June 7-13, 2017
Long story short, my husband (Jason) and I had not been on a vacation in 4 years because he was in graduate school. We were overdue and ready to jet off to pretty much anywhere at that point. Our requirements? Flying, good food, and not needing to rent a car. This landed us in Charleston.
>>Getting Around
DASH Trolley is a free hop on-hop off shuttle – it had a stop near the main entrance to our hotel
Holy Spokes Charleston bike share – cute little blue bike stations you see all around the peninsula, there is a fee and we mostly walked
>>Stay
Meeting Street Inn – I would 100% stay here again. The location was fantastic. We walked EVERYWHERE on this trip and used the free DASH system (there is a stop very near the hotel entrance) when our feet hurt. The free breakfast was great and they offer a complimentary wine and cheese social every afternoon (we missed it most days because we were out and about).
>>Eat
Toast – our room wasn’t ready upon arrival so we asked where to grab the nearest beer
Sticky Fingers – probably the only place I wouldn’t return to, wasn’t bad but least impressive of all our amazing meals
Normandy Farm Artisan Bakery – enjoyed breakfast here
Blind Tiger – great beer selection, menu all looked good, shared nachos for lunch
Pancito & Lefty – unique & fresh margaritas and tacos, we walked for for this one
Carmella’s – drunken milkshakes!
*Poogan’s Smokehouse – the only place we ate at twice because it was THAT GOOD
Cane Rhum Bar – more delicious adult beverages
Closed for Business – great selection of beer on tap
Poogan’s Porch – scored a brunch reservation
Macintosh – another brunch reservation, this was obviously the weekend lol
Kudu – chill place with a nice patio to enjoy coffee and beer on tap
Minero – margs & Mexican food, we chased the happy hours
*Bar at Husk – we couldn’t get a reservation inside, but the fried chicken & burger (I know, I know… just trust me) on the patio at the bar were amazing
*167 Raw – HOLY GUACAMOLE I’m so glad I dragged Jason here on our last day!
>>Play
*Carriage Tour – we did this a few days in and it was fun, I recommend doing this first to get the lay of the land a bit before you venture out
Old Exchange & Provost Dungeon – if anyone doesn’t know, Charleston is really full of history, especially from the Civil War
Tavern Wine & Spirits – poked our heads into the oldest liquor store in the US
Market – right by our hotel, fun eats and shopping, bands played at night
Waterfront Park – nice stroll by the marsh/water, sight of popular pineapple fountain
Powder Magazine – didn’t pay to go inside, it’s small but probably neat
American Theater – as seen in The Notebook, I just wanted a pic in front of it
*Spoleto Festival – we had no idea a huge arts festival was going on when we booked this, but there was a huge art market at Marion Square plus lots of performing arts and concerts going on around town, we were too tired to go see the festival closing featuring The Revivalists and fireworks at a plantation but I’m still kicking myself over missing this
Waring Historal Library – medical museum of sorts, caught my eye for Jason, it was small but BEAUTIFUL and packed full of interesting things
*The Battery/White Point Garden – beautiful place to aimlessly stroll, the homes are obscenely gorgeous
*Fort Sumpter/Ferry Ride – where the first shots were fired during the Civil War, there are still artillery shells in the walls, there is a whole museum INSIDE so don’t waste all your time outside like we almost did, the view of Charleston and all the church steeples from the ferry ride is great
Haunted Jail Tour – we did the latest time possible and even though I didn’t experience any paranormal activity, this was a very interesting tour
*Churches/Cemeteries – if you walk by a church see if the door is unlocked and go inside, we saw some incredibly gorgeous churches and the cemeteries are more like gardens
Other Stuff – rainbow row in some colorful houses that are popular in photos, there are little alleys and cobblestones streets all throughout the peninsula, King St had a day where the street closed and the shopping took over, the window boxes of flowers and colorful doors kept my attention and we enjoyed walking around taking it all in
Breauxs Geaux 