Last Memorial Day weekend Gordon and I went to Charleston, SC for our Anniversary. It was AWESOME! We both had never been before and truly loved it… and basically ate our way through the city lol – everything from doughnuts and coffee for breakfast, to the best seafood anniversary dinner at Hyman's.
When I’m on vacation, I’ll be honest, I really only photograph for fun and the photos are always just a bunch of random happy snaps. When I get home, I’m often playing catch-up on work from the time I took off and the photos sit on the hard drive for months until I get a chance to go through them. Hence why this blog post is almost 4 months overdue!
So the photos somewhat make sense, to those who are interested, our Itinerary was as follows:
Friday: (no photos from Friday… whoops!)
We checked in to our adorable Airbnb, which I wish I would’ve photographed! Haha whoops! It was so cute! Then went to Sullivan’s Island to check out the beach and had dinner at Poe’s Tavern. Gordon loved the atmosphere at Poe’s, but we both felt like the food was pretty average. However, Sullivan’s Island was cute and I loved how everyone drove their golf cart everywhere!
Saturday:
We spent the morning exploring downtown Charleston– had the best doughnuts from Glazed, walked the Battery (not over-rated at ALL, we both LOVED it!), checked out the adorable Rainbow Row, walked through City Market, and basically walked all over downtown (so cute! I’m obsessed with all the flower boxes and stunning architecture!)
Those who know Gordon probably know that his favorite foods are cheeseburgers and hot dogs, so for lunch, he found Jack’s Cosmic Hot Dogs in Mt. Pleasant – and let me tell you, they did not disappoint! So fun and completely delicious! Ridiculously so.
From there we drove out to Folly Beach and I got the biggest pineapple whip served in half of a pineapple from The Pineapple Hut… hey, when in Rome right?! Folly Beach definitely has the beach party vibe, which isn’t really my thing, but we enjoyed it despite the WIND! It was SO WINDY!
We stopped at the famous Bowen’s Island Restaurant for dinner on the way back (Gordon got their fried shrimp and I chose their Frogmore Stew). It was beautiful, we sat on the deck overlooking the water and watching the sunset… as well as a wedding happening on the dock below us.
Sunday:
I think Sunday was one of our favorite days of the trip! Gordon is a big WWII history buff, and both of us enjoy American History in general. We spent the morning exploring Fort Sumter, it was so amazing - you can still see some of the cannonballs lodged in the brick remnants, and the fingerprints in the bricks from the slave children who made them. It’s unbelievable to see.
We then spent the rest of the day at Patriots Point exploring the USS YORKTOWN, USS LAFFEY Destroyer, and their Vietnam Experience. It was truly awesome and incredible to see. Touring the USS YORKTOWN was one of the biggest highs of the trip for both of us!
Monday:
Monday was our actual anniversary (5/31)! Year 2! Last year we watched the sunrise on a pier in Annapolis, so this year it felt fitting to watch the surnise on the beach in the Isle of Palms. Isle of Palms was by far our favorite beach near Charleston! It’s absolutely beautiful and the water was so warm! We walked the beach and collected oyster shells… while drinking some Dunkin’ ;). It was perfect.
For breakfast, we went to Millers All Day where I ordered a cheeseburger… for breakfast. I’ve never had a cheeseburger for breakfast before, but I have to tell you, this was hands-down the best cheeseburger I’ve ever had. Highly recommend Miller’s All Day! The food was SO good and the Mid-Century decor was so my jam! I loved it!
We then drove out to Middleton Place, which was my personal favorite part of the trip! The gardens were stunning! We saw the oldest tree in America, a few alligators swimming, read about the rice fields and history of the plantation, and explored their entire property. The weather was perfect and it was the most peaceful afternoon walking around the plantation. I truly loved it and cannot wait to go back!
On our way back to downtown we stopped at Timbo’s Boiled Peanuts and Gordon made friends with Timbo while I snapped a few photos. Neither Gordon nor I had ever had boiled peanuts before so we thought we’d try them… yep, they’re weird. And mushy. Those of you from the South, why is this a thing? I truly don’t mean to be offensive, haha, but I really don’t get it! LOL
Later that afternoon we checked in to the Planters Inn, then got ready for our dinner at Hyman’s Seafood. Where in the words of Gordon we “ordered huge” lol… everything from the drinks (bloody mary for him, old-fashioned for me) to dessert was delicious… but more than that, Hyman’s was genuinely an experience! The service was great and the atmosphere was so fun and casual! We had a great time.
Tuesday:
We spent a leisurely morning downtown getting coffee and walking the City Market, got breakfast at Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit, then hit the road to make the trip home. It truly was a great weekend! So grateful!
