  As our dinner went on, though, it became clear that we were going to be impressed for the entirety of the evening.  Every single staff member called us Mr. and Mrs. Snow Cone and offered their congratulations.  We feasted on delicious seafood course after course, before finishing the meal with desserts that greeted us like this:

Needless to say, we polished most of those off and wrapped the leftovers up for breakfast the next morning.  We left dinner the exact same way we left lunch - totally stuffed, totally satisfied, and totally impressed.  

But we had more to accomplish after dinner than just digestion - Mr. Snow Cone had arranged a private carriage ride for us to enjoy!  There was a minor miscommunication in the booking process, resulting in our carriage arriving an hour later than anticipated, which was not a problem in the slightest.  We walked out of the hotel and saw what would be touring us around the streets of Charleston.

That's right, an illuminated pumpkin carriage.  Apparently we were supposed to have a more traditional horse and buggy set-up, but with the error in booking, we got assigned this bad boy.  A little campy, for sure, but I was totally eating it up.  I may have had a mild to severe obsession with Disney princesses in my younger years, so the opportunity to pretty much live Cinderella's life for part of the evening was a nostalgic dream come true for me.  Our ride around the city was very nice, with dozens of people pointing, taking pictures, yelling congratulations, and being totally jealous of our sweet ride.  I mean, can you blame them?

Once the ride ended, we decided we were undoubtedly pooped, so we headed back to our yummy room for some even yummier sleep.  Between the princess-y bed and the princess-y carriage ride, the first evening of the honeymoon fulfilled two pretty substantial fantasies of this Disney fanatic.  Oh, and the sublime service each and every step of the way didn't hurt, either.

What wowed you on your honeymoon?  Anyone else ever been lucky enough to take a princess carriage ride?

(all photos personal unless otherwise noted)