A few weeks ago my husband and I escaped out of town for a long weekend to celebrate our anniversary. We had a bigger trip planned (to celebrate our big 10 YEAR anniversary) but we will do that later this year. So we decided to stay somewhat close to home and check out a new city to us that came highly recommended – Charleston, SC. We have been to Savannah, GA several times and love the historical homes and sites and had heard that Charleston had all of that to offer plus the beautiful waterfront. We really enjoyed our visit and hope to go back one day!
We actually stayed across the bay from Charleston in Mount Pleasant, SC. We could see the USS Yorktown (a historic Navy aircraft that you can tour) and the beautiful Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge crossing into Charleston right from our balcony.
There was also a marina on the bay at our hotel. We loved watching the boats on the water – big barge ships coming into Charleston and even a cruise ship, and smaller sailboats.
And enjoying sunsets over the water.
We spent some time at the beaches there – Isle of Palms was probably our favorite. A very private, secluded beach – no big tourist hotels – just private homes on the beach.
And the rest of the time we spent exploring, eating, touring, and shopping in Charleston.
One day we took a carriage ride through the city with a tour guide who could point out all the history and landmarks to us.
I had so much fun taking pictures and the city and old homes were GORGEOUS! I seriously could have spent 2 FULL days just walking through the city taking pictures of architecture, ironwork, and all the beautiful sites, but we didn’t have that much time. But I managed to capture a good bit as we walked, were on the tour and walked through several parks. So I thought I would share some of my favorites with you.
Charleston has some of the oldest historic homes around. Many homes there are 200 years old and not many are newer than 100 years old. Most have been restored beautifully and were so pretty to see.
Love this red door! Love how they painted the inside of the squares a darker color.
And the window boxes – I saw so many pretty ones with full gorgeous plants!
I always love big, huge trees making a canopy over the road – so pretty.
Houses along the bay front.
I took lots of pictures of the beautiful ironwork.
Hoping to frame a few of these for some architectural art for our home.
Love this turquoise ironwork!
The parks and gardens there are so pretty! This is Charleston Waterfront Park. Kids can run and plan and wade in this fountain
The trees, walks, and homes are so pretty.
And this is the famous pineapple fountain – so pretty! You can see the bay in the background
You can take a ferry out to Ft. Sumter (which you can see in the distance in the below picture). Ft. Sumter is known as the place where the Civil War began.
So many palm or Palmetto Trees – the tree displayed on the SC state flag.
View of the USS Yorktown from the Charleston side.
We walked down along the bay to the Battery.
Enjoying all the historic Southern mansions and views.
The Battery has cannons and monuments dedicated to different soldiers and battles fought there.
Shopping at Charleston City Market was one of our favorite places to shop.
You could buy many local and souvenir type items there. Many people were selling these handmade flowers made from the leaves of the palmetto trees.
We ate at Hyman’s seafood the night of our anniversary – a local seafood in the heart of Charleston! Highly recommend it!
And another favorite place we ate was Dixie Supply Bakery & Café. A small local restaurant with awesome food!
Guy Fieri from Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives did a show here and it was on our bucket list to eat at a restaurant that we saw on his show. We loved the Bacon Bourbon Pecan Pie – I know it sounds unusual (and yes, that is a slice of bacon on the top) – but it was DELICIOUS! Their shrimp and grits were amazing too.
We had such a wonderful, peaceful time. Life has been very hard for us the last few months and it was so nice to get away from all the stress and turmoil and enjoy each other and spending unlimited amount of time together. We love traveling together and can’t wait for our next trip. Hope to one day go back to Charleston too – still so many things that we didn’t get to do or see.
Have you ever been to Charleston? What is your favorite vacation destination – city, beach, mountains? We love them all!
I loved looking at your photos! We love many of the same things…surprise! LOL! The market, the handmade flowers, Hymans, oh yes! And Rainbow Row…the colorful row houses. I’ve stayed on Seabrook Island a few times and it’s so quiet and lovely with uncrowded beaches, deer that come out at dusk and plenty of space to ride bikes. I got a small sea grass basket that has housed napkins over the last seven years. I’m so glad y’all enjoyed Charleston too!!
Wow. Beautiful! We are going to be in Charleston for a day or so this fall. Can’t wait! Thanks for sharing your pictures! 🙂
kelly
We love Charleston! We spent a long weekend last July there in a historical home downtown (read between the lines: 3rd floor attic apartment of a row house accessed by 3 flights of creaky stairs…some without rails! 😉 We walked nearly everywhere we went besides the battery. They have a great children’s museum there too and the kids and I spend and entire morning there one day. You took some great pics!! Happy Anniversary! 🙂
Enjoyed these great pictures! Love those iron gates!!!
So glad you enjoyed your visited our Holy City! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful historic city in our state. The next time you come you should tour the plantations homes outside Charleston. Boone Hall and Middleton Place are wonderful!
Take care!
Ashley @ 3littlegreenwoods
Christina,
Great pictures!!! Thanks for sharing! We visited Charleston several years ago when my husband was stationed in N. Carolina. It was a nice weekend getaway and we stayed in a bed & breakfast there in the historic district. Like you, the weekend just wasn’t long enough to see and do all we wanted to! We keep saying we are going to go back…… I love the historical homes, especially the “rainbow row” houses. I have a watercolor of those and also a seagrass basket! Love the flowers…..didn’t see those when we were there!
Glad you were able to get away and enjoy celebrating your anniversary!
Blessings,
Lanita
We went to Charleston for our anniversary too. Our hotel was on the street that dead ends into the waterfront park & pineapple fountain. Great food!
Loved seeing your pictures of Charleston. It is one of my favorite Southern cities. My husband and I also celebrated an anniversary there many years ago. Thanks for sharing your trip.
I’ve been watching for a blog post on Charleston ever since I saw all your instagram pics a few weeks ago! We went to Charleston on our honeymoon and are totally in love with that city! I’m glad you went to the City Market–that’s one of my favorite places there. Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures!!!
My husband and I visited Charleston several years ago and loved it. Great photos. Brought back memories.
I’m looking forward to visiting Charleston later this year. Now that I have read your blog I am have more that I want to see on this trip!!! Beautiful pictures!!!!!
We LOVE Charleston! We went last year about this time. There are so many beautiful things to see and fun things to do. Glad you guys had a wonderful time!
Oh Christina, I loved the trip down memory lane! We used to live in N. Charleston, and I went to college at the College of Charleston, so I’ve spent many hours in that beautiful city. My hubby proposed to me on the beach at Sullivan’s Island (right next to Isle of Palms) and we ALWAYS ate at Hyman’s for special occasions. I never get tired of Chucktown. Take care – Dawn
As a Charlestonian, I am glad you enjoyed my city, just want to comment that there is no bay in Charleston. What you saw was the Cooper and Ashley Rivers joining to form th beginning of the Atlantic Ocean .