Charleston: Day 3

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On our last day in Charleston we woke up early to beat the breakfast crowd and the rain that was heading our way. We walked up to Callie's Hot Little Biscuit and I had two biscuits with butter and blackberry jam while Ryan had the egg, cheese and bacon biscuit. I do have to say, I think Callie's may be hit or miss depending on the menu items listed for that day. Nonetheless, it was a nice "southern" way to star off the day. 

From breakfast, we took our umbrella and headed out to brave the rain by walking around the city and onto get coffee at Black Tap. Along the way, we stopped for a minute to admire just how beautiful College of Charleston's campus is. Fun fact, CofC was one of my top choice schools when applying for colleges from high school. I toured and loved the campus with my dad my senior year and I had forgotten just how gorgeous their campus is. We then walked back uptown to visit a big sale called the Jumble Sale which featured about a dozen local businesses selling product at more than 60% or so off of original prices. There were goods from Sideshow Press, Sleepy Jones pajamas, candles, clothing, bags, and decor galore. Neither Ryan nor I left with anything but it was nice to visit and talk with a few of the local business owners. They offered up a few great restaurant recommendations, a few of which we had already been to over the weekend. My foodie research had paid off ;) 

Last, but certainly not least, we absolutely had to stop at Jeni's before leaving town. JENI'S, WHY DON'T YOU HAVE A SCOOP SHOP IN FLORIDA YET?! For now, I will have to settle on a few of my favorite flavors sold in pints at Fresh Markets in the area. I won't complain though! Ryan and I each did a triple scoop of ice cream on a cone. I tried the brambleberry (my favorite!!), wildberry lavender and pistachio + honey. Ryan tried intelligentsia espresso, churro and chocolate? maybe it was peanut butter...whichever it was was delicious! After eating dessert first, we picked up the car and headed out of town and back to St. Augustine. Before we could make it too far out of town we decided to stop for lunch at Boxcar Betty's for burgers and fries. We rolled our way out of Charleston for the weekend, but it won't be long before we are back! 

Charleston Day 2

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The next morning, we woke up bright and early and walked up to Butcher & Bee for breakfast. Easily, Ryan and I would say this was probably our favorite meal of the entire trip. I know they serve breakfast and lunch but I believe that they just recently moved locations since visiting and are now open for dinner. We cannot wait to go back again next time we are in town. We'd probably eat all three meals their and be okay with it ;) I also believe they have a Nashville location as well! It was a casual restaurant where you order at the counter and take a seat wherever you'd like while they prep your food. I believe it's BYOB as well considering the couple next to us whipped out a bottle of champagne and orange juice from her bag. I tried the shakshuka and Ryan ordered a house made breakfast biscuit with egg, pimento cheese and bacon. I've never had shakshuka before and holy cow, where has it been all of my life? It was amazing! It was just a dish of tomatoes and spices cooked down in a cast iron skillet with cracked eggs on top and served with freshly made split pita bread. It's nothing super fancy or ground breaking but it's so simple and delicious. I'm currently opening a second google tab to look for recipes as I type...see found recipe here. 

^^hahaha. totally caught red handed sneaking a photo 

We picked up an iced coffee to go from The Daily which is a coffee and quick service market style restaurant owned by Butcher & Bee. Their coffees are all delicious and they serve made to order dishes and also have a full refrigerated section with grab and go items such as cheeses, salads, sandwiches, fruits and veggies and speciality beverages. 

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A little VW bus posted right outside from Butcher & Bee! He must have known it was my birthday and wanted me to have an extra special day ;) 

From breakfast, we ventured on down to shop where the locals do. First up was a little vintage inspired accessories store called Candy Shop Vintage. They sell an array of vintage jewelry, a lot of their vintage pieces are seen below, as well as vintage inspired jewelry designed by the owner of the shop. They had some beautiful pieces that I haven't seen before. If you are into that kind of style and looking for someone who has a great eye when picking out vintage pieces, check this place out! 

