Justin Thorn

Every year for our anniversary Lauren and I decide to celebrate with a 3-day mini vacation. Last year we took a trip to Ocracoke Island. This year Charleston, SC was our choice for our 2nd anniversary. This was my first trip to the city after wanting to visit it for years. Lauren had been there before a couple times. We reserved a hotel in North Charleston and got a great deal since we booked a couple months early. After making the long 4.5 hour drive from my office we crashed and prepared for our weekend ahead. We decided not to make any formal itinerary which helped us to relax even more. No need to worry about sticking to a strict schedule the next few days. We just came and went as we pleased and it worked out very well.

Food
One great thing about being on vacation is not needing to cook or cleanup after yourself. The hotel we stayed at offered a great hot breakfast for free every morning. It was pretty impressive with eggs, sausage, waffles and more. This saved on time and money. It also gave us the energy we needed to make it through a few long days. While we toured the plantations we took advantage of their fresh open air markets with hand made sandwiches and snacks. It offered a great picnic like environment and allowed us to cool off in the shade. In the evenings we dressed up and headed downtown for dinner. The first night we enjoyed the Southend Brewery and Smokehouse. The second night chose a local favorite. The Charleston Crab House for great seafood. Lauren enjoyed the southern classic Shrimp & Grits. I chose the popular Crab Cakes which were perfect.

Drinks
During one of our tours of a local plantation we stopped in at the nearby Irvin House Vineyards for a sampling of their 5 different offerings. They use all muscadine grapes which offered a great compromise between Lauren’s sweet whites and my bitter reds. We found a bottle we both enjoyed called Live Oak Reserve. We also learned off a fast growing side business in a very popular creation that started just last year. It is their Firefly series of flavored vodka with the most popular one being their Sweet Tea Vodka. Evidently it is all the rage and is already sold in all 50 states. Of course no samples were available due to lack of permits and other legal reasons. Although we did get to try some as we stopped in for a quick drink at the roof top bar downtown one night. Probably one of the best views of the city at night.

Charleston Tea Plantation
A large portion of our time was spent touring a few of the local plantations in the area. The first of three was the Charleston Tea Plantation which turns out to be the only tea plantation in America. In the past few years I have become a big fan of all types of tea and drink it all the time instead of sodas. It was cool to take a tour of the factory and learn how they harvest and process the tea. There were also samples to try. I couldn’t leave without buying a few tins including their famous peach tea, “American” tea, and newly produced green tea. All great choices.

Middleton Place Plantation
The second plantation we toured at Middleton Place was no longer a working plantation. It used to be the regions largest rice plantation. Now it serves as a historic plantation for tourists. There were over 6,500 acres of property to explore including an Inn and Equestrian center that we did not visit. We walked all around the gardens which unfortunately had mostly finished blooming in March this year. There were still plenty of beautiful views of the Live Oaks leaning all along the waterfront. A picture perfect location. There were also many original historic buildings on site. Several people there were dressed in period clothing and taught us information about their craft as it was done in the 18th and 19th centuries. There was also plenty of animals from sheep grazing the fields to horses in their area and a few chickens running loose. While we did not take advantage of their official tour guides we did enjoy wandering around on our own and seeing what interested us.

Boone Hall Plantation
The last plantation was Boone Hall. This is a very popular spot due to the long row of Live Oaks leading to the plantations entrance. There are 90 oaks planted symmetrically along the driveway creating a breathtaking view like no other. This area has been photographed many times before in different movies over the years. The day we were visiting it was also hosting a wedding and reception. While visiting we got to tour the plantation home and butterfly gardens. There were also 6 original slave quarters still standing that offered a powerful message using the full timeline of slavery’s history in America. This timeline spanned from the birth of slavery in the 1600s through the Civil War to Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement and finished with an excerpt from President Obamas inauguration speech.

The City of Charleston
With nearly 350 years of history in the city of Charleston there are countless number of things to do and see and learn. Certainly much more than anyone can absorb in just one weekend. Lauren and I took our time walking all over the historic downtown district. I enjoyed the rich architectural homes the most and the various styles ranging from the popular greek revival to the occasional victorian and a mix of everything in between. Each one was unique from the one right next to it. There were also plenty of parks and piers and fountains to be enjoyed while walking around. We made a few trips through the city market in search of souvenirs. Saturday evening we booked a haunted ghost harbor tour. We heard a handful of spooky stories about real pirates that were killed in the city and their ghosts that still haunt people today. It was also a great opportunity to float around on a boat and see the city and the bridge from a distance at night. Very cool experience. Another fun tour we managed to squeeze in was a carriage ride on Sunday morning before we left for home. Our tour guide was a local who lived there all his life and he knew every single detail there was to the history of the city. It was amazing all the things we learned in just 1 hours time.

The City of Charleston is such a beautiful place, especially this time of year. There is lots of southern hospitality to go around. Everyone seems very laid back and the pace of life is slow and steady. Sounds like my kinda place. Lauren and I are both so glad we had the opportunity to visit this city together. It was such a nice way to get away from everything and relax together for a few days. There are still so many more things we would like to see that we have a list for the next time we visit (whenever that may be). Until then enjoy the slideshow of photos from our trip.