4 Incredible Days in Charleston, South Carolina

It was that time of year again, when my friends and I decided to plan our annual girls weekend. We hadn’t taken one in the last two years because of the C-word, so this had to be a good one. 

We went back and forth about where to go. Did we want a party scene, did we want to lay on a beach, or did we want to do something different? None of us really knew; the only thing we did know was that we wanted to go somewhere warm to escape the New York winter cold. 

We decided on Charleston, South Carolina. We’d noticed it had been a hot spot for bachelorette parties as of late, so there had to be a bit of a party scene, but we also knew it would be more relaxing than, say, a trip to Vegas or Miami. 

We booked our hotel as soon as we decided on Charleston, since we noticed that the weekend we were going was already pretty booked. We decided on a room at Andrew Pinckney Inn in the French Quarter. 

For our generation who loves instant gratification, Charleston is the place to go. From the second you arrive in the city, you know you’ve made the right choice when choosing your destination. Charleston is charming, clean, and just beautiful all around. From the picture perfect shops, restaurants, and colorful buildings to harbor views from each rooftop you visit, you’ll never be disappointed in this city. 

Day 1 – 

By some miracle, our flight out of LaGuardia Airport was the only flight to Charleston that weekend that was not delayed. There were massive storms the day before that brought in a heavy fog that morning. Since there were so many delays and cancellations, Delta was offering AMEX gift cards starting at $500 to change to a later flight to help make accommodations for those affected by flight cancellations. 

$600…

$700… Hmm, ok, now we’re listening. My friend Briana and I looked at each other and decided to take the offer. Our friend Josephine was flying down on the later flight anyway, so now we’d just all be on the same flight. We were told to step to the side while the boarding process went on and if they needed to take our seats, then we would get the gift cards and take the later flight. 

Turns out they didn’t need us to give up our seats, so we boarded our original flight, got our original seats, and made our way to Charleston to begin our girls weekend without our AMEX gift cards.

We checked into our hotel and then ran to lunch. We were both starving. We had reservations at The Palmetto Cafe, a fancy restaurant in The Charleston Place. The Charleston Place is a very upscale, fancy hotel filled with high-end shops like Gucci. We were still dressed in our airport outfits, so we felt a tad out of place, but who cares – we were hungry!

The waiter brought out bread and butter for our table, but this wasn’t your usual bread service. The butter was infused with three different flavors: tomato, pesto, and olive. I’ve never seen anything like it! 

I ordered myself “The Infield” to drink, which was cucumber vodka with basil, mint, lime, cucumber, and ginger beer. It was super refreshing! For lunch, I ordered the Cauliflower “Steak,” which is basically just a way to make vegetarians feel like they’re having an expensive meal too. All jokes aside, it was delicious. It was loaded with pine nuts, chickpeas, tomatoes, and covered in different sauces. 

After lunch we took a stroll down Meeting Street to check out some of the local shopping. Charleston is a wonderful place to shop! The streets are filled with all local boutiques and shops as well as some big name stores. 

We both realized our suitcases were packed to capacity, so we ended up leaving the shops empty handed. Next time I visit Charleston, I will be ready to shop! 

The Andrew Pinckney Inn hosts a wine and cheese happy hour every day from 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM. It was our first day there, so we figured we had to check it out. We went up to the 4th floor, which had lovely views overlooking the city and the harbor. We sipped on our wine, nibbled on our cheese, and chatted away with the two couples next to us, all taking in this amazing night that was only just beginning. 

We got a bit carried away at happy hour (time wise) and didn’t have time for dinner after showering and getting ready for the night. We had tickets to see dueling pianos at John King’s Dueling Piano Bar at 8PM. We assumed they would have some snacks there, but we were mistaken. Liquid dinner for us. 

We arrived around 8:30 PM and were surprised at how empty the place was. There were people sitting around the tables, but not a single soul at the bar. We decided to change that and took two seats at the bar. I’m glad we did, because as the night went on the place really did become packed. 

I have to be honest; this bar was dirty. The floor was sticky, the bar itself was sticky, the bathrooms were awful. But it did have one thing going for it: the atmosphere. The dueling pianos are too fun to not sing along to, so the show had the whole bar singing and having a really good time. It was dirty, but it was a blast. 

Day 2 –

Josephine had arrived the night before, but because her flight was delayed she couldn’t make it out with us to John Kings. We had brunch plans for the early afternoon, but we were all hungry pretty early. We went up to the 4th floor of the Andrew Pinckney again, but this time for the continental breakfast. 

