After our visit to Palmetto Bluff, we continued up the coast to Charleston to visit our friends Rita and Will for a long weekend. We stayed at Rita’s place in the historic center of the city, and after unpacking, she gave us a sweeping tour of town on her golf cart (a surprisingly common form of transportation!) before settling into her living room to catch up over barbeque from Poogans and some bubbles.
Rita and Will were wonderful hosts and had a ton of ideas for our visit, so we didn’t have to plan a thing. We loved popping out each morning before it got too hot to grab coffee from One Broad Street, where we were welcomed by a man in a straw boater hat and bow tie playing live music on Saturday morning – giving me a “pinch me this town is too cute” moment. We were lucky enough to visit during Spoleto, an annual art and musical festival best known for its chamber music or sprawling tents exhibiting emerging artists on Marion Square – depending on who you talk to. After wandering the tents on Saturday morning we settled into a booth at Henrietta’s to escape the Charleston heat and chat over delicious deviled eggs and a shared banana bread french toast for dessert. Henrietta’s is situated in the historic Dewberry Hotel, and we unexpectedly spent a lot of time there on our first day, between lunch, perusing Garden & Gun’s immaculately edited Fieldshop across the lobby and returning that evening for cocktails in their lounge. My favorite thing to wear in Charleston was hands down this eyelet shift dress since it was 100% cotton and really breathable but polished enough to wear from the farmers market to drinks at the Dewberry.
The second day we piled in the car and took off for Kiawah Island, starting with a champagne brunch at the Sanctuary Hotel followed by an afternoon in their oceanfront pool – it was so much cooler than town and the perfect spot to spend a balmy afternoon. I’d love to return to Kiawah to explore the town center and walk the miles of coastline. Back in town we all took naps only emerging to watch the sunset on the piers along Waterfront Park.
On our last day we were less ambitious, rising late and starting our day with lunch at Raw 167, wandering the Charleston City Market while waiting for our table. (It was a 90 minute wait, but well worth it when we finally sat down!) I always love touring historic homes while traveling and there are so many to choose from in Charleston. We stopped by the Edmondston-Alston House while wandering the charming streets south of Broad after lunch. While I wouldn’t recommend touring this particular house (sadly, it wasn’t well taken care of) I have heard great things about the Nathaniel Russell House and hope to visit it on my next trip.
As you may remember from this Instagram, one of my favorite discoveries from Charleston was a pop-up on King Street called “We Took to the Coast” – an experimental shop full of coastal chic pieces created by the people behind “We Took to the Woods” in Greenville, SC. Other favorites included shopping for sporting apparel at Circle Seven, window shopping at Fritz Porter, and the enormous designer collection at Hampden Clothing.
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Thanks to Rita and Will for an incredible introduction to Charleston, we can’t wait to see you again soon!
xx, SF
All photos by David and Stacie Flinner for Stacie Flinner.com
