Charleston | South Carolina

"Eat, drink, and be merry." - King Charles II

My sister, cousin, and I spent Memorial Day weekend in Charleston, South Carolina. We packed our bags and hoped and prayed the weather would hold off despite the weather forecasting rain.

We stayed at a cute hotel right in the middle of town on Meeting Street, called King Charles Inn. 

Charleston was very hot, around 90 degrees and humid... but insanely beautiful. The colors and Palmetto trees (we learned they weren't Palm) drew you in every corner, and begged you take a photo in front of the pretty doors. So of course we did. 

We rented a car to drive to the plantation about 20 minutes away, but the great thing about Charleston is most scenic places are all at walking distance. 

Everyone is super friendly and helpful, and there is a visitor's center right down the street for water and maps and tour guides to all of the best things to do and eat in the area. 

The first night we ate dinner at Sticky Fingers Ribhouse, a great restaurant if you love barbecue and roasted chicken, burgers, etc... It was right across our hotel.  

   

The Pineapple Fountain by the Waterfront is such a beautiful area to go for a walk and also located by East Bay Street that has so many great restaurants to choose from. 

 

Charleston is also called "Holy City", and has over 100 churches that date back to the Civil War! We saw so many cemeteries with old tombstones from the 17th century. 

We sure felt the southern charm at The King Charles Inn with morning coffee, infused water, artisan cheeses, wine, and crackers in the afternoon, and late night tea and cookies.

We fell in love with this cute little spot called Toast. We loved it so much we ate there more than once for breakfast and dinner. Their Eggs Benedict, pancakes and home fries were AMAZING.

I did a little research, being the slightly OCD planner that I am, and found out Charleston and Mount Pleasant was where many of the scenes from The Notebook was filmed. 

So we drove about 25 minutes from Charleston to Boone Hall Plantation.

The giant oak trees and rich history of this beautiful place is a must see.  

We learned about the Gulluh culture of the slaves that worked on the plantation and how it is one of the oldest working farms in the United States.

You may recognize it as Allie's summer home from The Notebook. 

Another delicious spot for farm to table southern food is Lowcountry Bistro. Their crabcakes, spicy chard, and red rice with Sangria was soooo good!

Charleston is known for its beautiful old homes, and so a must see is Rainbow Row.

Plan to spend more than 20 minutes here...  you will have to wait your turn to get a great shot in front of the color you love most. (Worthhh it) ;)

A must tourist thing to do (I'd do even if I wasn't one though) is a horse carriage ride through the city. 

We loved our guide with Old South Carriage Company. They took us around the city and gave us some really intersting history on Charleston too. 

I fell in love with our sweetheart horse Luke... he was rockin' his braid and was totally fine with us petting him. 

 

The American Theater was a good few blocks away from us on King Street, but we had to see where Noah and Allie went to the movies and also danced in the street.   

 

City Market  had all sorts of goodies ranging from souvenirs and pretty roses made from the Palmetto trees. It's located right on Meeting Street. 

We absolutely fell in love with Charleston. I hope you enjoyed my little travel guide and photographs from our stay!