For Memorial Day Weekend, my husband and I visited Charleston, South Carolina. We picked up friends who live in Virginia on the drive down and stayed with our friend who lives in North Charleston. This was the longest time I’ve spent away from home since the pandemic began, and the vacation was much-needed!

In college I drove from New York to Florida on a school trip, but since then, this was my longest car trip. When we planned our trip months ago, we decided to drive, as we weren’t sure of the CDC guidelines and vaccination status of our group. Luckily, with many restrictions lifted and a fully vaccinated group, we were able to relax and enjoy our trip.

We made great time during our drive down and arrived at our friend’s house early enough to drop our bags and head to Holy City Brewing for trivia. We all ordered beers and worked together on the trivia rounds. Unfortunately, we were seated in an area that was almost impossible to hear the trivia host, so we left before the game finished. The beer was excellent, so it was worth the trip. To cap off our evening, we ordered pizza and salad from Park Circle Pizza, an amazing shop near our friend’s house. Beer, pizza and catching up with friends was the perfect first night of our Charleston vacation!

— Katie Skrzek, vice president/digital director