Look 1: Lovers & Friends sweater (similar on sale here), Club Monaco skirt (available in rose gold here; similar here and here), Gentle Monster sunglasses (similar here and here), Carrie Forbes sandals (similar here and here), Chanel bag Look 2: Wayf lace top (currently on sale!), Madewell overalls (also available here), Vince loafers, Senreve bag c/o, J. Crew sunglasses Look 3: Christy Dawn dress (available in honey and rose pink), Carrie Forbes sandals (similar here and here), Bag inspired by Hallie Daily (last seen here), Stila Stay All Day Lipstick in Baci
As soon as Tor booked his current project that films in Atlanta, there was one thing on my agenda - a visit of at least 48 hours in Charleston. Luckily, Tor had a week off from filming so we knew that would be our perfect opportunity to go. After waiting for Hurricane Irma to pass (which Charleston had bounced back from just days before our arrival), we rescheduled our trip and drove the 5 hours from Atlanta to the charming coastal city. We kind of had to do eenie-meenie-miney-moe on this trip since we only had 2 nights to spend there before we would be moving on to Savannah. I'd say our Charleston visit this time definitely prioritized food, as we were told the city boasts some of the best restaurants our friends have ever eaten at. I wish we had way more than 48 hours in Charleston. It's clear to see why bloggers are so obsessed with it. From the colorful houses to the cobblestone streets to the amazing food scene, it's literally the perfect backdrop and the entire city is basically meant for Instagram these days. It's not a very large city (compared to Los Angeles it's very small!), but there's still a plethora of things to do, places to visit, restaurants to dine at, and wine bars to sip drinks at. [gallery link="none" columns="2" size="full" ids="13670,13671"]
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Day 1
We woke up early in Atlanta to make sure we were on the road by 9 am for a 2 pm arrival in Charleston. For most people, waking up at 8 am is not early. But since I had flown in from Los Angeles the night before at midnight, and my body's interior clock was still on Pacific time, I was hurting a little bit. Good thing Tor drove the entire time because I was fast asleep before we even left our parking garage in Atlanta! Around 2 pm, we pulled up to our hotel - Zero George (see our previous post on our stay at Zero George here). Besides feeling a whopping blast of humidity, as soon as I stepped out of the car I felt like I had stepped into history.
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After checking in and putting our things down, we quickly changed out of our car clothes and got ready to do some exploring. With only 48 hours in Charleston, we knew we might only have time for one plantation on our trip so we prioritized Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. It came highly recommended by several readers and a friend of mine from South Carolina. Check out our post on that visit here. After spending some time there, we got back in the car and headed back into town for the night.
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Our dinner reservation wasn't until 8 pm, but it was now 6 pm and we were hungry. So we dressed up for dinner and headed out for some pre-dinner wine and cheese at Goat.Sheep.Cow North. It should come as no surprise that my favorite cheese was a cow-goat combination (the Dane in me will always go for goat cheese), but I was genuinely impressed that Tor preferred the sheep cheese on our board. After some time there and after the sun had set, we moved on to dinner at Cannon Green. Cannon Green is actually a sister property of our hotel Zero George, and it was very romantic and the best way to end a long travel day.
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Day 2
Originally, Tor and I had plans to wake up at 5 am and head to Sullivan's Island to watch the sunrise. Tor is from the west coast, so he's used to sunsets on the ocean. I grew up in NJ, and I am used to sunrises on the water so I wanted to take Tor to the beach to experience one. We had plans to watch the sunrise and then head to Acme Lowcountry Kitchen for breakfast afterwards. Unfortunately, with the jet lag strong for me and Tor being exhausted from driving all day the day before, we slept right through our plans, woke up at 9 am to munch on some breakfast, and then kept on sleeping until 11 am. Not exactly what we had in mind especially with only 48 hours in Charleston, but we were pretty tired. When we finally woke up, we were ready to go explore for the day.
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Zero George offers complimentary bikes to take with you around the city, and since where we were going for lunch wasn't far, we decided to bike to lunch. We had one of the best lunches we've ever had at 167 Raw. This spot came highly recommended by my friend Grace at The Stripe. Since Charleston is basically her second home, I trusted her recommendations. We were not disappointed. We sat at the bar as we indulged in rosé wine and beer, chilled corn soup with crab salad (AMAZINGGGGGGGGGG), shrimp and swordfish tacos for Tor, and the best lobster po'boy I have ever had in my entire life. We were so full but knew we needed to squeeze in some kind of dessert to finish the meal, so we ordered their homemade ice cream sandwich. It was the best way to end lunch on a super muggy day. After rolling out of the restaurant, we digested our food by riding our bikes around the city before returning to the hotel to change.
