Dusty and I went on a recent road trip to Florida for Christmas to visit my parents. Along the way we made it a point to stop in Charleston, South Carolina! Charleston is a place we've always wanted to visit…having heard so many wonderful things about it and the rich history was enough to lure us in. We arrived in Charleston in the early evening after 2 days (14 hours) of driving, we had stopped in West Virginia along the way for an overnight to split up the drive (West Virginia and Virginia are beautiful)!  

We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express right in Charleston. It was dog friendly, which worked out great for our little furbabies. The hotel was really clean (woohoo) and the staff were super friendly! We were only in Charleston for 24 hours (if that) but it was enough to give us a taste of the beautiful city! The weather was a tad cold, roughly 50 degrees, but compared to the 20-ish degree weather we were leaving behind in Michigan – we weren't complaining! 

Our first evening in Charleston we went to the Charleston Crab House – which was delicious! Being so near the ocean, the seafood tastes amazing and fresh. A glass of wine, some food, and then we called it a night so we could get up early the next morning and spend a good 8 hours in downtown Charleston before heading off to Savannah, GA. 

We located a coffee shop and make it our first stop in the morning so that we could equip ourselves with caffeine. We ended up stopping at Black Tap Coffee, an adorable little coffee shop nestled in a residential side street in downtown Charleston. I had a delicious vanilla latte and Dusty had a pour over. We spent a good 30 minutes sipping our delicious caffienated beverages and scouting out our next stop. Our time was very limited so we were strategic in selecting only a handful of places to visit. Most of Charleston sites are within walking distance of one another, making it a fun city to explore by foot!

Our first stop was Rainbow Row. This was one of the stops on my short list…simply because of the noted fame for the pastel colored homes all beautifully aligned on the street. The street also has a clear view of the harbor and Fort Sumter. It wasn't a busy street like we envisioned it being…instead, it was a charming, sleepy, quiet street where locals strolled on their way to Sunday church.After visiting Rainbow Row and taking in the view of Fort Sumter we visited the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon, this building played a large role in the United States' quest for independence, it has been a meeting places for many of the founding fathers and is a history nerds paradise (aka Dusty's paradise). It was especially fun to frolick around in the large ballroom where George Washington once held a celebration soon after the Revolutionary War. Dusty is a huge history fan and when we go anywhere "historic" he has to read every plaque and every historic monument sign in sight. I love history too, but not as much as Dusty, I let him do the reading, then he gives me the synopsis and I take the photos for memory sake – great team work 😉 We then went to the Heyward-Washington House which is an old home that was owned by Thomas Heyward, Jr., one of four South Carolina signers of the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Heyward and his family would host George Washington at their home on many occassions over the years. Dusty was in heaven walking around the different drawing rooms and gathering spaces where Heyward and Washington would have talked about the American Revolution and many other things. As we walked to lunch it seemed that every building we passed had historic significance. Charleston was an amazing city and I can't wait until we visit again. History aside, the food is also amazing in Charleston. We enjoyed a delicious lunch which included cornbread, soup and Dusty had a pork belly salad (he claims it was the best salad he's ever had)! We finished our day in Charleston with a walk along the Battery…a beautiful oceanside road that is lined with amazing homes!
Photos and fun from our Savannah, Georgia part of the roadtrip coming to the blog next!