Next up was Mac & Murphy-one of my most looked forward to shops in Charleston! Mac & Murphy is a locally owned stationery shop with cards, desk accessories, prints, and other papers galore. Although I work at Paper Source, it was VERY easy to purchase a large collection of cards that we don't sell in our store. Not to mention, the staff was so incredibly sweet. We met Ms. Lacey, the brains behind the blog "A Bit of Charleston." Lacey uses the blog as a way to connect with Charleston locals and tourists alike. She keeps readers up to date on new restaurants, entertainment and happenings in the city. If you are planning on visiting Charleston, she has a little survey on her website that you can fill out with all of your food and entertainment preferences and she will reviews your selections and plan a personal travel guide for you! You can also follow along with all of her Charleston adventures here on her instagram. 

We quickly swung into Flowershop on Spring Street to pick up a little birthday treat. They had the most beautiful wraps and dried flower crowns and boutonnieres. I spent quite some time staring at all of the arrangements trying to decided which one to pick. I finally thought it would be best to go with one of the dried boutonnieres that was tied with the daintiest coral velvet ribbon. I have no clue when I will wear it, but I thought it was so beautiful and special and I wish everyone wore one on their lapel no matter what the celebratory occasion.  

After Flowershop, Ryan surprised me with a big 'ole hummingbird birthday cake from Sugar Bakeshop. It smelled heavenly in there and if he hadn't ordered a cake I may have ordered one of everything. By the way, if you're in town you MUST go here. The hummingbird cake was one of the best I have had, possibly even better than Wright's and I have never said that before! Not to mention taste completely unrelated, all of their cakes were so minimally and beautifully done. They wrapped it up in a little white box with twine to go and I felt so special grinning ear to ear walking home carrying that cake. 

A few photos from some other shops we stopped into but didn't purchase anything: Blue Bicycle Books, Worthwhile clothing and Candlefish: 

*We also shopped at Indigo and Cotton and Proud Mary; both of which Ryan and I really loved. We even had a chance to talk to the owner of Proud Mary and if you are ever in Charleston you must go! She designs amazing pieces of clothing and accessories that are handmade by skilled artisans from Latin America and Africa. They practice fair trade ethics and works diligently to promote craft preservation. I wanted to take one of everything home with me seeing as it was all made with such delicacy and care that you knew you were purchasing an heirloom piece that would last for years to come. 

For dinner, my one request was that I wanted a lobster roll. I had researched a few places that had them and everyone said that without a doubt go to 167 Raw. Every last person that recommended it and wrote a review about it online was right, it was delicious. We went pretty early too figuring it was a Saturday and would be crowded and sure enough we had about a 30 minute wait before being seated up at the bar. The inside and is very, very small with seating along the oyster bar, the bar where the chef cooks and I believe there may have been 2-3 smaller high top tables. We sat right in front of the guy who was shucking all of the oysters which was entertaining to watch as well. We ordered the chips and guacamole to start with, followed by one lobster roll, one shrimp po' boy, one shrimp taco and one fish taco. We kind of went all out and just cut everything in half to share it, which is the best way to do it when you want to try practically everything on their menu! The lobster roll was one of the best ones that I have had in quite some time, but honestly I think the shrimp po'boy and taco were my favorite. They were both similar in toppings, but the best part was a beet remoulade that was on top. 

After dinner we walked around the Battery and downtown near Rainbow Row before calling it an early night for birthday cake at the hotel. We walked pretty much all over from sun up to sun down and it was the perfect way to spend the day celebrating my birthday.

Thank you to my adventure co-pilot, Ryan for always going with the flow and helping to make each adventure even more special than the last! 

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Chuck Town!

