Charleston Travel Diary: What I Wore, Visited & Ate On Our Summer Vacation
We went on a week vacation in Charleston, South Carolina last week and we thoroughly enjoyed it! My hubby and I had been wanting to go there for a few years now, so we finally got to go. I took pictures of what we saw, where we ate and also what I wore. Since we went there the first week in June, it was warm there, but not hot. Plus, there was always a breeze blowing, especially on the coastline and beaches.
If you have never been to Charleston, there it a wide variety of things to do. My hubby and I LOVE history and the downtown area consists of mostly all historic houses, buildings and churches. There are also 2 forts in Charleston, an aquarium, museums, old plantations, a wide variety of shopping and more! Charleston was one of my most favorite places to visit, next to our honeymoon in the Virgin Islands! We have also been to Savannah and the two cities are similar in my opinion. Savannah is a smaller version of Charleston; Charleston has lots more history.
What To Wear In Charleston
Mostly everyone dresses casually in Charleston in the Summer. People wear mostly shorts, pants and casual dresses. Comfortable shoes are a must, along with a hat to keep your head cool from the sun. Lots of people wore backpacks, sling bags and and crossbody bags. Also, wear your sunscreen! I packed casual tops, shorts, skorts, sandals and bought a pair of sneakers and socks while we were there. I wore my Raffia Bucket Hat and Portland Leather Mini Crossbody bag in “nutmeg”. I wore minimalist silver jewelry to keep it simple: a necklace, bracelet, stud earrings and silver hoop earrings.
Here is what I wore, what we visited and where we ate on our vacation…
DAY 1
This was our travel day. Since we live in northeast Alabama, it takes 7 hours to drive to Charleston. But, since we drove my Tesla Model Y, we stopped twice to charge, so that took about 25-35 minutes each time. While our car was charging, it was a good time to eat a bite and stretch our legs. Since we had never been to Charleston, we stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott close to the Tanger Outlets and the Tesla Supercharger. We ate supper at La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant in North Charleston, near our hotel. The food was good and we enjoyed the atmosphere.
I wore my white & navy striped tee, denim bermuda shorts, birkenstock sandals, Portland Leather Mini Crossbody bag in “nutmeg” and minimal silver jewelry.
Outfit Details:
Boden white & navy striped tee
Wit & Wisdom denim bermuda shorts
Birkenstock Granada sandals in “tobacco brown” color
Kendra Scott Fern silver pendant necklace
Kendra Scott Fern silver multistrand bracelet
Pavoi silver stud earrings
DAY 2
It was our anniversary on Day 2 of our vacation! We have been married 12 years! We spent the day in downtown Charleston. When we arrived downtown, we parked in the parking garage next to the visitor center. The parking fee was reasonable for all-day parking. I recommend parking your car and walking everywhere if you can. There are lots of people who walk all over the city and we felt safe the whole time. First, we went to the visitor center and picked up a Charleston Travel guide, then went to the Charleston Museum across the street. This museum was huge and I highly recommend seeing it! The museum was founded in 1773 and is known as “America’s First Museum”. They have a section of original exhibits which was great to see! After touring the museum, we walked to the Old South Carriage Company and took a carriage ride around the city. Since the city is big, they assign different routes of the city for the carriages to tour, so you won’t know what route you will see until you start on the tour. Our carriage went through the majority of the middle of the city. After our carriage ride, we ate lunch at Henry’s Rooftop where they have sandwiches and salads. I ate the Egg Salad Sandwich and my husband ate the Turkey Panini. It was warm that day, but it was breezy on the rooftop where we ate!
I wore my light blue tee, gray skort, Taos sandals, raffia bucket hat and Portland Leather Mini Crossbody bag in “nutmeg”. Even though my Taos sandals are walking sandals, they did not do well on the downtown Charleston sidewalks. All the sidewalks are uneven and are a mix of uneven concrete, old stone or old brick. Because I wore my soft sole sandals I developed a blister on the bottom of my foot. I highly recommend wearing either sneakers or hard sole sandals like Chacos or Birkenstocks.
Outfit Details:
Orvis Perfect Relaxed V-neck Tee in “blue fog”
Patagonia Gray Tech Skort (this year’s style)
Taos Patricia Arch-Support Sandals in “oily bark nubuck” color
Portland Leather Mini Crossbody bag in “nutmeg” – Lightweight and the perfect size bag!
