Every year, my best friends from college and I pick a city we have never been to before. Our previous years have consisted of: Asheville, Seaside/30A, Savannah and now Charleston. Being from the south and having South Carolina pretty dang close, it was only fitting this be our stop this year. Our bucket list of cities is long but we are determined to cross them all off of the list.
Thursday night, my friend Katie drove in from Auburn and we jetted out first thing Friday morning. Five hours later of driving, talking and just catching up we had arrived in Charleston. We were starving! Our friend Morgan had flown in from Nashville and was going to meet us for a late lunch. We found this cute little spot called Park Cafe that was perfect for a tasty lunch and a few mimosas.
We sat on the outdoor patio and if it had not been so hot we probably would have sat there for hours catching up on each others lives. After lunch we headed to our hotel to check-in. We stayed at the Hyatt Place on King Street in the Historic District. I thought the location of our hotel was perfect. Away from downtown but on the main street for shopping...which is how we spent our Friday afternoon.
We walked all the way down King Street stopping in store, after store, after store. After walking in the first store, we found out it was tax free weekend-WINNING!! We walked all the way down until we got to Beaufain Street where we realized it was 7:00 PM and we needed to get back to the hotel and get showered for dinner.
After grabbing a few booze pops we walked back up King Street to our hotel. After a record time of getting ready, we hopped in an Uber and traveled downtown to an oyster bar called Pearlz for dinner. Now I do not eat oysters; raw or cooked. They are just not for me. But my friends LOVED them. Our server was a delight and gave us recommendations to hit up Henry's for live music and good drinks. We had the best time listening to pop hits with a twist of Bahamian drums in the background of every song.
We wrapped Friday night early because we had a big day planned for Saturday. At 10:00 AM we had reservations to take out bike cruisers around the city all morning. Renting bikes has become my favorite ways to see a city. You can take a "tour" at your leisure and see the things you want to see rather than jumping on a a bus or a trolley to go on a specific path for a specific time around the city.
This ended up being the highlight of our trip. We started out on King Street, turned right on Beaufain Street (which we later found out is right by sorority row for the College of Charleston and we missed seeing the Phi Mu house). After we saw the Colonial Lake we took a road all the way to the tip of the peninsula where we cruised along the ocean and gawked at all the mansions. This street also happened to be named Murray which is one of my friend's new last name!
My friends got really good at taking selfies while riding a bike. I was just lucky not to run into any parked vehicles. Up next was Rainbow Row, the Pineapple Fountain and the Battery. After a mad hunt to find water we ventured over to the Market. Morgan had been saying all weekend, "I just want to find a cheesy Charleston tank top." And thanks to this part of town we found them! The store owners happened to be from the town I live in and went to the high school in my neighborhood. Small world!
Our time was running out on the bike so we ventured back up to AffordaBike to return them and then asked the store manager for a recommendation on lunch. He said, "Closed for Business is great and two blocks away." Perfect! After a full four hours of bike riding, we were ready for a cold one. This place had a GREAT beer selection and after giving my preference of beer to the waiter he suggested I try Victory Peach Belgian Blonde No. 6 and it was SPOT ON. Paired with their grilled bratwurst and fries I was in heaven!
Being the old ladies that we are, we headed back to the hotel for a "quick nap" that turned in to an hour of snoozing. After getting refreshed and putting on our fancy outfits, we headed out for cocktails before dinner. Early on the bike tour, we had stumbled upon The Vendue Hotel and noticed they had a rooftop bar. Keeping with the peach theme, I ordered the Peach Mule. We had the best time people watching while seeing the sun set in the distance. There are a lot of Bachelorette parties in Charleston so the people watching was so entertaining!
When in Charleston, eat seafood. So again on Saturday we made reservations at a seafood restaurant called Blossom. I ordered the Blue Crab Ravioli and stuffed myself full. We also ordered dessert and I just could not put the fork down. Because we were so full, we needed a place to burn off some of these extra calories. Stars Restaurant turns into a bar/dance scene after dinner. The DJ downstairs was great and then we wanted to see what the rooftop was all about. And really this space was the only disappointment of the trip. The drinks were warm and they did not have a lot of items for mixed drinks. It was crowded and there was no music. But we closed the place down so it was not a huge disappointment. And after midnight, no one really cares anyway.
The next morning before we headed out of town, we had one more restaurant to try. I was still stuffed from the night before so I did not scarf my food down. So I was actually able to get food photos here. The restaurant was Poogan's Porch. This place was soo cute, very southern and the perfect way to wrap up our girl's weekend. We ordered the macaroni and cheese as an appetizer and I got the chicken & waffles for my meal. I did snag a few bites of the grits and they were creamy-deliciousness!
After a carafe of mimosas and telling our last stories, it was time to head home. Overall, we really enjoyed this city. The hospitality was like no other! Every person we came in contact with was more than willing to give us a recommendation, ask us where we were from and welcome us to their city. But the most overwhelming thought from the weekend was how HOT it was. Hot and Humid. How do people live there in the summer?
I would HIGHLY suggest taking a trip to Charleston in the Winter/Spring months. I think the fall would still be hot here. At 1:00 AM I checked my weather app and the temperature was at 86 degrees with 85% humidity. Besides the heat, this was another GREAT girls weekend in the books. And now we are planning our next annual trip for another city we all have never been to....Boston!
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