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Waaaaaay back in March, Ryan and I took a little two and a half day trip up to Charleston for my birthday. We had originally booked a tiny house AirBnB cabin and the week of our trip the owners messaged us to say that it had been sold and they unfortunately had to cancel our reservation. We had so been looking forward to our weekend out of town and we weren't sure if we would still be able to go considering it was right in the middle of spring break and almost every hotel and other AirBnB in the city was booked. Thankfully, we ended up finding a room at a hotel in downtown Charleston which ended up being the perfect location as we could walk anywhere in the city that we wanted. It was such a fun and wonderful weekend filled with lots of beautiful houses, delicious food, and more walking than our little feet could handle at times. Charleston is only about a four hour drive from St. Augustine, making it the perfect distance if you're looking for a new place to check out for a last minute get away. Here were a few things we were up to while we visited: 

On the drive up to Charleston we stopped in Jacksonville to have breakfast at Community Loaves. Each time I go, I leave already craving the next menu item I want to try on our next visit. Their bagel sandwiches, which is what Ryan had, are amazing and I went with the quiche this time around. I have no idea what type of dressing they put on those salads, but whatever it was stole the show seeing as I ate every last crumb on mine and Ryan's plate. After breakfast, we walked over to Vagabond Coffee to pick up one of their sprinkle Friday pop tarts. I've had a few of their pop tarts previously but have never been in town on a Friday where we have time to stop and get one of their special sprinkle ones. It was a strawberry pop tart with vanilla frosting. Ryan and I were practically licking the bag afterwards making sure no bite went uneaten. We immediately decided that we needed to try making out our own pop tarts when we got back into town. It was the perfect way to kick-off a celebratory weekend. 

Alas! Four hours and some change later and we were finally checked into our hotel and ready for some exploring! We set out without any plans and just decided to wander around downtown until we were hungry for dinner. One of my favorite things to do while we were there was to just mosey up and down different streets looking at all of the different colored houses, window boxes and front courtyards. I found myself saying "this one is my favorite!" only to turn the corner and find a new favorite on that street as well. I love the ivy colored walls and the bright window shutters. I can only imagine what this city looked like in it's earlier years and I love that current homeowners have kept up with the traditional southern charm. The house at #10 with the mint colored door, lion door knocker and ivy covered steps was certainly one of my "top 10" from the trip. I also loved, loved the beautiful courtyard filled with pink and white flowers and a navy door that was set down a few steps below. Let's be honest, they were all my favorites ;) 

Once we had worked up a bit of an appetite, we stopped into The Gin Joint for a drink and an appetizer. I had read several great things about their craft cocktails and how it was a must visit while in the city. We each ordered a different drink and ordered one of the pretzel appetizers. We loved the drinks! the pretzels, not so much. But back to the drinks! My favorite thing about their menu was that they have a "bartender's choice" list where they provide about 10-12 different adjectives describing tastes and flavors and you pick two adjectives. The words range anywhere sweet, tart, and fruity to sour, bitter, and strong, The bartender will then make you a drink based off of those two words of your choice. I loved seeing what our bartender came up with and I enjoyed the drinks he came up with on his own more so than the preset drinks we ordered off of the menu. All in all, the bar had a cozy atmosphere great for a small group to enjoy a few shareable appetizers and cocktails that you wouldn't find at most other places. 

After The Gin Joint, we walked up to Leon's Poultry and Oyster Shop. Ryan is obsessed with anything chicken biscuit or sandwich related and I knew this would be right up his alley. I have been once before when I visited Charleston last year for a bachelorette party. The weather was perfect so we opted to sit outside and we ordered up one chicken and one fried oyster sandwich. I wish I had a photo of it in the daylight because the restaurant, inside and outside, are so beautiful. After gobbling up our sandwiches, we contemplated ordering a second round they are that delicious, we opted instead for a vanilla soft serve cone. Leon's offers vanilla and chocolate soft serve cones that either plain or with chocolate or rainbow sprinkles. Clearly, we opted for the rainbow sprinkles and after the waiter brought it out, we split a cone, I looked away for MAYBE 20 seconds and in that time frame Ryan had EATEN ALL THE SPRINKLES. Obviously, I am still in shock considering NO ONE does that! Sprinkles make everything 200 times better and to eat them all to yourself and not share...I'm looking at you Ryan Tempro. However, I digress, not long after the waiter was sweet enough to bring us an entire extra side of sprinkles and he saved the day! Thank you mr. waiter! 

After dessert, we walked back to the hotel to crash for the night before another day filled with shopping all of Charleston's best local shops and restaurants!