36 Hours in Charleston {South Carolina}

weekend-charleston-south-carolina

First, Charleston is my favorite city. The history, the charm, the FOOD. I have been going to Charleston for 27 years. And through the years there have been quite a few changes. Bridges and restaurants come and go but the charm and southern hospitality remain. While 36 hours is not nearly enough time to enjoy all of Charleston, I have some recommendations that will give you a glimpse of the holy city. I have based this article on three things: Food, Shopping, and Exploring.

Let’s start with food. I love food and Charleston has some of the best (in my humble foodie opinion). In 36 hours you have roughly 2 dinners, 2 lunches and 2 breakfasts. Starting with dinners, my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE restaurant (since it opened in 2009) is Halls Chophouse. Located on King street, and family owned (by some of the sweetest people) it is always crowded and will never disappoint. You should make a reservation well in advance. The menu is located here. I recommend starting with the oysters, they are AMAZING. For a main course you can not go wrong with a steak. If it is your first time to the restaurant they will bring out a platter of various cuts of beef and you can make your choice. Side items are served family style. My personal choices for sides are the parmesan truffle fries, the creamed skillet corn, and the asparagus. You can’t go wrong with any dessert, but their 38-layer chocolate cake is my go to (okay, so not really 38 layers, but you get the idea). For a second dinner you won’t be disappointed with any of the following: Ru De Jean, Coast Bar & Grill, Indaco, and The Grocery (a dining experience forsure). Breakfast spots are not hard to come by in the Holy City, but my two favorites are Queen Street Grocery and Poogan’s Porch. Queen Street Grocery is a small but an awesome breakfast spot. You can get a wide variety of crepes and breakfast sandwiches while shopping the wines and local beers they have in the store. Poogan’s Porch is supposedly haunted and has some of the best breakfast food (think pimento cheese fritters and chicken and waffles). Finally, for lunch the list is as follows: Magnolia’s, Rarebit, Hometeam BBQ, Leon’s Oyster Shop, and Harold’s Cabin. There is no shortage of AMAZING food in Charleston, hopefully the above help you narrow it down.

The second thing to focus on is Shopping. King street is the street to do your shopping. I am only highlighting two shops because that is all I had time for in my 36 hours. To start if you want to splurge and make new friends while picking out some wardrobe staples, head over to Beckett Boutique. Athena and Chelsea are not only ridiculously sweet, they know how to dress and accessorize. I LOVE THIS SHOP. The second shop I stopped in was Sugar Snap Pea – the most adorable children’s boutique. They have the world’s softest clothes (PJ’s that adults would want to sleep in) as well as learning games, and toys. If you have little ones, this is the store to stop in. Some of my other favorite stores are: V2V, Finicky Filly, and M. Dumas & Sons (this is a good stop for any men in your life).

Finally, last not but least the exploring part of the trip. All around Charleston there are bike rentals sponsored by Holy Spokes Bikes. You can rent them by the hour ($8) and take them all over the city. It is so much fun to ride from one end of the peninsula to the other on a bike. You can go to the battery, and ride right past the famous Rainbow Row. For the best rooftop views, I recommend stopping in at the Rooftop at Vendue. The panoramic views of the Ravenel Bridge and steeples all over the city is not one to miss. Waterfront Park is another “can’t miss”, with the largest pineapple fountain I have ever seen. If you have extra time and like ghost stories, the only tour I would recommend doing is a haunted ghost tour. Not only is it fun to walk around the city with a group of strangers at night, you also get a cool haunted history lesson.

I hope the above are helpful if you find yourself in Charleston for 36 hours or more. If you haven’t been I recommend making a trip. I would avoid the month of August because it is miserably hot. If you have any questions on where to stay I have a ton of recommendations for that as well, feel free to send me an email at TheBlakeRoseLife@gmail.com.