Visiting: Charleston, South Carolina
Hi friends!
I recently went on a long road trip to visit our southern east coast neighbors. I mentioned all the places we visited in my
last post here. Today, I'm sharing my favorite of the places we visited; the colorful and charming, Charleston, South Carolina! This place has long been on my bucket list. From the colorful and charming houses, to all the palm trees at every corner, the beautiful spanish moss hanging everywhere and the warm southern cuisine- how can you not love this place! I definitely plan on going back someday because two days in this pretty city were not nearly enough.
Rainbow Row: We enjoyed walking along this downtown Charleston street featuring a series of pink and pastel historic houses. There are plenty of picture-taking opportunities here! Following this street, you will get to
The Battery along the coast. Don't be surprised at how windy it gets by the water!
Magnolia's: If you're into trying some real authentic southern cuisine, this is the place! We loved the food here. The service was also exceptional. We ordered our waiter's recommendations. For an appetizer, we tried the fried green tomatoes (yummy!). For the entrees, I had the flounder and my fiance had the catfish. Both were delicious!The flavors were so rich and flavorful. While we ate our meals, we also had the nicest time chatting with a sweet lady who was sitting near us. We found out she drives 1.5 hrs from outside of Charleston at least once or twice a week just to eat here and catch up with friends.
What else is lovely about Charleston is that everything is within walking distance downtown. When I first looked at a map, it seemed that places were far from each other, but that was not the case. We must have walked around everywhere at least four times on one of the days, just to make sure we didn't miss anything, and of course, for more pictures :)
I was so happy here because I could take so many beautiful pictures. Everywhere I turned, there was something. I was also very pleased with the weather. At home in Canada, this year we had the coldest winter yet and I was so happy to get a break from the dreary and dark winter. It was amazing to go from snow and ice with temperatures around -20 celcius to sunny and warm reaching 20C.
The
Waterfront Park has the coolest pineapple-shaped water fountain.
In Charleston I realized that this was the first time I had ever seen a living palm tree in real life! This was also the furthest south I've been so far. For sure I had to hug a palm tree upon this realization :)
Some other places we saw in Charleston was the
Old Slave Mart Museum (which recounts the story of Charleston's role in the inter-state slave trade); the
French Quarter, and
The Market (an old shopping district lining Market street, which still features a gathering of small vendors that sell everything from blankets to candy to all kinds of little souvenirs).
Finally, if you love honey, there's a lovely honey store we randomly came across during our walk around town,
The Savannah Bee Company. They have so many different types of honey and you can sample all of them! Best of all, they are all 100% pure honey goodness. I picked up a jar of their limited time
Winter White Honey and boy was I pleasantly surprised! By far the best honey I've ever tasted! When I got back home, everyday I would put a spoonful in my tea or coffee, on fruit, or toast, and I would even take a spoonful on its own because I just couldn't get enough. Unfortunately it's all gone now. I wish I had picked up a few more jars of this stuff. It's pricey but worth it. I would love to try all their other flavors!
Since we only spent two days in Charleston,we didn't get to see everything. I definitely plan on going back someday. I would love to visit the many other restaurants and coffee shops around town, and visit some of the cultural events and tours. Some other places around the area that I would like to see next time are
Sullivan's Island and
Folly Beach. On our way out of Charleston, we did tour the magical
Boone Hall Plantation (which is a must see!) but I will share more about that in my next post :)
I'm so grateful for being able to visit this gorgeous city. We hope to make our way back there again someday to continue exploring!
Ciao for now.
♥
Nieszka