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Why did we change again? Well, to be frank, we were a sweaty mess. One thing Tor and I are definitely not used to in southern California is humidity, and Charleston had a lot of it while we were there. My hair and humidity were definitely at war with each other the entire time. With that said, I changed into a lighter dress before we went exploring the streets around Charleston.
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Our long walk around the city is what made me realize why so many fashion and travel bloggers love Charleston. Literally everywhere you turn is a perfect backdrop for a photo. Every house is colorful, every window has flowers, and the city is very quiet and peaceful. My favorite street to walk down was Chalmers Street. It's south of Broad Street, which meant it has cobblestone streets. Once in a while, you'd hear nothing except the hooves of horses from a horse drawn carriage. If I closed my eyes, I felt like I was transported to the late 1700s. For this history nerd, that made me extremely happy.
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After spending the afternoon walking around the city, we returned to our hotel for complimentary wine and cheese since we had some time to kill before our next dining adventure. Our dinner reservation wasn't until 10:15 pm at FIG (reservations are strongly recommended there and the only time they had available was 10:15 so we took it), so we decided to enjoy some wine, oysters, and shrimp cocktails at The Darling Oyster Bar. We could have easily stayed there for dinner too, especially since everything on the menu looked delicious. But at 10 pm, we headed off to FIG where we proceeded to have one of the most mouth-watering meals. We dined on lemon and cheese ravioli, fish, and chicken, but the real star was at the end of the meal when I heard they had profiteroles for dessert. For those who follow Tor on Twitter, you'll know he was making fun of me for my love of profiteroles and these were cookies & creme ones! I squealed with glee and our waitress thought I was hilarious, but I was just so happy to get my hands on some ice cream profiteroles. If they have the cookies & creme profiteroles during your visit, get them!
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Day 3
The next morning, we were sad to have to say goodbye. 48 hours in Charleston is not enough, but it's better than nothing! After eating some delicious biscuits from Callie's Biscuits for breakfast, I vowed that I will need to visit Charleston again to hit up the spots we missed - Boone Plantation, Sullivan's Island, the Battery, Husk, Bin 152, and more.
Spending more than just 48 hours in Charleston or looking for more recommendations? Be sure to check out our Charleston travel guide. PLUS don't miss our video below from our first day in Charleston!
Photos by Torrance Coombs.
“Charles Towne? We’re going to Charles Towne?!” For those who have seen the movie The Patriot as much as I have, you’ll definitely be familiar with that line. I kept repeating that line in my head the week before our trip because I couldn’t believe I was finally getting to spend 48 hours in Charleston (then, ironically, a man sitting across from me on the plane was actually watching The Patriot on his computer!). Tor knew that Charleston had been high on my wish list for a while now, and while I have been to South Carolina before, I had never been to Charleston. Now was our chance!
Look 1: Lovers & Friends sweater (similar on sale here), Club Monaco skirt (available in rose gold here; similar here and here), Gentle Monster sunglasses (similar here and here), Carrie Forbes sandals (similar here and here), Chanel bag
Look 2: Wayf lace top (currently on sale!), Madewell overalls (also available here), Vince loafers, Senreve bag c/o, J. Crew sunglasses
Look 3: Christy Dawn dress (available in honey and rose pink), Carrie Forbes sandals (similar here and here), Bag inspired by Hallie Daily (last seen here), Stila Stay All Day Lipstick in Baci
As soon as Tor booked his current project that films in Atlanta, there was one thing on my agenda – a visit of at least 48 hours in Charleston. Luckily, Tor had a week off from filming so we knew that would be our perfect opportunity to go. After waiting for Hurricane Irma to pass (which Charleston had bounced back from just days before our arrival), we rescheduled our trip and drove the 5 hours from Atlanta to the charming coastal city. We kind of had to do eenie-meenie-miney-moe on this trip since we only had 2 nights to spend there before we would be moving on to Savannah. I’d say our Charleston visit this time definitely prioritized food, as we were told the city boasts some of the best restaurants our friends have ever eaten at.
