Ridge, Juliana and I took a mini vacation to Charleston, SC about a week ago. I had visited once before but fell madly in love with the place this time around. I’m not sure if it was the perfect weather, what we did or because we slowed down and soaked in every moment. Charleston is such a picturesque place with its gorgeous architecture, rich history, and ocean backdrop. If you haven’t visited, I highly recommend giving this charming town a visit. Read on to find my recommendations for what to do in Charleston and where to eat!
What to Do
- Take a carriage tour with Old South Carriage Company. This was the highlight of our trip! We did the historic residential tour. It lasted about an hour and took us through some of Charleston’s most historic neighborhoods where we saw row upon row of stunning architecture. I was floored by how well the guide/carriage driver knew her Charleston history, and she was also extremely entertaining about it.
- Go shopping on King Street. King Street is one of Charleston’s crown jewels. Here’s how our carriage guide put it: 19 blocks of major credit card damage. What I love about King Street though is the variety of shops. From small independently owned operations along upper King to a giant Forever 21 to Louis Vuitton, this street has shopping for every budget. And did I mention that every store front is practically a work of art?
- Check out The Battery. This row of homes near the waterfront is stunning. We were fortunate enough to be on the carriage route that went there so we got the historical scoop on many of these stately specimens.
- Get lost wandering around. I got up early Sunday morning while Ridge was still sleeping and wandered around the neighborhood called The French Quarter and the area around Rainbow Row (a famous row of brightly painted houses along East Bay Street, a block from the ocean). Rainbow Row was gorgeous, but my favorite was a perpendicular street called Tradd Street. The homes were SO pretty! Not surprisingly it was my photo spot of choice for this post. One of the things I love about Charleston is that you can literally walk everywhere.
- There are so many other things to do, but to avoid a reaallly long post I’m linking my favorite resource for exploring Charleston here. 🙂
Where to Eat
People refer to Charleston as a “food city” and it really is! It’s kind of unbelievable how many spectacular dining joints there are in such close proximity. Here are my favorite spots:
–Best Sunday brunch: Poogan’s Porch
–Best coffee: The Rise Coffee Bar
–Best ambiance: 5Church (literally a restaurant that used to be a church!)
–Best barbeque: Lewis BBQ
–Most quintessential Charleston dining: 82Queen
For those of you who wanted the details on what I wore, I’ve linked my outfits in the photos below. I’m also including a few of my favorite shots from the weekend because I just can’t help sharing. 🙂
Dress (almost identical here for $44) // Bag (on sale!) // Hat // Wedges // Bracelets here and here // Ring
Top // Jeans // Bag (dupe here) // Earrings // Sandals
Shirt (BEST v neck tee and under $25) // Skirt // Bag // Wedges // Necklace
All aboard for the “horsey ride”! Don’t mind the dirt on Juliana’s face 🙂
Off we go!
Deciding whether to join in the fun
…she did!
I hope your week is off to a terrific start and you had a memorable Easter weekend! We celebrated Easter with Ridge’s family and the highlight was the ritual Easter egg hunt. Juliana did so well this year…she really got into it and found ALL the eggs…ok, so maybe she had a little help and I didn’t hide them too well on purpose ;). I was still proud of her though- the last two years she was still figuring it out so it was fun to see it click. Since the egg hunt she’s been madly in love with her basket and even asked to take it to bed with her last night!
XO,
Terra