As promised, I’m back to share a recap of our long weekend in Charleston, South Carolina. To sum it up, there was lots of food, drinks and relaxation. Oh, and it was HOT. But it seems like it was hot everywhere. Luckily I spent most of the daytime hours in the pool, otherwise I just started sweating after 5 minutes of laying out in the sun.
Heading to Charleston on Wednesday
We left on Wednesday afternoon on a 4pm flight from BWI. We got there early and enjoyed our first drink of the vacation at the airport bar. After an uneventful flight, we landed in Charleston around 5:30 and took an Uber to our hotel. We stayed at the Charleston Harbor Resort which is technically in Mount Pleasant, about 10 minutes outside of Charleston. We considered renting a car but decided to just take Ubers all weekend. They were easy to get and probably saved us money overall. Plus, we could drink as much as we wanted and not have to worry about driving.
After checking into the hotel on Wednesday evening, we headed back into the city for dinner at Paw Paw. We were starving and got the buttermilk biscuits to start. They were recommended by our waiter and did not disappoint!
I got the steak for dinner, and Rob got the pork chops. Both were delicious!
After dinner we walked to a grocery store and picked up some water and other drinks, and headed back to the hotel for the night. It was already late and had been a long day!
Thursday in Charleston
Thursday morning started with some coffee on our balcony, followed by a trip to the gym (for me) and a run (for Rob). We grabbed breakfast at the Fish House which was the hotel restaurant, and then headed to the pool until lunchtime, at which point we headed to the pool bar. There weren’t many options there, but I was able to get a salad with grilled chicken and Rob had fish tacos. Of course, we had drinks with our meals.
We had been worried about the weather, as the forecast called for thunderstorms the whole time we were in Charleston. Luckily, there were only some clouds and thunder/lightning for about an hour on Thursday afternoon (which meant we couldn’t stay at the pool- but it didn’t even rain). We had a drink in the room and then walked down to one of the piers. By then we were able to go back to the pool and the sun was back out.
Thursday night’s dinner was at the Peninsula Grill. We had heard great reviews about this restaurant and read that it was pretty upscale. In the restaurant we were seated pretty close to another table and I didn’t really feel comfortable taking pictures, until we got dessert! We had heard that we could not pass up the coconut cake, and while this is not something we would usually order, we gave it a try. It was the largest slice of cake I think I have ever seen, and I totally understand all the hype. I think we were able to eat about half of it between the two of us. We practically needed to be rolled into the Uber to be taken back to the hotel.
Friday in Charleston
On Friday morning we wanted to try somewhere different for breakfast, so we took an Uber to Page’s Okra Grill. The portions were huge and the prices were much better than the hotel restaurant. We decided to walk the 2.5 miles back to the hotel after eating so much. I went to the gym for about 30 minutes when we got back and then met Rob at the pool. We had another day of perfect weather, this time with no thunderstorm interruptions.
That evening we went back to Charleston one last time and ate at Coast Bar and Grill. This was much more casual than our other dinners, but still pretty good. We found a nearby bar and grabbed a drink after dinner before heading back to the hotel. It was still relatively early, so we checked out the rooftop bar of the hotel and had one more drink before calling it a night.
Saturday in Charleston
Saturday was the same coffee, gym, pool routine, and opted for a small breakfast of protein bars and an early lunch. Rob went into Charleston to try a barbecue place (Lewis Barbecue , which he said was well worth the trip) and I ate by the pool. We wanted to make the most of our last day and luckily had perfect weather once again!
That night we stayed in Mount Pleasant for dinner and ate at Graze. (At this point in the trip I had completely given up on taking pictures of our food!) We were done with dinner really early, so drank on our balcony and then went to the rooftop bar again. Is this not the biggest cup of wine you’ve ever seen?!
Of course, Sunday was our day to come back home which is never fun. Luckily we had no flight issues and were back home by noon. The rest of the day was spent unpacking, doing laundry, and getting ready for the week ahead.
