Anniversary Trip to Charleston, South Carolina

For the past 4 days, we have been celebrating our 4th anniversary in Charleston, South Carolina! We had a wonderful time. As a graduation present to Keith, I purchased tickets for us to have a little getaway. I debated between Charleston and Savannah, Georgia, but S.C. won out and Georgia will have to wait for another time. I was not disappointed in my selection! I wanted us to relax, eat AMAZING food, and enjoy some scenery without feeling pressure to spend our days with an agenda.

Charleston was the perfect location for this. The food alone is reason to return! Add to that the most gorgeous, historic downtown filled with the nicest people and you've got a great gem of a city. We took lots of pictures, so I'll only share the highlights here. I also kept detailed notes of things we liked, didn't like, and any restaurant that was recommended to us so that I can refer to it on our next visit.... I did make Keith promise that we could come back :) So, if you make a trip to Charleston any time soon, shoot me an email!

We left the morning of our anniversary on Thursday and made it to Charleston by 1:30 - we were so excited to have a little time off together!

We stayed at the lovely Francis Marion Hotel on the square. We loved it and I would recommend it to anyone!

I don't know what they had wafting from the lobby and entrance, but every time we got close to the door I could smell the lavender. Heavenly!

Our room was so nice, and we had an awesome view!

In our corner room, we could see the harbor and square out of this view...

...and downtown through the other window.

The traditional gift for the 4th Anniversary is fruit and/or flowers. Keith was such a good hubby - he had flowers ordered and waiting in the room when we walked in! He even made sure the flower for 4th anniversary was used, the geranium. So sweet!

I gave him an Apple Nano (to play off of the fruit part of the tradition...get it? Apple. Yeah, I was stretching for that one! :)

Keith is going to let me pick out a fruit or floral painting by a local artist as my gift. I can't wait to find the perfect one!

The hotel concierge, Joy, was great! She helped us with anything we needed and sent us a little welcome treat on our first day, too.

We immediately set out to explore. The harbor is beautiful!

Perusing the Charleston City Market is a must.

I loved the residential areas of downtown Charleston - everything was steeped in history, and I saw something new around every turn.

How gorgeous is this front door entry?

Love the ivy-like covering!

Even though it's tight quarters, there are some rather large homes that have probably been there since the area was developed.

We loved this old car parked outside of this matching house.

Even garage doors are more lovely here...

Lanterns and iron work galore!

We took a carriage ride through downtown and learned a lot about Charleston, I would recommend this to a first time visitor.

We also did a 2.5 hour Culinary Tour of Charleston that was a lot of fun. We had an excellent tour guide, Mary, who told us so much about the history and the food and how it's all woven together to make the city the food destination it is today. And, we got to sample some goodies along the way.

Turtles - yum!

For our first night out on the town, we got decked out to celebrate our 4th year of marriage! Decked out in comfy clothes, that is. Nothing too fancy in the lowcountry...

We rode a rickshaw to dinner and loved it so much that we used them to get around downtown at least 6 more times.

It was warm during the day, but so beautiful at night. The breeze was so perfect.

Our anniversary dinner was at Magnolia's - a famous Charleston establishment.

We really loved Magnolia's - everything about it!

PS - I spotted Recipe Girl as soon as we walked in, sitting at the table next to us. Being the total foodie that I am, I was so excited to talk to her and tell her I was a big fan of her blog! She and her husband were so nice. They were only in Charleston for one night, so it was pretty cool to bump into her! If you aren't already reading and obsessing over Lori's recipes, click on over and bookmark it! She's one of my go-to resources.

Fried Green Tomatoes = Heaven!!

After dinner, we took our full bellies down to the pier and swung on a wooden bench swing. The breeze from the ocean and a great 4th year of marriage to recap made it a perfect night!

Friday's breakfast was at Glazed, a famous bakery with killer doughnuts. The selection was really impressive, but it was hard not to choose one of the most unique creations:

Maple-Bacon Glazed Doughnut.

UMM, yeah. It was so amazing that we swung by there again this morning before heading to the airport.

We decided to venture outside of Charleston just a bit on Friday to visit one of the local beaches. After just a short 15-20 minute ride, we arrived at Isle of Palms for a relaxing day in the sun.

I read, read and read while Keith explored the pier, people watched and swam in the ocean.

It was hot, but we were prepared having come from Memphis! There's not much like the humidity here :)

It's not a vacation without a fruity drink at some point!

Cheers!

We headed back to Charleston after our day in the sun, and had dinner at Amen Street.

This was a neat restaurant with a cool history, I would definitely recommend it!

Light fixtures with oyster shells!

We ate A LOT of seafood on our trip - it was delicious!

And I had some of the best cocktails I've ever tasted.

Another breakfast spot was Virginia's on King, right by our hotel.

Also delicious!!

Headed out for our last night!

Riding another Rickshaw - fun way to get around!

We had drinks at the Rooftop Bar at Vendue Inn - a must see! This was a wonderful spot and we loved the view.

It doesn't get much better than that!

I don't have pictures, but we had dinner that night at Blossom - and it was outstanding!!

We are all unpacked now, and I have a few souvenirs to show for our visit:

A cookbook from Magnolia's, where we dined for our anniversary

A crab ornament to hang on our Christmas tree (we try to buy one every where we go)

Locally-made 'sweet tea' body scrub (picked up at the Saturday farmer's market)

Basil-infused olive oil from a charming olive oil shop on King street

Strawberry sugar - yes, that's a real thing. I found this at a cool spice shop that we stopped in on our tour.

...I think it's safe to say I like FOOD! Somehow, it all goes back to that.

All in all, I can't say enough good things about Charleston, South Carolina. And, I sure can't wait to go back!!