Let’s Take a Girl’s Trip to Charleston, South Carolina

First thing I gotta say is: If you’ve never been on a fun girl’s trip, do it!!

So, as some of you know, my Canada trip in July got cancelled and postponed to September (thanks coronavirus!) but unfortunately borders still weren’t open. I was left with a week off work with no plans…and lemme tell ya, this girl NEEDED a vacation. Working in an ER as a nurse during this pandemic has been straight up awful. So, I started looking into places in the US I could go for a while.

One day, I nonchalantly asked my work-bestie KaLeigh if she wanted to go to South Carolina with me; I had never been before and wanted to visit some new places. I wasn’t expecting her to say yes!

So, plans were made and the hotel was booked, and before we knew it, we were on our way!

Before I talk about it, I want to touch on the topic of self-care. It’s something I feel like we all put off and don’t make time for. I know I’m terrible about it too. So, to all you ladies out there (and guys too), don’t be afraid to take a trip and escape for a while. I know it can be hard to leave your kids or family, but whether it be by yourself or with a group of your best gal pals, I promise you will come home so refreshed, happier, and glad you made such great memories. And it’s good for your family to miss you a little bit; it makes them appreciate you more! Not only this, but it also teaches your family how important self-care and taking time for yourself is. 

Now…back to the trip!

DAY 1

We left late on a Friday night with plans to stop in Asheville, North Carolina and do some adventuring there. I LOVED Asheville and can’t wait to go back someday, but this will be a separate blog post because we did so much!

We arrived to Charleston, South Carolina the next day (Saturday) around 7-7:30 PM. We chose to stay at the Homewood Suites on Meeting Street (super close to the “main” street in Charleston, which is King Street). I highly recommend this hotel! We got a suite which had a little sitting/living room area and full kitchen. Immediately when we got to the room, we received a text from one of the managers ensuring our room was in good condition, which it was. About 20 minutes later we realized the outlet in the bathroom wasn’t working, so I texted him back and he immediately sent maintenance up to fix it. My only issues were that we had a slight hiccup with what they were charging us (which they fixed), and the street it’s on is a bit sketchy at night (though we never had a moment where we felt unsafe). We still chose to carry pepper spray with us though, just in case. 

After we checked in, we walked around King Street and found a cute restaurant with sidewalk seating called Felix. Most restaurants here have a QR code you scan to see the menu; but after looking, we quickly realized almost everything wasn’t completely in English! We asked our waiter to help us who laughed and said “it’s a little French” and helped us order. Our meal was delicious, as well as our drinks! 

DAY 2

The next day we slept in a little, then headed out to Folly Beach, which is 20-30 minutes from Charleston. This was a really cute area! Parking was $20 for the day. There’s a lot of little surf/souvenir shops and restaurants nearby, and the beach was nice and clean. A bit crowded, but expected on a weekend. Recommend coming here to watch people surf!

After the beach, we headed back to Charleston for a sunset sailboat ride with Charleston Sailing Adventures. I highly recommend doing this if you visit! People were pretty good about social distancing, its BYOB, and was I believe $59 a person. Totally worth it in my opinion and we saw a beautiful sunset and several dolphins!

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Afterwards we went to a restaurant called 5Church, which I must say is one of the most beautiful restaurants I’ve ever been to! There are apparently several restaurants in Charleston in old churches, so I’m sure most are similar. I loved how they tried to keep some of the original stain glass and features, it had such a cool vibe and great food!

DAY 3

This day we tried out a different beach, Isle of Palms. I think we both agreed that we liked this beach the best! It was also about 20-30 minutes from the city and a bit more relaxed than Folly Beach. Parking was $10 for a full day, or there were some parking kiosks that were cheaper if you only planned to stay for a couple hours. This area had a changing area, playground, picnic tables, and was surrounded by adorable beach houses. I plan to do more research about this area because I think it would be the perfect spot for a family vacation someday!

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We then went back to the hotel and got cleaned up to walk around downtown Charleston. We visited The Battery, an area along the waterfront with old, stately antebellum mansions, a dog-friendly park filled with beautiful oak trees, and some old cannons (not sure if they are original/real?). This area was created as a defensive seawall and promenade to protect the city.

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We then walked a bit more and visited Rainbow Row, a section of beautiful pastel colored homes that make adorable photo opportunities. We must have come during the perfect time of day because the streets were nearly empty!

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After this we went to the Pineapple Fountain, then decided to eat at a nearby restaurant called Fleet’s Landing. Although there’s currently construction going on in the area, it’s still a very nice restaurant right on the water with great vibes! Definitely recommend the fried grouper. Also, if you plan to spend time walking around, I suggest stopping at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream for a waffle cone!

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After supper we took an Uber back to the hotel and rested a bit before deciding to go hit up some bars. Being a Monday night, it was pretty laid back. We visited Charleston Beers Works, which was a neat sporty-bar with lots of guys shouting at the football game while we sat there and enjoyed some snacks (you gotta try the mac & cheese bites!). After this we went to Tabbuli, which is also a hookah bar. I don’t smoke, but they did have a DJ and a fun crowd out back, so we stayed here for a while before heading back to the hotel for the night. If you’re visiting during the pandemic, keep in mind bars supposedly have to close at 11pm.

DAY 4

We tried to wake up a bit earlier to try to catch the sunrise on the beach, but not quite early enough, haha! It was pretty windy and honestly kinda chilly on the beach this day, so we really only spent the morning here covered up in a beach towel people watching. 

We then headed out to see Boone Hall Plantation, which, fun fact, is where part of the Notebook and several other movies have been filmed! Entrance into the plantation is $26 a person. It was really interesting to learn about the history of Gullah people and slaves and get to see the houses they used to live in. We also got to go inside the main house a bit, though we didn’t get to see all of it due to Covid, and walk around the gardens and the lake. Make sure you stop by the gift shop for souvenirs and ice cream!

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After getting back into town, we went back to Charleston Beer Works for supper for one of the best burgers of my life (and more mac & cheese bites of course). Then we decided to finish off our trip by relaxing by the pool with a good book.

The next day we packed up early and started on our longgg drive home. I missed Charleston the moment we left!

I do feel like we fit some of the best highlights of the Charleston area into our short trip! If this place isn’t on your bucket list yet, it should be. There is so much to experience here! If I ever go back, a few others things I would like to see and do are…

Sullivan’s Island beach

Go to Patriot’s Point and tour the battleships and submarines 

Horse drawn carriage ride 

International African American Museum (opening in 2022!)

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

Middleton Place

Drayton Hall

Ghost tours (I’m a huge scaredy cat, so might take a bit of convincing!)

Angel Oak Tree

A few other restaurants that were recommended to me but we didn’t get a chance to try are Hall’s Chophouse, Indaco, Charleston Crab House, The Darling Oyster Bar, and Magnolia’s!

Keep in mind during the pandemic that masks are required pretty much everywhere and you may get your temperature taken. If you feel comfortable traveling then I think you should be fine, just remember to be courteous of others. We chose to drive to Charleston instead of flying to help avoid people a bit more, plus we were also able to bring our coolers and chairs for the beach. 

I am so so so SO thankful to have a friend and co-worker like KaLeigh who was willing to come with me on our little mini-vacation. A few days of exploring new places and relaxing on the beach was great for my soul and I feel refreshed! Like I said before, self-care is extremely important and we must be kind to ourselves. I hope this inspired you to grab your friends and head out on a trip somewhere fun!

I do have a few more trips this year coming up, so keep an eye out! If you have any questions regarding Charleston please reach out and I’d be more than happy to try to help, and remember to share and comment if you liked this post! Thank you for reading!