This continental breakfast was, hands down, the best one I had ever seen. It wasn’t just some boxes of cereal, a dirty waffle iron, and some mushy fruit. No, this continental breakfast had a coffee station with biscotti, yogurt and granola, a selection of pastries, homemade hot breakfast selections, cereals, and bagels. Even better, it’s included in your stay! 

After our quick breakfast, we got ready to walk the town to our brunch reservations at 82 Queen. The walk was only about 10 – 15 minutes, so we got to take in some city sights and get some fresh air as we recovered from our liquid dinner the night before. 

We arrived at 82 Queen and were checked in right at the entrance before being taken back to the most picturesque courtyard: an Instagrammer’s dream brunch. The space was filled with cute white tables and chairs, umbrellas, string lights, and lots and lots of greenery. The backs of the chairs almost looked like butterflies. It was too cute. 

Our waitress was very friendly and helpful in accommodating us with some food allergies. By “some” I mean a lot, so we really appreciated it! 

We started with some pomegranate mimosas to kick off the day. I ordered the Low Country Breakfast Bowl. It had grits in it, and that was pretty much all of the convincing I needed. How can you get a southern breakfast and not have grits? We ordered a side of biscuits too because, again, we are in the south after all.

After brunch, we wandered through City Market to do some window shopping and walk off our meal. We then decided we should take a day trip to Folly Island to do a marsh boat cruise. 

We booked our tickets with Charleston Outdoor Adventures on Viator. Driving up to the meeting point for the tour we were all convinced we were going to die. It was a very narrow and unpaved path up a relatively desolate road. Our Uber ride there was horrific and I was about to be car sick, so I was less bothered by the atmosphere. When we arrived at our destination, I jumped out of the car, basically inviting the possible impending murder. Anything to be out of that damn car. 

We were not murdered, and as we got out we saw little groups of people all around and a big restaurant right next to the docks. We instantly felt better and signed in for our tour.

We were assigned to Captain Josh and boarded up the little boat ready to go. There were about 10 or 12 other people on the boat  with us, so it was a small crowd, but not too small. As we went, he gave us a history of the area, filled us in on the local ecosystem, and most importantly, pointed out all of the dolphins he saw. 

We made a stop at Morris Island, where we were allowed to hop off the boat to explore the beach, collect shells, and get a better view of the Morris Island Lighthouse, which was now out in the middle of the water on its own tiny sandbar based on the changes that have happened to the area over the years.

Josh mentioned there were sand dollars in the area, so I was determined to get one. Josephine, Briana, and I ended up finding four beautiful sand dollars. After about an hour of shell collecting and wandering we made our way back to the boat. 

On the ride back, we made one more pit stop. At this point none of us got off of the boat except Josh. He reached over into the marsh and pulled out a bushel of oysters that he then offered us to eat. Disgusting. Two people accepted the oysters and said they were delicious. 

After the tour, we were famished, so we stayed on Folly Island and looked for a spot to go to dinner. We picked a place called Taco Boy. Not a bad choice at all. 

The atmosphere at Taco Boy was incredible. The building looked like a tiki hut and was decorated with colorful accents and lights. 

We indulged in some margaritas and tacos and just enjoyed the atmosphere that Taco Boy and Folly Beach had to offer. We had attempted to pick a place with a view of the sunset but failed miserably. There was no view of the sunset whatsoever from Taco Boy, but hey, it was still a great spot for dinner if you’re not looking for a sunset! 

After dinner, we made our way back to the French Quarter. We had planned to go out but I was not feeling well at all. It was already getting pretty late anyways, so I offered to just stay back and go to bed while they went out. I didn’t want them to feel the need to stay in just because I wasn’t feeling well. They ended up going to Henry’s On The Market, which was only a few minutes walk from our hotel.

Day 3 –

Since I had stayed in the night before, I was up bright and early. Briana and Josephine were still asleep after their night out, but I was ready to start the day. 

I got ready slowly and went upstairs to grab some breakfast. When I returned they were still asleep, so I decided to take a stroll to City Market. I remembered seeing Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit there the day before and I was dying to try it. I ordered myself some grits and a couple of mini biscuits, since they had a 3 for $6 deal. I grabbed two large coffees for the girls and made my way back to the room. 

