This year was definitely dominated by domestic travel and a lot of visiting with friends near and far, but one of the best trips I took in 2013 was to one of my favorite Southern cities, Charleston. Or maybe just one of my favorite cities, period.

While there, I got to catch up with my dear friend (and former running dictator buddy) Sarah, a lifelong native to Charleston who only left for a few glory years in San Francisco with her husband before promptly returning to their roots, and meet her tiny Urchin, who had come into this world since I last saw her four summers prior.

Every time I’m in Charleston, I can’t help but think of what a great place it is in which to be a kid. As a native of a landlocked state, I could only have dreamed of my mom packing us up in the station wagon on a whim and tossing us in the ocean to expend some energy, which is exactly what Sarah does when the Urchin gets feisty.

On my final day on Kiawah Island, Sarah and I headed out to Sullivan’s Island with the Urchin and her goddaughter Eva in tow. Charleston’s beaches are so accessible and abundant, and being as it was a Wednesday, we had them relatively to ourselves.

We splashed around the shallow surf and explored what lay beneath its surface.

That would be a horseshoe crab for any of you who, like me, did not grow up on the Atlantic coast and thought this a terrestrial creature who had escaped from the set of District 9.

Then, we grabbed chocolate ganache Popsicles at Taco Mamacita on our way back to town, and suddenly I wanted to be a child growing up in Charleston. Instead, I guess I’ll have to settle on being adult who has access to a car and the ability to up and drive to Charleston on a whim if she so desires.

Of all the places I visited in 2013, Charleston is the one I most hope I have the chance to revisit in 2014.

What’s at the top of your domestic travel list for the new year?