Kendra Scott Fern silver pendant necklace
Kendra Scott Fern silver multistrand bracelet
Pavoi silver stud earrings
Raffia Bucket Hat – A must-have accessory to wear while sightseeing in the summer!
Inside the Charleston Museum…
Me and my hubby…
Beautiful architecture and old church downtown…
The Nathaniel Russell historic house. We didn’t have time to tour this house, but we passed by it on our carriage ride.
The Pink House – one of the oldest buildings in South Carolina!
Us in front of the Pineapple Fountain in Waterfront Park…
DAY 3
We spent the day in West Charleston and visited the Middleton Place old plantation and Charles Town Landing site. Since it was Sunday, we ate the Sunday Brunch at the Middleton Place Restaurant on site which is next to the house. It was absolutely delicious! I got the Eggs Benedict with Bacon and hot tea. They serve Charleston Tea Garden hot tea, which you can tour west of Charleston; I got the Charleston Breakfast Tea to drink at brunch. The house tour was nice, the property is beautiful and there are period demonstrations beside the house.
The Charles Town Landing State Historic site was close by, so we visited there. It is where the first settlement area in Charleston, before the town was located where it is today.
I wore my navy tee, beige bermuda shorts, Birkenstock Granada sandals and Portland Leather Mini Crossbody bag in “nutmeg”. It was cloudy that day, so I didn’t wear my hat. That evening we went to the Tanger Outlets and I bought a pair of sneakers to wear a couple of days on our trip!
Outfit Details:
J. Jill navy tee
Chico’s Brigette 10″ shorts in “smokey taupe”
Portland Leather Mini Crossbody bag in “nutmeg” – Lightweight and the perfect size bag!
Birkenstock Granada sandals in “tobacco brown” color
Kendra Scott Fern silver pendant necklace
Kendra Scott Fern silver multistrand bracelet
Pavoi silver stud earrings
Middleton Place old plantation…
Charles Town Landing State Historic site…
DAY 4
That morning we took the ferry ride from the Fort Sumpter visitor education center to Fort Sumpter National Historic Park. We enjoyed walking around the old fort and learning about how the fort operated from the Revolutionary War and in the Civil War. You have an hour to walk around on your own, hear the story from a national park rep. and visit the gift shop. Then, you board the ferry, which takes you back to the visitor center.
Since we didn’t have time to see everything downtown on Day 2, we spent the afternoon again in downtown. We ate lunch at Magnolias restaurant. I highly recommend eating lunch there! The food is absolutely delicious, the service was excellent and we loved the relaxed dining atmosphere. Although it is a white tablecloth restaurant, you can dress casual or dress up if you want to. I would have rather been a bit dressier than my tee, shorts and sandals, but there were other people dressed casual too, plus we were very hungry and it was close by! From their Lunch Menu, I ate the Parmesan Crusted Market Catch (the fish of the day was trout), my hubby ate the Original Simmons chicken sandwich and we both shared an Espresso Cheesecake, yum! We visited the Old Slave Mart Museum, but didn’t get to see the museum part because we went upstairs to see the slave history presentation from Mrs. Christine King Mitchell. She has an extensive knowledge of slavery and history behind it and we appreciated her sharing her knowledge that you don’t get to hear on tours or when you visit the plantations. After an hour of listening to her presentation, the museum was closing so we had to leave. We wanted to shop at the City Market, but most of the vendors had left for the day and others were packing up.
On Day 4, I wore my navy striped tee, navy shorts, white sneakers, straw bucket hat and Portland Leather Mini Crossbody bag in “nutmeg”.
Outfit Details:
Orvis Navy Striped Tee in “blue moon mini stripe”
J. Crew Navy 7″ Stretch Chino Shorts
Portland Leather Mini Crossbody bag in “nutmeg” – Lightweight and the perfect size bag!
Skechers D’Lux Fitness white sneakers exact / similar style
Kendra Scott Fern silver pendant necklace
Kendra Scott Fern silver multistrand bracelet
Brighton Small Silver Hoop Earrings
Raffia Bucket Hat – A must-have accessory to wear while sightseeing in the summer!
A nice view of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge taken from the ferry ride to Fort Sumpter National Historic Park.
Inside the Fort Sumpter visitor education center.
One of the many views from Fort Sumpter.
Inside Magnolia Restaurant…
What we ate for lunch and our dessert, delicious!