When I walked in with the coffee they were awake, and filled me in all their adventures from the night before at Henry’s. Henry’s has multiple levels and even has a rooftop section. There was music and fun on each level and plenty of space to enjoy yourself.

We left the room and started our adventuring for the day with a walk to The Battery. The Battery is a park at the southernmost point of the Charleston peninsula. At the beginning of the walk is the famous Pineapple Fountain. After grabbing a few pictures and admiring the beauty of the fountain we continued our walk along the harbor and got to see some dolphins playing along the way. Lucky for us, they were headed south, so we walked in the same direction that they were swimming and playing. 

We got to The Battery and walked around for a few minutes, checked out the statues, and snapped some pictures. The Battery is very pretty, but there isn’t too much going on there, so we turned around and walked back north. We decided it was time to see the famous Rainbow Row. 

Rainbow Row is simply a row of houses that are painted with vibrant, beautiful colors resembling a pastel rainbow. This is an iconic spot to visit as a tourist in Charleston and definitely worth seeing! The colors are really beautiful. It made me want to live in a bright pink house! 

After our morning of checking off hot tourist spots we decided to have a rooftop lunch. There are a ton of rooftops to choose from in Charleston, but we picked Vendue Rooftop. Vendue had a great view of the harbor. It was so nice up there that we didn’t even realize that we were getting very sunburned as we ate. We got a bottle of sparkling rosé to celebrate our last meal as a trio since Josephine had to leave Charleston shortly after lunch. Rosé on the roof was definitely the way to go. 

We went back to the hotel so Josephine could pack and call her ride to the airport. While we were in the room, Briana and I decided to book a sunset harbor cruise for that evening. After Jos left, we headed upstairs for another hotel happy hour since we had some time to kill before the cruise. 

After a couple glasses of wine we went to the dock and boarded a beautiful boat. Apparently the ferryboat we were supposed to go on was getting maintenance done, so we got a free upgrade to the nice boat. They had a bar and a bunch of snacks to purchase. We grabbed some Oreos and wine and went to the top of the boat so we could get the best views of the sunset. 

If there is one thing you take away from this travel story it should be this: take a sunset harbor tour. You get incredible views of the city, a ride past Fort Sumter National Monument, and will enjoy the prettiest sunset you’ll ever see. 

After our boat cruise, it was time for dinner. We didn’t have any reservations so we took a chance and went to Bourbon and Bubbles. Bourbon and Bubbles is known for, you guessed it, bourbon and champagne (bubbles). I still wasn’t feeling too well, so I skipped the drinks, but Briana ordered a champagne flight that looked delicious and made me sooo jealous. 

We both ordered the farmer’s plate, and I have to say, this was the best meal I had in Charleston. The farmer’s plate consisted of red quinoa, a corn relish, goat cheese, a bunch of vegetables, and a pesto sauce. It was flavorful, filling, and just delicious. I highly recommend having dinner at Bourbon and Bubbles if you’re in Charleston! 

Day 4 –  

Our last day in Charleston arrived (sigh). We started with our usual breakfast at the hotel, and then started packing up our bags. We had to check out at 11, and we wanted to leave our bags at the hotel so we could wander around a little longer before our flight. 

After breakfast we wanted to head back to City Market to get some souvenir shopping in. Before doing that, we stopped at Clerk’s Coffee. Clerk’s was such a cute coffee shop. There were a bunch of people working remotely from the shop while sipping on beverages in their giant pink coffee mugs. I wish we’d found this spot earlier because I would have loved to sit and just enjoy a hot beverage there to start the day.

We worked up an appetite wandering around City Market and decided it was lunchtime. We had no plans, so we just picked something nearby and went to TBonz, a sports bar right across from the market. Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend going here. The food wasn’t the best and it felt like a basic chain restaurant. In fact, it is a small chain restaurant with five locations across South Carolina and Georgia.

We couldn’t let that be our last memory of Charleston, so we made our way to Élevé Rooftop to squeeze in one last glass of wine on a rooftop. The vibes at Élevé are perfect. It is spacious, colorful, and bright. The space is filled with cute chairs, couches, even fireplaces! The ideal rooftop spot, if you ask me. It was exactly how we wanted to end our trip: in the sun with a glass of wine in our hands.

After our glass of wine at Élevé it was time to head to the airport. Another girl’s trip in the books.

Charleston, you are incredible. I love you and I cannot wait to come visit again xx