Charleston is one of those cities that will leave a profound impact on you if you ever get the chance to visit. I’ve been a handful of times over the years, but each visit makes me fall in love just a little bit more. The beautiful window boxes, the secret gardens, the cobblestone streets, Rainbow Row, the view from the Battery, the amazing restaurants…there truly is something for everyone to enjoy. I made the drive from Fripp Island, SC to Charleston with my mom and Jack earlier this summer and we had such a wonderful time exploring the city. We were only there for about 30 hours and it rained a lot and was muggy and hot the rest of the time, but we still enjoyed every minute of it.
We had lunch at Blossom, which was fantastic. The food was delicious and the prices were reasonable. It’s a nice restaurant so I would have felt a little awkward bringing Jack there at dinner time, but we went at about 3PM and it was relatively empty so it wasn’t a big deal. My mom and I had the oven baked oysters and she had the Crab Louis salad. I forget what I had to eat but it was all delicious! Magnolias and Cypress are two other amazing restaurants that are owned by the same company and they are all located on East Bay Street. I ate at those restaurants with Tom on a different trip and the food was really good.
We decided to not go out for dinner because Jack had to go to bed and because we had eaten a late lunch, so I ran out to Cavier & Bananas and bought a bunch of delicious things for us to nibble on. It’s an upscale market with prices to match, but the cheese and charcuterie plate I ordered was so good, as were the crab cakes. It’s a fun spot to visit if you want to get some yummy food to take on a picnic or bring back to your hotel room.
We stayed at the Doubletree in the Historic District right next to the Charleston City Market. It was the perfect location and everything was within walking distance.
It rained a lot the next day but we stumbled upon the sweetest boutique of locally designed clothing, called Madison Mathews. I quickly fell in love with everything they had and even left the store wearing a new seersucker dress because it was perfect for the hot and humid weather (plus it matched Jack!). They are a wholesale company but they have this one little storefront on Church Street and it’s definitely worth stopping by.
As for home decor shopping, if you’re into vintage like I am then you’ve got to check out Charleston Revisions. They have two locations in the Charleston area and we visited the West Ashley shop. So many amazing pieces!!! We didn’t buy anything but it sure was fun to browse. I’ve followed them on Instagram for years so it was really neat to finally see the shop in person. We also went to Indigo Market thanks to a suggestion I received on Instagram, and it was a fantastic little shop. It’s mostly vintage pieces as well and I wanted pretty much everything.
Charleston truly is one of the most charming cities I’ve ever visited and I can’t wait to go back!
