A Weekend In Charleston

With these last few weeks of summer slowly slipping away, I finally have time to reminisce on my recent beach trips. The first of which found me headed down the east coast toward Charleston, SC.

My roommate's parents moved to the Isle of Palms right after we graduated college so we always have an amazing place to stay when we go visit. Isle of Palms is a little outside of Charleston, right on the beach. It's a beautiful strip of land with the ocean on one side and the inter-coastal waterway on the other side. Amanda's parents have a dock on the inter-coastal and an amazing home just across the street.

Saturday we loaded up their boat and took a beautiful ride around the inter-coastal to Bulls Island. We anchored the boat near the shore and spent some time exploring the island. If you go to the beaches of Charleston, you really should visit this island, they even have ferries that run out there. It brushes up right against the ocean, but if you do bring a boat, you'll need to watch the tide or risk getting stranded.

One of the coolest things I've ever seen: Boneyard Beach. These skeleton-like trees stretch across the beach on Bulls Island and its like nothing you've ever seen before. I couldn't stop taking pictures.

We headed back to their dock and spent the afternoon chasing after dolphins (they were everywhere), paddle-boarding and riding the jet ski around the inter-coastal.

Dinner at Coast in downtown Charleston was perfect. The atmosphere was beautiful, an upscale beach casual restaurant is all I can think to describe it. I had a mojito (amazing) and the shrimp and blue crab manicotti (delicious). There really are so many restaurants, most of which are amazing, so when you only have one night to eat out, you don't want to waste it on someplace that is subpar. We're lucky that her parents have been to most of these places and can recommend some of their favorites.

We had to drive home Sunday, but we we wanted to make the most of our trip. So we headed into downtown Charleston Sunday morning to explore.

Downtown Charleston is absolutely beautiful. We walked through the open air market where they sell a little of everything. Jessie got a stunning handmade necklace and we both bought some cute mugs. They also have a small enclosed portion where I got one of the best iced lattes I've ever had. The place is called Caviar & Bananas, get the iced latte with hazelnut, you can thank me later.

We spent the rest of the day meandering about the cobblestone streets and past the rainbow colored homes. There's really nothing quite like Charleston.

A wonderful weekend with some amazing friends in a beautiful city. Where are your favorite Charleston spots?! Share them with me below so I know where to go next time!

xx Kristen