I wish we had way more than 48 hours in Charleston. It’s clear to see why bloggers are so obsessed with it. From the colorful houses to the cobblestone streets to the amazing food scene, it’s literally the perfect backdrop and the entire city is basically meant for Instagram these days. It’s not a very large city (compared to Los Angeles it’s very small!), but there’s still a plethora of things to do, places to visit, restaurants to dine at, and wine bars to sip drinks at.
Day 1
We woke up early in Atlanta to make sure we were on the road by 9 am for a 2 pm arrival in Charleston. For most people, waking up at 8 am is not early. But since I had flown in from Los Angeles the night before at midnight, and my body’s interior clock was still on Pacific time, I was hurting a little bit. Good thing Tor drove the entire time because I was fast asleep before we even left our parking garage in Atlanta! Around 2 pm, we pulled up to our hotel – Zero George (see our previous post on our stay at Zero George here). Besides feeling a whopping blast of humidity, as soon as I stepped out of the car I felt like I had stepped into history.
After checking in and putting our things down, we quickly changed out of our car clothes and got ready to do some exploring. With only 48 hours in Charleston, we knew we might only have time for one plantation on our trip so we prioritized Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. It came highly recommended by several readers and a friend of mine from South Carolina. Check out our post on that visit here. After spending some time there, we got back in the car and headed back into town for the night.
[caption_box id=”1″]
Our dinner reservation wasn’t until 8 pm, but it was now 6 pm and we were hungry. So we dressed up for dinner and headed out for some pre-dinner wine and cheese at Goat.Sheep.Cow North. It should come as no surprise that my favorite cheese was a cow-goat combination (the Dane in me will always go for goat cheese), but I was genuinely impressed that Tor preferred the sheep cheese on our board. After some time there and after the sun had set, we moved on to dinner at Cannon Green. Cannon Green is actually a sister property of our hotel Zero George, and it was very romantic and the best way to end a long travel day.
Day 2
Originally, Tor and I had plans to wake up at 5 am and head to Sullivan’s Island to watch the sunrise. Tor is from the west coast, so he’s used to sunsets on the ocean. I grew up in NJ, and I am used to sunrises on the water so I wanted to take Tor to the beach to experience one. We had plans to watch the sunrise and then head to Acme Lowcountry Kitchen for breakfast afterwards. Unfortunately, with the jet lag strong for me and Tor being exhausted from driving all day the day before, we slept right through our plans, woke up at 9 am to munch on some breakfast, and then kept on sleeping until 11 am. Not exactly what we had in mind especially with only 48 hours in Charleston, but we were pretty tired. When we finally woke up, we were ready to go explore for the day.
[caption_box id=”2″]
Zero George offers complimentary bikes to take with you around the city, and since where we were going for lunch wasn’t far, we decided to bike to lunch. We had one of the best lunches we’ve ever had at 167 Raw. This spot came highly recommended by my friend Grace at The Stripe. Since Charleston is basically her second home, I trusted her recommendations. We were not disappointed. We sat at the bar as we indulged in rosé wine and beer, chilled corn soup with crab salad (AMAZINGGGGGGGGGG), shrimp and swordfish tacos for Tor, and the best lobster po’boy I have ever had in my entire life. We were so full but knew we needed to squeeze in some kind of dessert to finish the meal, so we ordered their homemade ice cream sandwich. It was the best way to end lunch on a super muggy day. After rolling out of the restaurant, we digested our food by riding our bikes around the city before returning to the hotel to change.
Why did we change again? Well, to be frank, we were a sweaty mess. One thing Tor and I are definitely not used to in southern California is humidity, and Charleston had a lot of it while we were there. My hair and humidity were definitely at war with each other the entire time. With that said, I changed into a lighter dress before we went exploring the streets around Charleston.
[caption_box id=”3″]
Our long walk around the city is what made me realize why so many fashion and travel bloggers love Charleston. Literally everywhere you turn is a perfect backdrop for a photo. Every house is colorful, every window has flowers, and the city is very quiet and peaceful. My favorite street to walk down was Chalmers Street. It’s south of Broad Street, which meant it has cobblestone streets. Once in a while, you’d hear nothing except the hooves of horses from a horse drawn carriage. If I closed my eyes, I felt like I was transported to the late 1700s. For this history nerd, that made me extremely happy.
