A few weeks ago, Eric and I took our final vacation as a family of two! I didn't want to hop on a plane, so we decided to stay close to home. We settled on Charleston, SC, which Eric hadn't been to since he was a kid and I was eager to revisit since taking my sister there a few years ago.
Now, I'll admit we definitely ran out of things to do and got a little bored by 7pm each night. As it turns out traveling late in pregnancy isn't super fun! However, the weather was perfect, the food was good, and we saw some amazing places during the day.
Our first stop of the trip was lunch at Lewis Barbecue. OMG ya'll. We could have turned around and gone home after this and I would have been happy. Amazing food, and the restaurant/patio is a beautiful spot to hang out.
We had some time to kill before our check-in so we did some shopping and walking after that. This little shop had the cutest barware!
Candy Shop Vintage was the cutest little jewelry shop downtown. The girl working there actually grew up close to us so we loved chatting with her and hearing her recommendations!
We quickly popped into J. Stark - a beautiful bag shop where you can make the bags right there - very cool to see!
Even though we were stuffed from lunch, we had to pop into Sugar bakeshop (just for a mini cupcake at least). It has the cutest courtyard to relax in.
I initially wanted to stay downtown, but even in February, the prices for hotels were insane. We settled on an airbnb that was about 15 minutes away in James Island, and it was so gorgeous! Plus they had chickens in their backyard, so you know they got a 5 star rating from me :)
We ended our first night at Bar Mash - which I highly recommend even if you're not drinking! They made me an awesome mocktail and had indoor shuffleboard and bocce ball, so Eric and I were well entertained until 9pm ;)
We kicked off the next morning with some authentic Belgian waffles from Sweet Belgium. So good! The owner is from Belgium and is the nicest to talk to.
Beach time! Eric and I headed to Folly Beach - one of my favorite beaches in the south. Is the weather in Charleston always so lovely in February? It was the perfect weather to lay out and not be too hot or too cold.
After the beach we freshened up and headed for a late lunch at Taco Boy - which I'd been dying to try since my last trip. It did not disappoint! I highly recommend the fish and cauliflower tacos, and queso.
If you go to Charleston and don't take a picture of Rainbow Row, did it even happen?
Dinner was at Darling Oyster Bar, which I'd been dying to try since seeing their branding a few years back. Pictures did not do this restaurant justice - it's gorgeous on the inside!
We ended the night grabbing drinks on the patio of 492 (so nice!), then grabbing ice cream from Jeni's across the street. I can't wait for Jeni's to open in Charlotte soon - so good ya'll!
On our final morning we headed to the Restoration Hotel downtown - which reminded me a lot of the Ace Hotel. They've got a coffee shop, store, and rooftop restaurant and everything looks beautiful.
We had The Watch rooftop to ourselves for brunch - which was so nice! Amazing views and food.
Before leaving town we had to hit one of the plantations. I typically always visit Magnolia when I'm in town, but we decided to spring for Middleton Place this time. It was pricey, but so worth it.
We saw A LOT of wildlife and farm animals on this plantation, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much. Here's a snake we almost stepped on, and scroll to see some of the alligators we saw around the property!
They had a lot of free demonstrations around the property - from woodworking, to pottery, which was really fun to pop in and see.
Till next time Charleston! Can't wait to visit again as a family of 3!