While we were in downtown Charleston, we stopped at the Shop Historic Charleston, which is the city of Charleston’s gift shop. It is very nice and worthy of buying gifts for loved ones or the holidays.
DAY 5
After we visited Fort Moultrie, we got a bite to eat at Co-op Frose and Eatery in the Sullivan’s Island area. We parked in the small parking lot next to the Battery Thompson historic site, which is right behind Co-op Frose and Eatery and walked a short distance to the restaurant. The Co-op is a locally owned small deli-style restaurant. Their specialty is frose: frozen wine slushies! I ate their Chicken Salad Sandwich which was so good and my hubby ate the Cowboy Chicken on Brioche bread. We got a frose wine flight, which is a sample of 4 flavors of their frose and we each got a medium size peach frose! It was warm that day, so the wine slushies were delicious!
Sullivan’s Island isn’t crowded since there are no hotels and small town eateries in the area. The beach is very nice and quiet and the sand is smooth.
After we ate, walked back toward our car walked on a wooded boardwalk to the beach. The boardwalk is on the left side of the Battery Thompson historic site. It was a nice evening and we strolled along the beach.
We didn’t get to eat there, but I heard that Poe’s Tavern on Sullivan’s Island is a great restaurant that’s themed around Edgar Allen Poe! Being a fan of classic literature, I wish we could have eaten there.
Outfit Details:
J. Jill white cotton gauze top / also like this similar top
J. Crew Factory 9″ Bermuda Chino Shorts in “dusty red” color
Portland Leather Mini Crossbody bag in “nutmeg” – Lightweight and the perfect size bag!
Skechers D’Lux Fitness white sneakers exact / similar style
Kendra Scott Fern silver pendant necklace
Kendra Scott Fern silver multistrand bracelet
Brighton Small Silver Hoop Earrings
Raffia Bucket Hat – A must-have accessory to wear while sightseeing in the summer!
A closeup photo of the accessories I wore during my trip is below. My sunglasses are Maui Jim prescription sunglasses.
A couple of pics of Fort Moultrie…
Our frose wine slushies flight and medium size Peach frose at the Co-op Frose and Eatery.
The boardwalk that leads to the beach…
DAY 6
We visited Magnolia Plantation & Gardens on the west side of Charleston. They have several things to see on the property so plan on spending several hours there and there were many people visiting when we went. We wanted to see everything, so we got tickets that included the Gardens, House Tour, Slavery To Freedom Tour and Tram Ride through the property. This once rice plantation is next to Middleton Place, but it seems so different, especially that the land includes more swamp areas. We started off by going on the house tour. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable on the history of the house! Our tour guide recommended the book, “The Invention of Wings” by Sue Monk Kidd which is about the viewpoints of the enslaved girl Hetty “Handful”, and also the plantation owner’s young daughter, Sarah Grimke living on a plantation in Charleston. Sarah Grimke grew up to become an American abolitionist and vice president of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association. I bought it at the gift shop onsite and am currently reading it; it is a great book so far!
After touring the house, we hopped on the Tram and the driver drove everyone on the tram around the property, while narrating the history of the grounds and different areas of the property. Next, we went to the slave cabins for the “Slavery To Freedom Tour”. Our tour guide conducted a presentation explaining what life was life on the plantation. After the tour, we stopped at the snack bar onsite and ate a sandwich lunch. We walked on the grounds all around the house and it was beautiful! There ‘s a walking bridge next to the house overlooking the water area, which makes for great photos! We were going to do the Audubon Swamp Tour, but it was late in the afternoon and it was hot and humid, so we decided to skip it.
Outfit Details:
Loft Chambray Flutter Sleeve Top
J. Crew Navy 7″ Stretch Chino S
Portland Leather Mini Crossbody bag in “nutmeg” – Lightweight and the perfect size bag!
Skechers D’Lux Fitness white sneakers exact / similar style
Kendra Scott Fern silver pendant necklace
Kendra Scott Fern silver multistrand bracelet
Brighton Small Silver Hoop Earrings
Raffia Bucket Hat
Magnolia Plantation House…
One of the many Southern Live Oak trees that are hundreds of years old on the property. That’s my hubby sitting on a bend in front of the huge tree, waiting for the Slavery To Freedom Tour to start!