After spending the afternoon walking around the city, we returned to our hotel for complimentary wine and cheese since we had some time to kill before our next dining adventure. Our dinner reservation wasn’t until 10:15 pm at FIG (reservations are strongly recommended there and the only time they had available was 10:15 so we took it), so we decided to enjoy some wine, oysters, and shrimp cocktails at The Darling Oyster Bar. We could have easily stayed there for dinner too, especially since everything on the menu looked delicious. But at 10 pm, we headed off to FIG where we proceeded to have one of the most mouth-watering meals. We dined on lemon and cheese ravioli, fish, and chicken, but the real star was at the end of the meal when I heard they had profiteroles for dessert. For those who follow Tor on Twitter, you’ll know he was making fun of me for my love of profiteroles and these were cookies & creme ones! I squealed with glee and our waitress thought I was hilarious, but I was just so happy to get my hands on some ice cream profiteroles. If they have the cookies & creme profiteroles during your visit, get them!
Day 3
The next morning, we were sad to have to say goodbye. 48 hours in Charleston is not enough, but it’s better than nothing! After eating some delicious biscuits from Callie’s Biscuits for breakfast, I vowed that I will need to visit Charleston again to hit up the spots we missed – Boone Plantation, Sullivan’s Island, the Battery, Husk, Bin 152, and more.
Spending more than just 48 hours in Charleston or looking for more recommendations? Be sure to check out our Charleston travel guide. PLUS don’t miss our video below from our first day in Charleston!
Even though it was quiet short, it seems like you were having the perfect Charleston stay. Really enjoyed your article and videos and that you are also writing what was not perfect. We are all human right :)? But you can really see how much work you’re putting into the A list! Your feminine ruffle dress and straw “Chanel” bag combination is my favorite of all times!!
All the best, Sally
Thank you Sally!
Dear Alyssa and Torrance,
the Video is fantastic.
I like the background song.
I can not await the next entry here,
and on YouTube.
Many greets from Berlin
Editha ❤️
Thank you!
We are finally in Charleston! Thank you for the suggestions. Ready to explore tomorrow!
Yay! Have fun!!
go live today since you are all alone and bored today
I live in Charleston and have worked as a docent! Definitely leave some time for a trip to Middleton Plantation, the edge of Folly beach to the Morris Island Lighthouse, brunch at Poogan’s Porch (chicken and waffles!!), a stroll through one of the secret garden passageways, and a praline from Market Street Sweets.
Thanks for the suggestions Emily! I’m actually planning a December return, so I will definitely keep these spots in mind. There’s so much to see and explore in Charleston!
Lovely blog! Whenever I read your blog posts I honestly feel that I am reading a fairy tale and then get super happy that they are real stories and that I can visit myself one day!! I loved your blog posts so much you have inspired me to create my own blog! It’s not as good as yours but it’s a start! So thankyou for some amazing inspiration! ( I found you ever have time in your super busy schedule please have a read! I would be so proud that you even had just a small look at some of my work! Justarianablog.wordpress.com)
Aww I’m glad my blog makes you happy! I love hearing that kind of feedback from my devoted readers 🙂 Congrats on your blog! It’s definitely a great start and I love all the pink 😉
Thankyou so much for reading it! I can’t believe you took the time to do that! Thankyou it really means so much!!!
Hey!
I just wanna say that I’m from Brazil, and my frinds and I are just in love with your blog!
We love your style!
Congrats for The A List, it’s just amazing!
❤
Aww thank you so much Ana! Kisses to Brazil!
You’ve got me in the mood to watch “The Patriot” now! Great, sunny, beautiful post!
I really enjoyed the movie The Patriot as well. I enjoyed it so much I went out and bought the regular version then I got the extended version for Christmas one year.
I had only ever been to Charleston once and I have only one word for it. BEAUTIFUL. Mind you I went back in 2007 and to this day I still remember the smells, sights and sounds. It was as if I had stepped into a different world. I’m major history buff especially when it comes to the American Revolution. I really enjoyed being able to see the historical sites (some of them anyway) and getting to experience the city and all it had to offer.
The one place I wished I had been able to visit while there was Middleton Place Plantation and gardens which was actually used as a filming location for the Patriot.
I couldn’t leave without trying Bubba Gump’s shrimp factory, it was so delicious. Charleston is definitely on my list of places to visit again.