There is a certain charm about some of the cities within the southern states and Charleston is one of these, with an incredible history to boot. Expect to find stately looking salons, mansions and townhouses, with the city maintaining its historic charm. There is also a nod to its past with a well-preserved cobbled street called the Old Slave Street which showcases some of the ugly memories from the region. The combination of the southern charm whilst recognising its historic flaws are some of the reasons we want to visit Charleston.
We want to stay at The Dewberry
Set in a midcentury abandoned federal office, The Dewberry is a stunning and modern 155 room hotel. Situated by central Marion Square, the hotel is in a great location with incredible beaches a short drive towards the east and key destinations in the town just a few miles away. The 155 rooms are all extremely homely with bespoke furniture, floor to ceiling windows, with regional bourbon in the mini bar. The bathrooms are marble and brass with walk-in showers and some suites featuring huge soaking tubs.
We want to eat and drink at Sorghum and Salt, Collective Coffee and The Daily
Being so close to the water there are a plethora of seafood restaurants in Charleston, including Bowen’s Island Restaurant, an old-school oyster shack serving up oysters in buckets, which we’d love to try! However, for a wider variety, we want to eat at Sorghum and Salt. A new restaurant located on Coming Street which offers an all-local menu with innovative dishes such as collard green tagliatelle with shrimp sausage or strawberry gazpacho.
The larger cities within the US are slowly catching on to the boutique coffee culture, so in some of the smaller southern states, this is progressing a little slower. In Charleston, there are a few options in a city growing in popularity and visibility. Collective Coffee on Mount Pleasant is a huge hip location serving up many espresso based drinks and also has a good iced collection for those hot South Carolina days. There is also The Daily which serves up Stumptown coffee which we already know is great, so we’d love to see how they make it here.
We want to workout at Big Work Fitness Factory
For a fairly small city, Charleston has a number of options for finding a gym and working out. There is Chucktown gym which features an indoor astro area which we love and would love to try as well as their state of the art equipment. However, even more tempting is Big Work Fitness Factory. Set in a warehouse with lots of room and old school style equipment this gym also features an awesome looking outdoor workout area.
We want to visit Folly Beach County Park and James Island County park
There are plenty of historic houses and attractions around Charleston, including the many old plantations and some of the first settlements in the US. So we want to make sure we pay respect to some of this history. Finally, we’d also like to visit Folly Beach Park and James Island County Park to hit the trails and maybe even undertake some mountain biking.
Are you a resident of Charleston or visited the area? What locations would you recommend we visit? We’d love your feedback. Let us know in the comments below.
