I recently took a weekend trip to Charleston, South Carolina heavily inspired by Bravo’s Southern Charm series & the lack of fall in Miami. If you’ve never been, I highly recommended it. Besides being an incredibly Instagramable city & being super rich in history, the food was ah-mazing!
My friend Kelsey from Chicago & I met up in the Holy City on a Saturday at around noon and got right to it! Our first stop was a tiny little hole in the wall French bistro with delicious lunch specials that included a glass of wine! Gaulart & Malicet Fast and French is the perfect spot for a quick delicious light lunch or even a romantic date night. It’s got communal high-top tables in what looks to be an old home. Imagine antique built-in shelves and old fireplaces stacked with French wine bottles. It’s honestly a gem! My croissant was so fluffy and fresh topped with warm brie cheese and turkey. We passed by this spot several times that weekend, and I seriously wanted to go back inside each time.
I’m a big advocate of the “when in Rome” strategy when traveling, so being that we were in the land of oysters and catfish, I had to give both a try – several times. Saturday night we had reservations for The Darling Oyster Bar, a super cute and trendy oyster bar with delicious food and the best spicy marg I’ve had in a long time. Also, #protip – if you’re not in college & you want to go out for drinks I DO NOT recommend King Street. College kids have apparently taken over the city & that’s where they hang. I’ve never felt so old in my life. Sigh.
Anyway, on to the most satisfying brunch of my entire life – Magnolias! This place is a must when in Charleston. Chances are it will be your only meal that day, but that’s okay because it’s well worth the gluttony. The breakfast menu was incredible, but I’ve heard it’s also a great dinner spot. I, of course, micro-managed my order & got an off-the-menu egg white omelet with blue crab rémoulade, shrimp, spinach, and white cheddar. It was the bomb.com. It was the most massive omelet I’ve ever had in my life. It was stuffed with an unnecessary (but appreciated) amount of giant shrimp and lumps of blue crab. I think about this meal all the time. I wish I could eat it again right now tbh. Also, get the apple fritter poppers with cinnamon cream cheese mousse, you won’t regret it!
Before our trip, we did a little research for the best places to eat (obvi.) and Hominy Grill had to have been on every single list we saw – this we realized, was in good reason. This place is legit! I had two fried catfish sandwiches during our trip and the one at Hominy Grill is the only one worth mentioning. The mac & cheese here is also delicious. Apparently, the brunch wait on the weekends can be up to two hours, so beware. We happened to stop in on a Monday for a late lunch and got seated right away. They also close at 3pm so keep that in mind!
Although half our trip revolved around food, the other half was all about being spooked! There’s something about fall that makes me want to do spooky things even if it’s no longer Halloween. We heard Bulldog Tours was the best walking tour in the city so we booked the scariest one, The Haunted Jail Tour. This tour took us through our tour guide Randy (who would later become my bff) was amazing and super knowledgeable. The jail had definite spooky vibes, but we didn’t experience any spirit interactions so we were left wanting more. The next night, we booked the Charleston Ghost & Graveyard Walking Tour and to our surprise, we were back on the ghost hunt with Randy!
Charleston has so much history and there are so many interesting stories to be told. Even if ghosts or spirits aren’t your thing, you should definitely take advantage of one of these tours for the sole purpose of learning something new. Kelsey & I wandered around the graveyards on our own during the day, but it was nothing like being led on a tour by an expert. I’m not a fan of carriage tours because, hello…it’s horse abuse, but walk around the city with a tour guide at least once while you’re in Chucktown; you’ll get so much more out of your trip. I promise!
xo