Looking back it feels like we didn’t get to see too much of Charleston, but that’s ok. we still got to enjoy lots of good food and see different areas where we went to restaurants. It was really too hot to do anything during the day other than stay by the pool! It was a great trip and I wish it was a few days longer. I’d love to go back to Charleston again some day, maybe not in the middle of August!
Have you ever been to Charleston?
When you travel during the summer do you sightsee or stay by the pool?
Do you think you would have been able to eat that whole piece of cake?
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of course I could have eaten the whole piece of cake. but you already knew that! If it was chocolate that is :)) Glad you had a nice trip!
I was surprised I liked the cake because I would much rather have chocolate over coconut! But it was still really good.
Hey, it is a great trip if you got out of it what you needed to get out of it! Alex and I tend to try to strike a balance–we go out and sight see a lot, but we also tend to call it a day and rest and relax when the mood hits us. It is whatever works for you!
Its nice to have the flexibility to do whatever you feel like on a trip! I like going to places where I know I can relax, but could also do some sightseeing if I feel like it.
So glad that you had a great vacation! I have never been to Charleston but would love to visit one day as my running coach lives there.
All the photos of the food look absolutely delicious!!
You should definitely go there one day if you get the chance! Its a great city.
Yay! I’m glad you guys had a good time! I’d love to go to Charleston too! Flights are super expensive from here to there though, because we’re way over on the west coast. The food, the drinks, the beach, it all looks divine!
We actually picked Charleston because it was cheap to fly there on Southwest. We actually planned our vacation by looking at places where Southwest flies directly from Baltimore!
Wow, all of that food looks amazing. Especially those biscuits!!
I went to Charleston with some friends a couple of years ago, and I loved it. Especially walking along the water and that pineapple fountain 🙂
Hope you have a great Tuesday!
Its a great city with amazing food!
My sister and I went to Charleston a few years ago for our sister trip and it’s still one of my favorite places. Boy, did we eat well!
There is so much good food in Charleston!!
I’m glad you had good weather! I love Charleston – I don’t think I’ve eaten at any of the places you mentioned. I’ve stayed in Mt Pleasant before too – it’s so much more reasonable and uber’s make it so easy. Hope you had a blast!
We really lucked out with the weather! And Mt Pleasant was perfect, its so close to the city but so much quieter!
The food and drink sound so good! I would probably melt in Charleston and need to stay close to the pool. And I don’t think I could eat even a quarter of that cake but it looks tasty!
The pool was really the only way we were able to stay outside all day!
I have not been to Charleston before, but it looks great! That cake looks pretty awesome. I am typically a chocolate cake fan, but something about coconut in a tropical location just seems right. Glad you have a fun trip!
I usually wouldn’t order coconut cake either but I was glad we tried it!
What a fun trip! I wish I could say that we spend our time relaxing but I always want to go out and sight see! I could eat that cake, no question. Rick and I ordered a brownie sundae one time and the waitress made a comment that we would never finish it…Rick goes “you haven’t met my wife”. I have a really large appetite!
Haha thats awesome! I love dessert but am usually too full after dinner to eat much of it.
Never been to Charleston, but would like to see it sometime! Sounds like a great vacation. I’m usually torn…I love to just relax by a pool (or on a beach), but I also love to explore and see some of the sights. Of course, I usually try to sneak in a short run (or two, depending on how many days we’re in a spot) 😉
It always feels like there is so much to do on vacation and never enough time to enjoy it all!
I’ve never been to Charleston but it seems like all of my friends have visited recently! I would definitely have eaten that whole slice on my own. I have no “full” button, as my friends say:) I like to a little bit of sightseeing and a little bit of laying by the pool/water. It’s all about balance:)
Have a Great Weekend!!
-Kerri
It really is all about balance! Although I tend to do more relaxing than exploring when I travel:)
what a great trip. All the food looks delicious. I’ve never been to Charleston (or anywhere in the South), but it looks like it’s worth a trip!
It was a great place to visit!
We toured the College of Charleston a few years ago with my daughter. What a cute little city and yes lots of good food and shopping.
I bet that would be a great place to go to school!