One of my very best girl friends and I decided to take a trip to Charleston, SC to get away from the Wisconsin cold and have a little mental health break from our jobs, homes, and kiddos. What we didn't escape was the cold- it was unusually cool for Charleston even the week we were there. However, the trip was exactly what my soul needed. I get so hard on myself working from home, not making a lot of "me time", being with my kids 5 days a week, and never leaving my house. We all need a break and weekends/trips away fuel me with a fresh new mind and ability to be a better me, mom and wife.
My dad has a second home in Charleston and so we were able to utilize that and keep our lodging costs down which is an amazing luxury. I have no insight into where to stay in Charleston as we have always stayed at my Dad's. There are a couple places we visited that are in a hotel and they could be fun options.
For flights, there are no direct flights unfortunately from MKE to CHS at this time. This last summer they had some and I am hoping they do the same this summer again! 🙂 As always with my travel hacks, the biggest thing I do to keep costs down is target a specific month to travel and then plan our trip around the cheapest airfare. This time was no exception. We ended up getting great deals on Delta for under $200 roundtrip. While these were not directly we only had a short 1.5-2 hour layover each direction in ATL and it allowed us to grab a quick meal!
Anyways, now onto the fun part! What we did, saw, ate, and drank!:
Thursday Evening:
The first night we arrived we had traveled all day and gotten settled in we wanted something low key and easy. We ventured to downtown Charleston and had dinner at RuRu's Tacos & Tequila on Bay Street. We were hungry from traveling and stumbled upon happy hour half price drinks and apps here- nothing better than half price margs! The tacos were amazing as well. Large and so many unique flavor combinations.
Later we walked along Waterfront Park as the sun was setting and checked out the iconic Pineapple Fountain. We also stumbled upon a MUST- Carmella's Cafe and Dessert Bar. This place quickly became our favorite spot after having their s'mores cheesecake and seeing their dessert beverages. YUM!
Friday:
The next morning we had brunch at at Millers All Day. Another great find with delicious food and really fun breakfast/brunch cocktails. We sat at the bar and talked to another couple also from Wisconsin and the bartenders and had a really fun morning. The apple cider mimosa was an amazing start to the day!
We spend the rest of the day exploring the city, seeing the famous Rainbow Row, checking out some of the amazing downtown neighborhoods and gorgeous buildings and architecture. We also spend most of the day shopping on King Street which is a really fun higher end street to shop on. To warm up we visited the most darling coffee shop- The Rise. A small indoor space that had great coffee and a quaint outdoor courtyard (too bad it had just started to sprinkle outside)
That evening we headed to Church and Union for dinner. This was probably my favorite dinner we had on this trip and easily in my top 10 meals of all time. It is an old church that they have converted into a restaurant space so the atmosphere is one of a kind and truly unique. The food and drinks were equally amazing and this was a highly recommended location. I suggest making reservations if you can as they were very busy.
Another perfect girls night out spot, although a little bougie, but still fun nonetheless was Camellias Champagne Bar located inside Hotel Bennett. This is a small PINK, yes all pink! Champagne lounge that had wonderful ambiance and the most gorgeous chandelier! It is elegant and not too loud since it is a smaller space and the perfect location for girl talk 😍! Another highly recommended stop in Charleston.
We also went out on King street that night and the vibe was great. Lots of people, including many college folks just trying to enjoy their evening. It was buys but fun and we even stumbled across the most amazing band. If you are into the bar scene it is definitely work checking out and experiencing the fun night life side of Charleston.
Saturday:
Saturday we again had brunch. We wanted to go to Vicious Biscuit but the light was wrapped all the way around the building and we were extremely hungry! This is a very well known place to enjoy a southern style biscuit for breakfast. We opted for another biscuit place, Maple Street Biscuit Company. It was perfection- the perfect sweet maple syrup paired. with the comfort of fried chicken on a flakey, fresh biscuit.
We then checked out Angles Oak Tree which is a free activity. It is nothing over the top fancy or special but to see a 400+ year old tree that twists and turns all around you is rather spectacular. This tree even has its own security guard which made us laugh!
Not far away we also checked out McLeod Plantation. This was a very unique plantation tour as it was not overly done up and glamorized like some of the other plantations in the area (Boone Hall for example- amazing but very elaborate). The house was bare bones and just had art work and information on the walls. The tour however was told through the eyes and lives of the slaves that lived there years ago. Truly moving to hear all of the history and years of horror that happened on site at this an many other plantations. If you are into history visiting a plantation is a must. This one was unique in its rawness- I appreciated the realness and minimal approach to the McLeod Plantation Tour.
**(In other trips we have done Boone Hall Plantation which is also well done The home is showcased as it was years ago, the grounds are simply stunning, and fun fact -it is where they filmed several parts of the Notebook movie. The home is Allie's parents summer home!)
We finished our evening with dinner at Magnolia's, a Charleston classic restaurant with AMAZINGLY delicious food and cute charm. This is one of my Dad's favorite restaurants to eat at every time they are down there too- it is on the pricier side but worth it. We finished our evening with more Carmella's Cafe and Dessert Bar drinks! Never enough dessert ammiright?
Sunday:
Sunday was mostly a travel day but we did venture to the Charleston Historic Market, checked out another waterfront park and strolled more historic downtown streets just taking in all the glory the city has to offer. It sounds so cheesy but Charleston truly has a piece of my heart and one of my favorite things to do is just get lost wandering and looking at all of the neighborhoods. The homes are gorgeous and the details with the colors, the beautiful two story covered porches, the southern architecture, and the Charleston gas lights just excites me.
Other fun things to do/see in Charleston include:
visiting Isle of Palms, a small beach town,
visiting any of the many rooftop bars
visiting Schem Creek (part of Outerbanks TV show was filmed here)
Leon's Resturant
Husk Restaurant
visiting other island suburbs of the city
many many more... 🙂
Check out some fun city tours here:
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xoxo
Maria Elizabeth
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