DAY 7
This was our last day in Charleston, so we decided to relax a bit and spend the day in the Folly Beach area. Folly Beach is the busier beach in Charleston and there are several hotels, shops and restaurants. We arrived mid-morning and parked at the Folly Beach County Park. All day parking was $15 and you can come and go whenever needed. The Dune House in the parking area has nice restrooms, a snack bar, covered and uncovered picnic tables, beautiful view of the beach and boardwalks that lead to the beach. It is one of the nicest beaches I have visited and we want to go back! The sand is clean and you can hunt for the many shells that washes up on the beach. We took our beach towels and laid out on the beach for some time. We decided to leave the beach and eat in town at Loggerhead’s Beach Grill. It is a rooftop restaurant with umbrella tables. I ate the Mahi Mahi pan seared with squash/zucchini sauteed and potato salad. My hubby got the Mahi Mahi Tacos with potato salad. It was delicious and the service was great! After lunch, we went back to the beach and just walked along the beach and hunt for shark teeth and shells. We didn’t find any shark teeth but we found several shells!
I didn’t snap a photo of my outfit I wore, but my outfit details are below.
Outfit Details:
Orvis Navy Striped Tee in “blue moon mini stripe”
J. Jill On The Go Pocket Zip Skort in “navy blue”
Portland Leather Mini Crossbody bag in “nutmeg” – Lightweight and the perfect size bag!
Birkenstock Granada sandals in “tobacco brown” color
Raffia Bucket Hat
Beautiful Folly Beach!
Loggerhead’s Beach Grill rooftop restaurant.
What we ate at Loggerhead’s Beach Grill.
DAY 8
We spent this day traveling back home. I didn’t snap a photo of what I wore, but I included outfit details below.
Outfit Details:
Boden white & navy striped tee
Chico’s Brigette 10″ shorts in “smokey taupe”
Portland Leather Mini Crossbody bag in “nutmeg” – Lightweight and the perfect size bag!
Taos Patricia Arch-Support Sandals in “oily bark nubuck” color
Kendra Scott Fern silver pendant necklace
Kendra Scott Fern silver multistrand bracelet
Pavoi silver stud earrings
Thank you for visiting the blog!
A Bit Of Inspiration For Your Day:
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” – 2 Corinthians 16:18
Looks like you had great time, Leanne! I am wondering about the raffia hat…is there an inner drawstring to make it adjustable? Thanks!
What an amazing trip! So envious–Charleston is on our bucket list, too. Thank you so much for showing us what’s available and where to eat.
You look amazing every single day! Now I know that’s to be expected, given your profession. But I really love seeing clothing looking good in action. It tells a much bigger story than when it just sits on a model in a highly controlled environment. As much as Charleston showed off to you, you sure strutted your stuff to Charleston in return! And you and your DH look absolutely darling together. :^)
My DH looked over my shoulder as I was reading your post, and said (about your DH), “That’s a great hat! Where’d he get it?” Can you possibly provide a link?
Terrific post!
Thank you for sharing your trip……beautiful pictures and very nicely put together. Really enjoyed it!
Thank you! There isn’t a drawstring inside to adjust the size.
Oh thank you Sue! We bought my husband’s Panama hat at Orvis; here is the link to it: https://rstyle.me/+BTXeJKQfXuSjDdjxV0QFmQ
Thank you Trudy!
This looks like a great trip, I also love Charleston, although it is very hot. Your outfits are adorable and seem perfect for the climate and the relaxed atmosphere of Charleston. I like that you and your husband dressed alike on Day 2! And those wine slushies look amazing.
Thank you Linda! The wine slushies were so refreshing on that warm day!
Leanne, Hope you were able to find Charleston Rice Beads. The company is in Charleston and makes rice bead jewelry : necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. The jewelry comes in many colors. I enjoy all my colorful necklaces:). I hope to visit Charleston .
Thank you for sharing your vacation with us. It looks like a beautiful place to visit and you looked lovely every day ❤️
Oh I didn’t see that while we were there. We want to go back, so I will go there then!
Thank you so much Lynn!
I loved reading about your trip and appreciated the outfit tips! Thank you!
Thank you Grace!
I live in Charleston, and you did all the things I have brought company to over the years (we have been here 17) a wonderful view of the whole area and food, – loved your outfits and you always looked very put together. We actually had a Spring this year and you were here just before we popped into the 90’s which we are now in and will be for next two months!!
I consider summer to our Boston winters, in less you ski, you stay indoors with heat – down here you stay in with air conditioning and any errands are done at 8am!!!