Apologies for today’s post going up a few hours later than usual – my server has been having *issues* uploading images, and since there are #AllThePics from Charleston to be shared today, it had a case of the Tuesday’s and temporarily lost its mind. It’s fine. We’re fine. Ha. ANYHOO. I feel like all I’ve been doing is flying lately – ha! ICYMI, I was recently in Charleston, SC with my girl Taylor, her mama, and my mama for a little mother-daughter girls’ trip. We had such a good time, but it’s really just SO good to be back home for a hot sec before September’s madness begins (AKA: New York Fashion Week, our anniversary/babymoon, and then another work trip at the end of the month – already feeling exhausted from it all, albeit a good exhaustion!). God bless husbands that willingly play airport chaffeur and pick up decaf iced coffee en route. 😉

All of the notes + pics from our Charleston adventure are compiled in this post as a sortof 4-day itinerary in case you’ve got a trip on the books (or plan to mark yo’ calendars anytime soon – because it’s such a cute city!). So there’s everything from what to eat, to what to see + do, as well as where to stay!

A few things:

Charleston is HOT + HUMID. At least, in August it is! Any southern belles in the house are probably laughing out loud at me right now, since I’m sure you Texans are like “WHAT HUMIDITY?!” But compared to Philadelphia, Charleston is v hot + v humid. This girl does not do the greatest in heat. This girl *especially* does not do the greatest in heat when she’s 6 months pregnant.

And when you’re pregnant, you apparently give off 21% more CO2 than other folks, so you’re a MAGNET for mosquitos and other biting bugs. Which is awesome.

So I ended the trip in need of a cold shower + a whole lotta calamine lotion. 😉

Day 1:

Check-in at The Inns

Our home sweet home for the week was The Inns – a property set of luxury vacation homes in the heart of Charleston. Really y’all, I could not recommend The Inns more. The place is DARLING. You can rent multiple rooms in an apartment-sesque setup, so we had the entire first floor of a subset to ourselves with two full bedrooms, a bathroom, and a fridge/coffee nook. There’s the *cutest* porch that wraps around the first floor, too, and TV’s in each room with Netflix, Hulu, the works. The Inns also provides sheets, towels, etc so you really feel like you’re getting the hotel treatment while being in a very home-y space; heck, I half-expected to come in at the end of the day to a freshly made bed and housekeeping! Ha!

There’s really no word to describe it besides “darling!” The decor is magical, the detail orientation is out of this world (can we talk about the leopard print wallpaper?!?!), everything is so well-maintained – you feel like you’re transporting to a luxurious, trendy Manhatten highrise while still being in the coastal south. We loveloveloved the location – it was so close to everything on our list, and we were able to park in the back without any issues. 100% recommend.

Late lunch at The Darling Oyster Bar

This might’ve been my favorite meal right outta the gate! Some highlights to not miss…

Peach + tomato sourdough toast with goat cheese and fresh mint
Fried chicken sandwich with slaw + tomato aioli
Hushpuppies with honey butter
Great mocktails – their bartender knows how to make GOOD mocktails from pretty much any cocktail on the menu, so if you’re preggers and/or just not opting for alcohol, order one!

Walk around King Street

We spent the evening just wandering around King Street to get acquainted with the town! Popping in little boutiques + ice cream shops and just seeing what Charleston had to offer while planning our next few days in town.

Day 2:

Tour of Historic Downtown Charleston

From our explorations the night before, we knew we wanted to kick things off with a good ol’ tour, especially since Charleston is SUCH a historic town (seriously, I had no idea). We opted for the Old South Carriage Company, although there are horse-drawn carriage tours on what feels like every block, so you’re bound to find a company with tours operating when you’d like to go (we went first thing in the morning, and they run until around 5 pm-ish). Book tickets early, since they do fill up fast!

