Last year for my 50th birthday my mom told me I could have a trip to go anywhere that I wanted. She had a trip planned that included Charleston that got canceled due to the darn pandemic in 2020. I’ve been itching to go there for a girls trip so I thought that would be the perfect spot for some mother daughter time. And what a great time it was! Charleston is an absolutely beautiful city and seeing as we both love architecture and great food along with beautiful weather, it was the perfect city for us. AND this was the first flight for my mom and I since the pandemic so we did it right!
Here are just a few of the highlights.
We arrived on Easter and thought that two of our days were going to be a rain washout but the only time the weather was a little bit sprinkling was Monday morning. Sunday was so gorgeous so we packed in lots of sightseeing. We were enamored with the beautiful homes, hotels and flowers!
This trip was planned just three weeks ago so we did not have a lot of options for accommodations are where we wanted to stay but one that kept popping up to us was the Mills House because that is my mom‘s last name; my maiden name. How adorable does my mom look in these pictures.
I do want to note that the best thing about this hotel was the central location with the walking distance to everything. The lobby and courtyard was gorgeous but the rooms are extremely dated, small and the staff not very knowledgeable. My mom even asked for a little something in our room to celebrate it being a birthday trip and they said the best they could do was order champagne from the restaurant and charge it to the room, lol! However, if you do want to be century located to be able to walk everywhere you probably would want to check it out.
Dessert kind of came first for the evening we walked by Carmella's Dessert Bar with the most beautiful desserts in the case. Just look at this cannoli cake.
That night we had dinner at a restaurant called Eli's Table and should not have ordered the duck, lol! F-ing Duck mom called it, lol! I have never had duck and I probably will not have it again but Charleston is known for the fried green tomatoes and the fried green tomato stack was delicious!
Churches
Speaking of architecture in the homes and hotels; the churches are absolutely magnificent so I’m sharing a few of those for sure!
As we were walking around the historic district, we came upon a large camera crew, a local told us they were filing Outer Banks 3 and yes, John B was on the top porch!!
Our favorite spot for brunch was Millers All Day. In fact, we loved it so much from the food to the retro vibe to the fact that it was a two minute walk from our hotel that we went two days in a row. Highly recommend this place if you were in Charleston, it was our favorite meals.
Poogan's Porch is also quite delish. Funny story too, the waiter brought me straw for the chafe of mimosas because mom only had one, so guess who drank the rest, lol
Me, with them all, lol
And another great must try restaurants is Hyman's. There are pics all over the wall of famous people who have eaten there. We were at Neal Diamond's table, lol.
A Carriage Ride!
What a fun way to see the city and Old South Carriage does it right. Highly recommend the hour tour if you're there. The walking tours are great too.
Last stop was Kaminsky's Dessert Bar, voted the best desserts in Charleston for 24 years in a row. I was in heaven with the dessert martini's as you know my fav is Key Lime and of course I had to get a slice of bourbon Pecan Pie, YUMMY!
I will say this; unless you’re planning on staying on one of the nearby islands at the beach, this is not a laid-back relaxing vacation. In order to see Charleston right, there is lots and lots of walking and you will be tired in the evening, lol! It’s really somewhere where you don’t need more than four days so pack it all in. Really the only two things that we missed doing was the pink Champagne bar which we went to on Easter but it was closed and seeing a couple of the plantations and flower gardens but it was hard to plan everything when we thought the weather was going to be rainy a couple days. As you know, we also go on a trip every five years for mama‘s milestone birthdays; seeing as one is this year, we just might shoot for somewhere relaxing come this Fall. All I know, is that I am extremely lucky at my age; when many people I know have lost their parents, that I get an opportunity to enjoy sweet vacations like this with my beautiful mama!
Have you ever been to Charleston?
HUGS to you all!
xoxo
