Ella and I took another trip together also that month of October. After all, October is her favorite month. It was a little less spontaneous than Atlanta but still overall much more well planned out than Atlanta. We simply looked at what flights were the cheapest on the week we were both off and Charleston happened to be one of them. It was nice to go south for the fall because the Charleston weather was so much warmer than DC. The Charleston airport was surprisingly tiny. Throughout our trip we stayed at this affordable airbnb outside of the city. Our host was awesome and had a huge binder with maps and brochures to assist us in trip planning.
----------------------------------------------------- Day 1 -----------------------------------------------------
We began by getting our uber to drop us off by White Point Garden. We walked along the path by the river. The weather was hot and we were not prepared. We took a tour of the historic Edmonston-Alson house and introduced to the concept of a joggling board. I want one by the way. Walked down the street to see rainbow row, the row of cute and colorful houses. Also noticed pink is a very popular house color in Charleston. We then walked through the City Market and onto King Street, which has our more familiar stores. Also it has the most beautiful Urban Outfitters I have ever seen. It was an old theater and they kept the structure of the theater with the chandeliers and the stage and curtains.
As we waited for night to fall, we took a slow walk to be able to take in the sights as we headed to our tour inside the old jail. It's funny because the old jail is this intimidating structure right in the middle of a suburban area. Although I guess it's not that much different than our own Lorton prison.
----------------------------------------------------- Day 2 -----------------------------------------------------
This time we headed outside of the city to Charleston's famous plantations. We first stopped by this adorable place called the Gnome Cafe right by our airbnb. We didn't rent a car because both Ella and I hate driving. Although it is outside the city, ubers going to the plantations weren't too hard to get.
Our first stop was Middleton Place, an old plantation owned by the Middletons, which are a very prestigious and well known family in Charleston. The land was large and absolutely gorgeous. We also did a tour of the main house but photos were not allowed inside. They also have an old slave cabin by the stable.
We decided to also go the the Magnolia Plantation and Gardens down the road, which is another well known plantation. They have a huge nature area that you can walk all the way to the river. They also have their unique Audubon swamp garden. I would have loved to walk the area more but we were literally getting eaten alive by large mosquitoes.
That evening we went to a rooftop bar then did another ghost tour that this time took us inside a cemetery at night. There were many ghost tours but very few would actually go into a cemetery at night.
----------------------------------------------------- Day 3 -----------------------------------------------------
Ella and I parted ways for a little bit that morning since she refuses to go biking with me. Our airbnb allowed us to use the owner's bikes and I couldn't pass up that opportunity. I woke up bright and early to see the sunrise over the Ashley River as I just biked along that coast, down the waterfront, all the way to the aquarium to get a better look at the Arthur Ravenel Bridge.
Met up with Ella for a late breakfast then explored more of the city we had not yet seen like the Old Slave Mart and the Exchange and Provost Building as well as some other historic houses. There are so many historic houses that we couldn't have possibly even visited half of them in this trip, even if we dedicated more time to seeing them. Almost every house in Charleston is historic in some way. I also went to the Charleston museum and finally got to try a hoop skirt.
We ended our last night with a haunted pub tour with some great company. I really loved Charleston. It has turned out to be one of my favorite places and I wouldn't mind going back. Let me retire there.
