Mountain Retreat and a Trip to Charleston

Waterfall hikes seem to be the choice activity for the summer, only this time we played in the water for awhile longer. We rented Fun-yaks, the inflatable kayaks, and spent a few hours playing on the river on our way to the retreat center.



We had scheduled programming on the retreat, as well as some goal-setting and group dynamics work. Luckily, instead of meeting in a room, we took a hike and had our discussions on the top of a mountain overlooking the waterfalls.







After returning to Charlotte and spending a few weeks getting readjusted to office life, we took a trip to Charleston, South Carolina. My fraternity was founded at the College of Charleston in 1904, and I have spent a considerable amount of time in the city, but we made a point of finding new things. Coming into the town, we stopped at the graveyard where the founding fathers of the fraternity are buried. The ladies working at the graveyard pointed out a few other notable gravesites to visit, including a group of Confederate soldiers who were moved from the Gettysburg battlefield. The city of Charleston was where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, and even to this day there are strong feelings against the "War of Northern Aggression."



The city itself is grounded in 300 years of history, and the architecture shows it.





Including an Urban Outfitters housed inside an old theater.





After spending some time checking out the downtown area, we took some time off at Folly Beach, and found a surfrider sign, even though there is nothing to surf outside of hurricane season.