Brunch at Millers All Day Diner

Another FABULOUS meal – every single thing at Millers was out of this world. Some highlights…

Strata – Grits, roasted vegetables, parmesan, boursin, basil.
Cereal parfait – Nuts, seeds, grains, swiss yogurt, fruit, jam. The Swiss yogurt really does taste different from Greek, Icelandic, or regular yogurt…it’s not sweet, really at all. SO yummy + fresh-tasting.
Strawberry cream scone – Got it to go!
Latte – Because #ButFirstCoffee

Magnolia Plantation Tour

Magnolia Plantation is one of the oldest + most popular gardens in the country and it’s jampacked with history, so it’s def worth a visit. There are #AllTheThings to do on the Plantation, so it’s easy to spend an afternoon exploring + learning! We signed up for a Nature Tour, as well as a full tour of the Plantation home. The Nature Tour is a little train ride through #nature, where you learn all sortsa stuff about all of the birds and the bees of the premises. Rather, the gators and spiders and snakes. 😉 I can hang with nature, but I can’t hang THAT close to things that bite; when the tour guide mentioned that there are 5 varieties of venomous snake on the property, she had me thiiiiiis close to hightailing it back to PA myself. 😉

Dinner at Poogan’s Smokehouse

Poogan’s was a recommendation from one of you guys, so THANKYOU mucho – ’twas delish! Some highlights…

Cheddar mac n’ cheese with bacon
Pimento cheese and pickle board (ask for extra little bread toasts!)
Pulled pork sliders – I mean WOW. These were bombdotcom – no surprise, since it’s a barbecue place! If I wasn’t so meh on meat this pregnancy, I would’ve been all about a rib rack there. Looked YUM.

Day 3:

Tour Downtown Market

One of Charleston’s landmarks is a big open-space marketplace in the center of town. It was once used for slave trading, so it’s a pretty dark reminder of America’s dark past – but I think important to confront and acknowledge openly to fully heal + continue to fight for an end to all forms of slavery pointblankperiod. Today, the market has all sortsa vendors, from craftsmen/women making seagrass baskets (a traditional craft passed on through generations – totally FASCINATING to stop + chat with the folks who do this for a living! Do it!) to different foods.

Brunch at Callie’s Hot Biscuit Shop – get the BLT biscuit, but prepare to cut it with a fork + knife.

The one in town that we popped into was tiny + JAMPACKED with people, and TBH the owner wasn’t very nice. BUT. The biscuits were delish. Get the BLT, but be prepared to cut it with a fork + knife. And BYOK (that’s bring-your-own-ketchup), because apparently they don’t have any. Which the owner not-so-kindly pointed out to a nice gentleman in line next to us. OY. 😉 Either way, yummy biscuits done all sortsa ways.

Rainbow Row

Didja even go to Charleston if you skipped Rainbow Row? A total landmark! It’s a literal row of rainbow-hued houses that attracts tourists + locals alike for photo opps. I would’ve enjoyed the Row much more if I weren’t getting eaten ALIVE by bugs at this point, but def a worthwhile stop!

The Old Exchange + Provost Dungeon Tour

100% recommend all of the historical tours + sights in a town as historically rich as Charleston, since it’s a really fab way to get to know the city more intimately right outta the gate. The Old Exchange + Provost Dungeon is also in the heart of town; in its past 2.5 centuries of existence, it’s been a commercial exchange, custom house, post office, city hall, military headquarters, + now museum. We did a self-guided tour of the upstairs space and a fully guided tour of the dungeon, which was well-done; the space used to be at the water line and was therefore at the frontlines of battle, basically, as the British came over, so the Dungeon was where prisoners + political figures were kept.

Dinner at Stella’s (Greek)

This was our final dinner in Charleston, and we all had our eyes (+ hearts + stomachs) set on Greek! This place is apparently POPPIN’, because when we called for reservations, they *only* had one 5 pm left for the night…and it was a Wednesday night. DAYUM.

A highlight worth ordering…

Saganaki – It’s flaming Kefalograviera cheese! LITERALLY comes out on fire. Also delish.

Day 4:

We had this #dream to do kickoff our last Charleston morning with crepes, but the place turned out to be closed. WOMP. So we ended up doing…

Breakfast at Caviar and Banana’s

There were little Caviar and Banana’s quick shops at the airport and in the market, so I think this chain is a pretty big deal down there??? Any Charlestonians in the house that can verify?? Either way, what we got was SO YUM. 1000000% recommend.

Ricotta toast – Housemade Ricotta, Rosemary-Apricot Marmalade, Pistachios, Toasted Multigrain Bread. In the running for best toast of all time. LEGIT.
Housemade oatmeal with chocolate hazelnut butter + fresh seasonal berries. In the running for best oatmeal of all time. ALSO LEGIT.