Travel Diaries Charleston: Part One and A Video

Charleston, Oh Charleston… we completely fell in love with you! If Romeo was with us on our trip, we might have never left. The charming city lived up to all of its expectations and more! We felt the Southern hospitality before we even left and it was present throughout our entire vacation. People are simply just nice in Charleston! Zan and I explored the city for 4 days, eating drinking, more eating and experiencing the incredible attractions of “Low Country.” It’s rich in history and you feel it everywhere you go. From the most charming historical buildings and landmarks to the Southern countryside — we loved it all! Zan filmed a mini video of our trip… I don’t know how he does it as he literally walks through the city, but I love that he does because we have those moments to look back on forever. Also, below is a little recap of what we did the first few days. Tomorrow I will share the rest! Also, thank you for all of your recommendations too, we greatly appreciated  them!

The first few days we stayed at the beautiful Harbour View Inn. I loved this location because it’s next to the harbor, but it’s also located in the town too! You’ll see a few shots of it in the video. It’s a gorgeous hotel with great hospitality and comfy king beds, ha! And we had the most decadent cheese and charcuterie platter from Goat. Sheep. Cow. waiting for us when we arrived!

The first night, we took a bike taxi (which we recommend and loved!) to dinner at Macintosh, then cocktails at the Cocktail Club. We walked 1.5 miles back to our hotel, stopping at different bars on the way and soaking in all of the charming buildings, amazing gas lamps and the warm summer night weather. It was a dream!

We ate at the staple Hominy Grill for breakfast and enjoyed every aspect of this place! When in Charleston, you MUST have Shrimp and Grits – they were amazing here. Also the architectural design, decor, service and Southern food… it was all good!

We spent hours at Boone Hall Plantation and it was a highlight of the trip. The stunning scenery is soul soothing! There’s much to explore, learn about and take in like flower and butterfly gardens, horses, the plantation houses, etc. It was also used as a location to my favorite movie, The Notebook! Highly recommend visiting this one.

We went to the beach several times during our stay. There’s something so cozy about the beach in Charleston. The warm water, soft white sand and then we had some gray clouds rolling in, which we loved… I honestly wanted to get lost in one of my favorite books and hang out all day. We went to Sullivan’s Island and made a stop at Poe’s Tavern for a yummy burger.

We also went to a really cool home goods store called The Commons located in a tiny alley. They have unique items and lots of historical books and cookbooks.

For dinner we ate at Husk! It’s one of Charleston’s top restaurants and much deserved. Definitely one of my favorite places there. The pimento cheese and fried chicken skins appetizers are heavenly. I recommend eating on the balcony and ordering the Charleston Light Dragoon’s Punch. It’s a cocktail recipe that was discovered in the 1783 archives of the Preservation Society of Charleston! It’s incredible!

We also got to try some yummy cupcakes from the adorable Sugar Bakeshop!

Photos and video by Zan Passante of Madcitizen