A Vacation State of Mind; Sometimes You Just Need To Escape the Every Day
I know I have been quiet for a while. I blame life. Lol! Sometimes things get so crazy all your best laid plans take a hike and before you know it a week (or several) go by. One blessing that came out of all this was a much needed vacation. The kind where you pack actual luggage, get on a plane and GO somewhere fun. For us, taking this real, honest to goodness vacation was much more challenging than I would ever have thought. Covid of course, mucked up plans for many so, I know we’re not alone in our vacation planning challenges. To be blunt, the last two years have been a royal pain in the patookus. Add in a complicated work schedule for the hubby and a few other obstacles and you have two people ready to escape, and escape we did!
Hello Charleston, SC
We selected Charleston for a few reasons, not the least of which is the sunshine and absolutely gorgeous weather. While Rich and I were fortunate to be able to soak up 75 plus degrees and sunshine, our friends and family back in Minnesota were shivering through 30 degree cloudy and rainy days. Let’s just say we were really happy we didn’t have that to deal with for a bit.
And we’re walking…
We quite literally covered miles while we were in Charleston and had the sore tootsies to prove it. The antebellum architecture is, of course, a delight and while walking on cobblestone isn’t the best, it is charming to the eyes. A city as old as Charleston is also full of little back alleys, side streets and gardens, like this one. Yes, even the alleys are pretty. Makes you want to grab a coffee and a book and curl up for a while doesn’t it ?
We discovered this charming scene on one of our daily strolls through the historic district. Our hotel was right in the middle of all that history so it was within walking distance of pretty much everything we wanted to see and do. We covered all the most popular streets (Broad, Market, and King to name a few) and wandered the side streets as well and were charmed at every turn.
Plantations, history and a day trip to Savannah, GA
Not everything we wanted to see in Charleston was right around the corner. Of course, there were a handful of things that required other transportation but thanks to my sister and brother-in-law who joined us for a few days, we were able to add in some additional exploring with them. Our first stop was Magnolia Plantation which entailed acres of lush green foliage and trails through Camilla, Magnolia and Azalea gardens. The only downside; we missed the blooming season by about 2 weeks. The plantation is however, still quite picturesque.
You’ll never walk away hungry
House made herb gnocchi, roasted tomatoes, fresh basil, pearl onions, lemon caper sauce. C’était très bon!
The food in Charleston is a delight. We enjoyed delicious, fresh seafood, creamy French inspired sauces and pastries, tropical fruits and, of course, sweet tea made the southern way. Thank heaven for all that walking because, we had a lot of calories to walk off! Like, a LOT of calories! It was so worth it though. The dish pictured above is from a French restaurant that we tried called 39 Rue de Jean that is tucked into an alley with five other restaurants just off John Street. Right next door is another restaurant we agreed was our favorite called The Coast Bar & Grill. We ate there our first night in town and two nights later went back. Crazy good food! Honestly we had great food everywhere we went. It certainly wasn’t hard to find something to eat!
So, would we go back?
Oh, heck yeah! We had such a great time and it was all done at a leisurely pace. No tours, no plans, nothing definite on our schedule each day. I admit this carefree style of vacation was new for me. Generally when I travel I want to see and do as much as I possibly can, but this time we took a leisurely “what should we do today?” approach and, boy howdy, was it ever worth it. After eleven days, we both felt rested, relaxed and yes, more ready to go back to work. Even better we didn’t feel like we missed anything.
Charleston in April is divine. The weather, the food, the scenery, sights and people are all lovely. Stepping out of our hotel and smelling Jasmine every morning was a nice bonus! Best of all, Charleston was exactly what these two tired Minnesotans needed. I hope you’re all fortunate enough to visit someday and be sure to take time to explore the surrounding area. I’ll leave you with this snippet of time on the beach courtesy of our day trip to Savannah and Tybee Island. Turn on your sound and you’ll almost feel like you are there!