A year ago at this time Aria and I were in Charleston. We travel about once a quarter and Charleston was my vacation of choice because I wanted to go to the annual Festival of Houses and Gardens. I absolutely loved Charleston; it is such a pretty city, especially in Spring! 

Hotel

French Quarter Inn: This boutique hotel is just lovely and a great location! It's Charleston's most award winning hotel in the historic district. They give you a glass of champagne upon arrival, continental breakfast, evening wine and cheese reception and also freshly baked milk and cookies!🍪🥛 The service was exquisite and if we go back to Charleston I definitely want to stay here again! 

Food & Drinks

Poogan's Porch: We went here for dinner one night since I heard nothing but great things and it did not disappoint! I had the duck, because I didn't want to eat shrimp and grits at every place, even though it is my favorite! The duck was very tender and came with rice that was seasoned very well. They also have delicious complimentary bread service!

Hyman's Seafood: I'm not into fried food that much, which is mainly what Hymans consists of, but my meal I had there was delicious and they have the best hush puppies!! Carolina Delight is the name of what I ate; its fried grit cakes topped with shrimp! I love shrimp and grits so this was a take on it I've never had before but really enjoyed! Aria enjoyed his whole fish as well😂😋

The Gin Joint: A cocktail bar with off the wall drinks (has other options besides gin)! I only had one drink while I was there and honestly wasn't a huge fan, but that's probably because I'm extremely picky when it comes to alcoholic beverages- I basically don't like anything. Even though I didn't like my drink, I recommend you go here because it's in a great area, has a nice atmosphere and awesomely weird drinks! If you live in Houston, it's similar to Anvil. 

There are too many good restaurants to try out in the span of a few days, so one afternoon Aria and I went on a "food crawl"! We went to four different restaurants within a couple of hours just so we could try so many restaurants out. *Tip- I highly recommend you make reservations!  I'm not sure if Charleston is always that busy, or if we were visiting at a peak time, but there were some places we weren't able to get into because everywhere was packed!* There wasn't a restaurant that we didn't like in Charleston! Other delicious restaurants we ate at were: Husk, Magnolia's, Jestine's Kitchen, FIG and Slightly North Of Broad (SNOB). 

Things to Do 

Exploring by Foot: This is what we do in every new city and Charleston is the best to do so! I loved viewing all of the historic houses and walking on cobblestone paths. Just make sure you wear comfortable shoes! 

Rainbow Row: An absolute must! I loved Rainbow Row, hence the reason I got the painting and it's hanging up in my living room💘 If you're unfamiliar with what Rainbow Row is, it's exactly as it sounds- brightly colored painted houses in a row located on 83 E Bay Street. 

Shopping on King Street: If you love to shop then this is where you need to go! It has a wide range of stores, such as Kate Spade, Anthropologie, Lilly Pulitzer, Gap and many others! Then there are also some boutiques and a couple of places that sell only ties/bow ties, which is perfect if you're attending anything Derby related! 

Angel Oak Tree: Known to be one of the oldest living things in the country (400-500 years old)! It really is a sight to see, Aria said it looked like something out of Harry Potter! If you're going to visit this tree then I encourage you to go to Charleston's Tea Plantation, (my next point) it is a very short drive from here!

Tea Plantation Tour: Even if you aren't really into tea, this is America's only tea plantation, so that fact alone is the reason I wanted to go! You'll see thousands of tea bushes across acres and you'll get to learn the entire tea process. 

Annual Festival of Houses and Gardens: This is the exact reason I wanted to go to Charleston at this time of year. This festival is every year for only a month, right about when Spring starts. We got to tour 10 beautiful private gardens and let me tell you, people in Charleston are not joking around when it comes to landscaping! It is very similar to the Azalea Trail in Houston, but on steroids. 

Charleston is a beautiful town and one that I would love to go back to at any time! It's also filled with extremely friendly people. We didn't rent a car, because we didn't feel like it was necessary for this trip, so we had to take an Uber to Angel Oak Tree and the Tea Plantation (about a 40 minute drive). Well, while we were at the Tea Plantation we made friends with a lovely older couple and they couldn't believe we didn't have a car and had to use a "taxi service". They were so kind that they drove us back to the historic district and gave us some insight on where to go and eat! They were such kind people and I hope I am like them at their age.

Please feel free to comment on here or email me if you're planning a trip to Charleston; there's just so much more to tell about since there's an abundance of delicious restaurants and things to do! I am going to try to do a travel guide for #WanderlustWednesday every other month since there's a couple of trips I've been on before I started my blog and I would love to share about the different cities! I hope y'all are having a great Wednesday so far!