We love Charleston. The seafood, the history, the weather, and the close proximity to Atlanta makes it an ideal little getaway. There are so many hotels to choose from too. We have been here several times but we are far from trying it all.
Our Hotel: Wentworth Mansion
We stayed 3 glorious nights at the Wentworth Mansion, a 5 star hotel that comes with deluxe breakfast at its 5 star restaurant, Circa 1886, afternoon wine and hors d’oeuvres daily, night time port and sherry, as well as valet parking and concierge services. Each room is unique in this large mansion, and every guest has access to a private rooftop cupola for amazing city and harbor views. The location can’t be beat – we walked to almost all of the attractions on our trip. The daily hors d’oeuvres were always high quality, and the breakfast was always amazing. Our room was absolutely amazing and we slept very well every night. The only issue I ran into at this hotel was that the afternoon reception area was quite swarmed with mosquitoes. I was covered in mosquito bites in no time – although no one else got any, so I was definitely their favorite. The hotel gave me a whole bottle of OFF! and let me keep it so that was good.
Things We Did:
1. Middleton Place
Middleton Place is a beautiful home with landscaped gardens and it’s only a short drive from Charleston downtown. There’s so much to do here. Beautiful trails, museum, gardens, restaurant, etc. We took a trail that took us to the main house museum, the reflection pool, as well as Eliza’s House. You can learn a lot about the history here and about the slaves that lived there.
Middleton Place Restaurant – Definitely worth a stop!
We enjoyed a relaxing Ghost Monkey Draft beer, a bowl of She Crab Soup, and a Garden Salad. Perfect little stop for our hike.
2. Charleston Carriage Works
There are several carriage companies in Charleston. After some research, we decided to go with Charleston Carriage Works, and we had a great experience. Carriage rides in Charleston are regulated by Charleston Tourism Management, so no matter which company you choose, most aspects of the tour will remain the same. The route of the tour is determined based on a randomly chosen ping pong ball, so if you take multiple tours, and you are lucky, you may end up with different routes. The horses are well treated as required. The tour guide holds a small GPS remote that alerts the company any time the horses create any “droppings”.
For our tours, we went by lots of mansions and old houses. The tour guide was really funny and told us a lot about Charleston history. I highly recommend a carriage tour for anyone, because it’s such a relaxing, romantic way to learn about Charleston’s rich history.
3. Sewing Down South
Sewing Down South is the retail pillow shop of Craig Conover, from Southern Charm. Since we are big Southern Charm fans, we had to stop here and take a look. No Craig sightings, but it was fun chatting with the employees about him. The pillows (and everything else) are certainly overpriced but we are proud of Craig for getting this place up and running, despite Naomi‘s lack of confidence.
4. Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon
The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon is an old building from the Colonial era that has seen many changes over the years. The entrance ticket includes a guided tour of the basement (dungeon), as well as a self-guided tour of the top two levels. Everything was so interesting here and they give a great combo discount with the Old Slave Mart nearby.
5. Old Slave Mart
This is a must-do if you are interested about the slave history of the South. Inside this small museum, we learned about how the slaved were advertised and auctioned, in this very building. The museum is self-guided and there’s no photography allowed. It’s pretty small – just two stories, so it didn’t take very long, but we learned a lot here.
6. Charleston Waterfront Park
Charleston Waterfront Park, used to be called Joe Riley Waterfront Park, was wonderful on a nice day. It has a nice trail along the water, and passes through the iconic Pineapple Fountain of Charleston.
Restaurants
1. Fleet Landing Restaurant
This restaurant was amazing. We walked here from the Waterfront Park and we saw how crazy busy it was! We couldn’t get a reservation (we had tried ahead of time) but we got on the waiting list and was able to get seated 30 minutes later. The service was fast and good. The prices were excellent. The views were amazing. The food and drinks were delicious. This is a must if you are in the area.
2. Mesu
Mesu is a restaurant owned jointly by Craig Conover and Leva Bonaparte. Its name is a portmanteau of Mexican and Sushi, which is exactly what cuisine you can expect to see here. I thought the food was good – the sushi was fresh and the signature dessert, churro in chocolate sauce, was yummy and unique. The drinks were good and the atmosphere was classy but fun.
3. Rappahannock Oyster Bar
There are many oyster bars in Charleston, and honestly, this was not the best one. We tried a few different oysters – there was no Happy Hour special, and the oysters were average. For a restaurant with oyster in its name, there was a total of 3 different types of oysters to try – unimpressed. The Vermillion Snapper grilled fish was $45 and tiny. (NICO had a similar dish for $35 for about twice the size with amazing sides.) A side of “Carolina Gold Rice” was shockingly flavorless and $6 for about half a cup. The fish took well over an hour to arrive, and worst of all, the restaurant was not clean at all. There’s a portable AC unit above the bar that was dripping water constantly!
4. Leyla Fine Lebanese Cuisine
This place was SO GOOD. Everything was great and the prices were excellent! I’m not that familiar with Lebanese food so this was kind of stepping outside of my comfort zone but I’m so glad we did. I would come back here again.
Final Thoughts
What a glorious few days in Charleston! I can’t wait to come back and try more restaurants, museums, hotels and everything in between. This town is hard to beat!