Charleston, South Carolina has been on my travel list for awhile now, and luckily I was able to visit this past weekend with one of my girlfriends. We ate all the biscuits & gravy our stomachs could handle, shopped at local boutiques, and explored downtown Charleston’s nightlife. Read below for where to eat, walk around and experience nightlife during your girls trip!
Walk Down Rainbow Row
This is probably the most Instagramable tourist spot in Charleston, however the city has multiple known, and not so known, spots to grab a great pic. Rainbow Row consists of 13 colorful houses aligned from 83 to 107 East Bay Street. Rainbow Row is also a close walk to another popular attraction, The Pineapple Fountain, as well as restaurants and shops – making it easy to explore multiple parts of downtown!
Outfit – Top: Amazon Prime // Skirt: Red Dress Boutique // Sandals: Steve Madden // Handbag: Red Dress Boutique
Dine at Magnolias
It was very apparent during my trip that pimento cheese is a staple ingredient of most Charleston dishes. Now imagine this gooey cheese on top of the perfect piece of filet beef. Are you hungry yet? Magnolias – an upscale Southern restaurant – sits on East Bay St. with a pastel pink exterior and amazing food. Honestly, sponsored aside, our dinner at Magnolias was one of the best dinners I have ever had. I’m not even exaggerating. We started our meal with a cocktail toast and appetizers. If you like your drink to be on the sweeter side, I recommend the Flirtini (it’s also pink & cute). Our two appetizers consisted of trying the fried green tomatoes and spicy mustard deviled eggs. It was my first time trying fried green tomatoes, and the pairing with white cheddar grits, country ham, caramelized onion chutney, and tomato butter did not disappoint. I thought my expectations had been exceeded with the appetizers and house bread, then came the main course. The most perfect grilled filet of beef topped with melted pimento cheese (drool) paired with asparagus, herb potato cake, grilled Roma tomatoes and a Madeira demi-glaze. The filet was a pretty big size and if I had more room in my stomach I would have finished the whole thing. While my food stomach was full, my dessert stomach was dying for some Southern pecan pie.
Disclaimer: dinner at Magnolias was part of a sponsored collaboration, however all opinions are my own!
Outfit – Dress: House of Sage (located in Charleston!) // Sandals: Steve Madden
Visit The Mills House Hotel’s Courtyard
Whether you are staying in another hotel or in an Airbnb, visiting the 1st floor courtyard of The Mills House Hotel is a must for a quick pic. The outdoor area features small tables to sit, a grand water fountain and the perfectly pink backdrop of the hotel. While we stayed at an Airbnb this trip, my top pick for a hotel would be here for sure! The hotel also has a pretty cute outdoor pool and restaurant.
Outfit – Top: Amazon Prime // Skirt: Red Dress Boutique // Sandals: Steve Madden // Handbag: Red Dress Boutique
Brunch on Poogan’s Porch’s Balcony
Poogan’s Porch – Charleston’s oldest independent culinary establishment – is a cute, quaint restaurant located in downtown Charleston. Featuring indoor seating, an outdoor porch and a second floor balcony, it is defiantly a unique dining experience to try out during your trip. We had the pleasure of being seated on the second floor balcony (highly recommend this seating if possible!). Since brunch wouldn’t be brunch without a little booze, we started our meal with two Zoe’s Iced Coffee (Van Gough Espresso Vodka, Bailey’s, Kahlua, and King Bean Blended Coffee). Next – and my favorite food item out of the whole meal – was the restaurant’s famous Pimento Cheese Fritters (served with green tomato jam). I’m still thinking about these, they were that good! Defiantly recommend if you’re dining in. Offered to each table are also complimentary biscuits and butter, which were crumbly and soft. Topping off our meal with an order of Biscuits & Gravy and Pulled Pork Benedict, we left super full and satisfied.
Disclaimer: brunch at Poogan’s Porch was part of a sponsored collaboration, however all opinions are my own!
Outfit – Top: Amazon Prime // Skirt: Red Dress Boutique // Sandals: Steve Madden // Handbag: Red Dress Boutique
Stay In An Airbnb
I wish we could have stayed in many of the amazing Charleston hotels, however mama’s got a budget to fit in all of these trips. We decided to do an Airbnb as there are a lot of affordable Airbnb’s a close drive from downtown Charleston. Our Airbnb was A TINY HOUSE *cute heart eyes*. Nestled in the backyard of its parent house, this quaint cottage was decorated in white and teal decor.
Although the house was really cute, we quickly realized it was a tiny house in a woodsy backyard area. We had to buy bug spray for lots of mosquito bites (I ended up with 30+ on my legs), ask for blinds for the windows to have some privacy and deal with camper-style bathroom facilities. So, while it was on the cheaper end, we had to suffer some common luxuries with the cost cut (just an fyi). For this reason I would stay in an Airbnb again if visiting Charleston, just one with normal plumbing inside an actual house.
Lunch at Hominy Grill
Hands down the best biscuits and gravy were had here. Hominy Grill is perfect for lunch on a lazy afternoon. They don’t take reservations so depending what time you get there you might have to wait a bit (we went around 1pm on a Friday and waited 20 minutes. If you do have to wait, there’s an outside window bar for drinks to pass the time. After trying the regular cheese grits, fried cheese grits, mac and cheese, regular biscuit and biscuits & gravy, my favorites were the regular cheese grits and biscuits & gravy!
The Pour House
Our Airbnb was conveniently right by The Pour House, a popular music venue that also serves as a restaurant (called The Lot) and host to a Sunday Market. While we didn’t get a chance to check out the musical acts at night (on my list for next time), we did have Sunday brunch and walk through the back of the establishment’s Sunday Market featuring local art & food vendors.
Kings St.
This is the place to go if you want nightlife. There are many bars along Kings St., offering a variety of aesthetic and drinks. If you want fun dancing (think 90s throw backs, latin and top pop), I highly recommend Uptown Social. I had the most fun here dancing and singing the night away – I even helped start a limbo train, twice. Also, across the street from Uptown Social was a Booze Pop truck for those wanting to keep the fun going after the bars closed. I’m not sure if this is always located in that spot, however it is a sweet treat if you do find it. Republic Garden and Lounge has a nice outdoor patio to dine before it turns into a dancing club around 10:30pm (they have a $5 cover charge). Stars Rooftop and The Commodore are also hot spots.
Other Places to Go In Charleston That I Recommend (& Currently Saving For Next Time)
- Callie’s Little Hot Biscuits
- Magnolia Plantation
- Folly Beach
- Pineapple Fountain
- Battery Park
- Cru Café
- Eleve Rooftop
- The Gin Joint
- Butcher & Bee
- The Park Café
- Sugar Bakeshop
Other Things To Know About Charleston
- During the hurricane season the mosquitos are ruthless. I unfortunately know this from huge welt bites on my legs.
- Charleston is a prominent known ghost town – they offer tours if you’re interested!
- A lot of the nearby “island” towns are only a 10-15 minute Uber to downtown. We stayed in James Island and were a 12 minute ride.
- You can see many iconic places from The Notebook in Charleston, like The American Theatre and Boone Plantation.
- It rains a lot in Charleston. The good thing, though, is that most of the time you can wait it out 20 minutes and it’ll be done.
- Charleston offers great beaches if you have the time to check them out! I recommend Folly Beach and Sullivan’s Island.
Have Charleston recommendations? Leave them in the comments! Like this content? Feel free to Pin the images above & below!
