Charleston SC Travel Diary - Part 2

     Last week I shared my own Travel Diary from my recent Charleston trip! Today I'm turning things over to my friend Priyanka, who was my travel companion. Since I was in Charleston for a friend's wedding, those festivities kept me pretty busy and I didn't get to explore as much as Priyanka did. Since she got to see more of Charleston than I did on this trip, I wanted her to be able to share her additional travel recommendations with y'all! In addition to some of the more popular touristy spots, Priyanka also discovered a lot that was off the beaten path. She kindly wrote up this awesome recap and also sent over some photos she took- so I'm sharing that as the second part of my Charleston Travel Diary today!

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Without further ado- here's Priyanka!

    I literally had THE best time wandering aimlessly around the city by myself. I would love to have the opportunity to be able to explore a place like this in the near future. 

      Thursday afternoon we went to the Charleston Tea Plantation. It was so very cute and a fun tour. Thursday night started off with parting ways with Annaliese and walking around to get my bearings. I popped into a few stores here and there. I found a local Asian fusion restaurant called "Fire Street Food." I read while I ate. Afterwards, I wanted dessert and I wanted a place to chill until you were done with your dinner and that's when I found "Off Track Ice Cream." They had THE best vegan chocolate ice cream there. 

      The next morning we had breakfast at "Poogan's Porch," which was located in such a cute historic house. We visited Rainbow Row after, and then headed to Starbucks, where I sat and read and took a breather after we parted ways. I choose that morning to explore a few art galleries. My favorite ones were the Hagan Fine Art Gallery & Studio, and Reinert Fine Art Gallery. The first gallery had a quaint little courtyard in the back. The lights that were strung around gave a sort of romantic feel to the area. The second gallery had similar, open courtyard but this was colorful and vibrant. Both galleries were enough to make me drag you back there to get perfect pictures. 

     I stopped by the Charleston Library (which is the second oldest library in the USA, the first being either in New Hampshire or Vermont). I also stopped by Candlefish, a local candle store. The majority of the store sells soy candles, which are safer for the environment and safer for pets and humans. Savannah Bee Company is where I did a mead tasting. That was my first time trying mead. Incredibly delicious. Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe on King Street is where I had lunch.

      Annaliese and I then went back to the hotel, where we rested and got ready for our sunset boat cruise. The Charleston Harbor Tours sunset cruise was relaxing. Afterwards, we scarfed down delicious pizza from "Pizzeria Di Giovanni." Literally THE tastiest pizza I have tasted. We then ended the night with a carriage ghost tour with Old South Carriage Company. I enjoyed the ride, the stories, and being able to see Charleston at night. People were still out and about, but it wasn't too crowded or too dead.

      The next day was Annaliese's friend's wedding day, so she was busy with that for most of the day. We did get to start the day together though by getting biscuits from Callie's Hot Little Biscuit on King's Street. I went to a BUNCH of different places that day. I'm just gonna rattle off every place I went to: Blue Bicycle Books, Art Mecca of Charleston, a Farmer's Market, Artist & Craftsman Supply, and I sampled a strawberry cookie from King Street Cookies. I then spent an hour at Pounce Cat Cafe, and had a Meowmosa. 

     Back to more food: I had a lobster roll at Mason's Famous Lobster Rolls, went to Charleston City Market, peeked in at Belgian Gelato but I was too full to get anything. 😭 I then stopped by Indigo- I saw this store on our carriage ghost tour and thought it was such a cute store from afar. It did not disappoint! I also went to the Waterfront Park fountain and Pineapple fountain, Carolina Antique Maps and Prints, and finally, Tricera Coffee for some tea.

      I stayed that for an hour until I had to meet Annaliese back at the wedding venue (the Frances Marion Hotel). As I was walking to Tricera Coffee, I spotted a hidden graveyard. I popped in and the place was peaceful, and serene. I do not remember the name of the place. I keep googling different graveyards and cemeteries but none that I recognize as the one I visited. 

     The wedding Annaliese went to was a daytime wedding, so she was ready to meet me around 6pm. That evening we did a beach trip to Folly Beach. And ended things with a lavish dinner back at our hotel afterwards. 

     Thanks so much Priyanka for sharing your Charleston recap and recommendations! I think Priyanka's exciting itinerary shows that this is a great destination for a solo trip. If you haven't read my Charleston Travel Diary from the trip, you can do so here!


    God Bless,


     xoxo Annaliese