Travel Diary: Charleston, SC part 1

We're back from a long weekend in Charleston! Oh Charleston.. we'd meant to go there years ago and even booked tickets, but had to cancel due to work-related commitments. This year, while booking my flights for Lily's upcoming bachelorette party, the JetBlue sale was just so good ($59 per person each way) that Kev and I booked a little getaway there too! 

Aside from the less-than-ideal weather we had on Sunday (cold & rainy), the trip was a lot of fun. Beautiful, walkable, colorful, and full of food, Kev and I ate and drank our way through the city  working on an exhaustive list that we'd put together. FOOD was the emphasis of this trip. We'd even wondered upon plotting all of our stops into a Google itinerary map whether we had enough things to do. 

Well, in between eating there was a lot of walking. There were side streets full of dream houses, the strange southern home architecture of doors leading up to open side porches, the water-front park with its pineapple fountain and swing benches, lots of shopping, and hidden private gardens. 

Saturday

We arrived on Saturday morning, checked in, and walked straight over to Hominy Grill at around 10:30 in the hopes of snagging a table before the brunch rush. Our plan paid off with a 10 minute wait. 

Cute little coffee take-out window while you wait

Good is your first cup of coffee since getting up at 5am. 

The first of many grits dishes

Top to bottom: a Charleston Big Nasty Biscuit, She Crab Soup, and Shrimp & Grits

You can feel the hospitality immediately. Our waiter was so chatty (in a good way) and joked with us about how people always have big plans for the day when they arrive, then after a Charleston breakfast are so stuffed and sleepy that they either scrap the daytime plans or the nighttime plans. I took that advice as a sign to slow down and save the rest of my appetite for later in the day. We'd eat a lot of grits over the next couple of days.

We passed Sugar bakeshop on the way back from Hominy Grill and picked up a grapefruit cupcake for later

Adorable candles, bits, and other bobs at Sugar bakeshop

We stopped by Candlefish, a lovely candle workshop and store and picked up a handmade candle for the apartment

Lots of fantastic walls here. Just a little scouting for the girls in March ;)

We went to 167 Raw for some oysters and beers as a small afternoon snack and got great crude and ceviche as well. After this meal we walked and walked and walked some more...

We ended our first day with dinner at FIG. 

Places

Hominy Grill
207 Rutledge Ave.
Charleston, SC 29403
hominygrill.com

Sugar Bakeshop
59 Cannon St.
Charleston, SC 29403
sugarbake.com

Candlefish
71 Wentworth St.
Charleston, SC 29401
candlefish.com

167 Raw
289 E Bay St.
Charleston, SC 29401
167raw.com

FIG
232 Meeting St.
Charleston, SC 29401
eatatfig.com