"Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer."
Hi Everyone,
I wanted to share my recent travels to Charleston, South Carolina with you all!This was my second time visiting the historic city. Originally, I had visited the College of Charleston back in high school, but I was not able to explore other parts of the city like I had hoped. Ever since I visited the first time, I had been yearning to go back. This summer I was lucky enough to visit for a short, weekend getaway with my boyfriend. We had an absolute blast and loved everything the charming city had to offer. Hopefully, you can use this as a guide for planning your future trip to Charleston.
We stayed at the Courtyard Charleston Waterfront from a Thursday to Sunday. It was a great hotel that overlooked the Ashley River, with a beautiful view of the City Marina and an awesome outdoor setup with a pool and all. It was reasonably priced for the area and overall, a nice hotel with a friendly staff. The hotel was a quick uber trip to downtown Charleston, no more than ten minutes. I would definitely stay here again and recommend it to anyone.
Thursday, our first evening in town, we ate at Halls Chophouse. Halls Chophouse is the number one rated restaurant on tripadvisor, and this place was well deserved as number one! I have nothing but wonderful things to say about the establishment, the service, and the food. I would highly recommend going there. This place takes reservations, so please do so, or else you will have a very long wait. We made reservations and were seated immediately, even with the place being packed. There was wall-to-wall people on the main floor, which included the downstairs bar, and live music where someone sang and played the piano. Expect to dress nice and pay more for this upscale restaurant, business casual is appropriate.
I wish I had pictures of our food, but the place was dimly lit and we were so excited to try the food that I forgot all about it. For appetizers, we had oysters rockerfeller and a jumbo lump crab cocktail. By the way, please be prepared because we ordered tons of oyster dishes throughout the weekend; it's one of our favorite foods. For the main course, I order their halibut stuffed with crabmeat, layed over a brussel sprout and prociutto stir fry; it was delicious. My boyfriend ordered the bison filet over a mushroom risotto. This was terrific, and the best type of filet I have ever had in my entire life. I say this with so much confidence. Our sides included a sweet potato stir fry with cinnamon and pecans, and lobster mac and cheese. We ended our meal with their bread pudding, and it was delicious. I recommend it all! Totally worth the money, so do not cry when you see the bill. ;)
One of the nicest things about this place is that they took their time when delivering each course. This gave us time to enjoy the food and the atmosphere, while letting our tummies settle before the next course. I would say that it was a southern thing, because where I'm from most restaurants rush you in and out; therefore, take your time, and enjoy the southern hospitality.
Breakfast on Friday morning was at the Palmetto Cafe, which is located inside the Belmond Hotel. My favorite thing about the restaurant was the aesthetics of the interiors. This is conveniently located next to the Shops at Belmond, which includes high-end, designer stores like Gucci and Louis Vuitton.
The rest of our Friday consisted of site-seeing. We made our own walking tour, starting at Randolph Hall, shopping up and down King and Meeting Street, strolling through Historic Charleston City Market, making our way to Waterfront Park, admiring the historic mansions along East Bay Street and East Battery, through Rainbow Row and ending at White Point Gardens along the waterfront.
Friday evening, we ate at the Oyster House on Market. We ended up loving the food, service, and atmosphere so much, we came back on Saturday night too. Over the course of two nights, we tried a lot of different things on the menu: oyster low country, oysters rockerfeller, praline hushpuppies and pimento fritters (so good!), sashimi tuna stack, fried oysters, and the seafood casserole. I also ordered several of their popular cocktail, Eye of the Storm, which was great. Like I said, we ate tons of oysters through the trip.
On our way to the haunted jail tour, we saw the biggest horses I have ever seen in my entire life! I was in awe because I have never seen a horse of such a size. It wasneat too because the carriage tour guides let us walk around the hourse stables, admiring and petting the horses. They were beautiful, I just wish they had more space for them to roam around and rest.
After dinner, we booked a haunted tour of the Old Charleston City Jail through Bulldog Tours. I love being scared so I was adament about going on a haunted tour. The tour was about 45 minutes long, and we had a great tour guide named Sean. He was very knowledgeable about the history of the jail, interesting to listen to, and he had a great deal of respect for the spirits and lost souls that still haunted the building too. It was a good combination of creepy and informative. (Minus the drunk woman, and the young girl of about the age of five who acted up the entire time, crying and what not.Why someone would bring young children is beyond me, lol.)
On our last day, we enjoyed breakfast at a cute little french cafe called Breizh Pan Crepes close to the college.
After breakfast, we took a water tour of the harbour where we were able to stop at Patriot's Point. There, we were able to tour the USS Yorktown and submarine which were used during World War II. I could not imaging living on a naval ship or submarine. I have so much respect for those that did or currently do so; we are so lucky to have people in our country that do this willingly <3. After our tour, we ate at the Charleston Marina next door where we ate... more oysters! The breeze on the water was a nice break from the heat and humidity within the streets. It was a great view! Occasionally we were able to see dolphins passing along.
I absolutely loved visiting Charleston, and was very sad to go home. It is such a beautiful city, with so much history; something I really enjoy. Plenty of delicious places to eat, so many shops and sites to see. Not to mention, the people were so kind and the Charlestonians definitely made a point to dress well for all occasions. I wish I had more time to explore and experience the Charleston culture. I cannot wait to go back, whenever that is; it definitely will not be my last visit.
Thank you all for taking the time to read! Do not forget to follow my instagram @jade.glow
P.S. In case you were wondering how I found these places to eat and where to go, I usually use Trip Advisor or Yelp; Trip Advisor is my favorite resource because it provides ratings for restaurants and things to do, including reviews, and images. I love nothing more than researching the places I travel for what to eat and do on this site.
S h o p:
Sheath Dress - Tobi
Sandals - GoJane (out of stock)
Handbag - H&M (in black)
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