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Charleston

March 2023
Spring break 2023 Read more
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  • TravelerCharleston
    Day 1

    Never without incident

    March 19, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 61 °F

    By now we've learned to expect a wave of anxiety on the initial travel day of vacation. We were beginning to believe that today might be an exception... By the time we got up, we had news that Caty had safely arrived in Paris to spend spring break with her Dad, which was a major relief. Our flight wasn't until mid afternoon, so we followed our normal Sunday morning routine, coffee and dog walking, followed by some last minute packing.

    We flew out of Milwaukee, so after another good dog walk, it was an easy drive and we arrived with lots of time to spare. About an hour before boarding, we began to wonder why our dogsitter hadn't checked in with us confirming her arrival. As our plane began boarding, we started stressing, and sent some panicked texts/calls to the sitter. When she didn't immediately respond, we quickly devolved into assuming the dogsitter had died in a car crash or had spontaneously combust. Laura's mom graciously offered to head over as backup, which held us over as we took to the skies and lost cellular signal.

    The flight to Charlotte didn't take too long, but I'm sure it felt like an eternity for Laura as she ruminated on the circumstances, and let her imagination run wild with thoughts of the dogs being all alone for days at a time. Wish me luck convincing her to take further vacations sans doggos.

    Luckily, when we landed we were greeted by text messages by both the sitter and Laura's mom, with some bonus pup pics to assure us that the dogs were indeed alive and not at all in distress. We breathed a sigh of relief, and caught the next quick flight down to Charleston.

    We arrived slightly later than anticipated, and following the world's slowest cab ride to our hotel, quickly got ready for our 8:45pm (so late for us!) dinner at Chez Nous. Our hotel is quite charming, but we had to rush through the welcoming to throw some different clothes on and head back out. We'll give it full appreciation in the morning.

    The restaurant was also beyond charming, and we were very excited about the prospect of some drinks and good food. We both enjoyed some white wine, bruschetta with peas and mint, a chickpea cake served over salad, chicken thigh in lemon sauce, and grouper over a vanilla saffron sauce (the highlight of the meal).    Read more

  • TravelerCharleston
    Day 2

    Charleston Walking Tour

    March 20, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

    We blacked all light out the room with the blinds and curtains, and put on some white noise to ensure a full night's sleep. When we did get up, we got to appreciate the full character of our hotel in the light of day. We had a very light breakfast, since we had an early lunch reservation. With some coffee in us, we made a brief appearance at the hotel gym (complete with two peloton bikes), before getting ready for the day and heading out for lunch.

    We arrived a few minutes early, so we spent a little time walking around and generally enjoying some sunshine and the abundance of green foliage. Lunch was at The Obstinate Daughter, where we each had one of the specials, and an it's-almost-noon beer.

    The main event of the day was a walking tour of Charleston. Some of the highlights included:
    * The Miracles of the Mills house - The historical house survived major fires, shelling during the war and a 7.3 magnitude earthquake. Ultimately, it finally succumbed to a termite infestation.

    Another major stop was Dock street theater in the French quarter. We got to pop inside, and our guide shared some information about the significance of the Kings crest hung above the stage (the wealthy planter-class would only attend plays held at theaters sanctioned by King Charles. Many notable people were affiliated with the theater, including John Wilkes Booth's alcoholic father, Junius Booth. He famously beat another man with a fire poker, and had to be locked in a room (where a friend snuck him alcohol via a straw through the door's keyhole).

    We saw the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon, one of the sites where the U.S. constitution was ratified (just around the corner from where slaves were being sold...). The dungeon in the basement was previously used to hold enemies of the king.

    As we walked around, we saw plenty of "houses of negotiated affection". We made a stop at rainbow row, a cluster pastel-colored Georgian style homes, before walking down to The Battery to look out at fort Sumter to hear about naval battles against the British naval fleet and the start of the civil war.

    When the tour concluded, we walked around just a bit more, before it was cheese and wine hour at the hotel.

    Dinner was shortly after, at Leon's Oyster Shop (kind of reminded me of Parson's Chicken in Chicago). We had a half dozen oysters each, and a fried platter of clam strips, catfish, shrimp, and hush puppies.    Read more

  • TravelerCharleston
    Day 3

    Aquarium and Fort Sumter

    March 21, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    We spent our morning at the South Carolina Aquarium. Since we were fairly early arrivals on a school day, there weren't many other guests, meaning we got pretty dedicated attention from the aquarium staff. Right at the beginning they had a ray pool that you could stick two fingers in to pet the backs of the rays as they swam by. It was the immediate highlight for me as I bonded with a few rays. The attendant explained that it was because in an hour they'd let guests feed them some fish and they were hoping I was starting early, but I know it was my natural charm.

    When we went inside, we chatted with a lady holding a snake 🐍 (Laura wasn't super into it, but I gave her some rubs), and then hit 🐢 THE TURTLE ROOM 🐢 They had 16 turtles that were being rehabilitated, and we got to see about half of those. My favorite was watching a hungry boy chowing down on some lettuce, but they were all pretty darn cute.

    Laura was excited to see a scuba diver in the giant tank with the sharks and giant fishies.

    After the aquarium we sauntered over to
    167 Raw Oyster bar for lunch. We shared a fantastic crab dip, lobster tostada, and tuna burger. The meal was accompanied by a martini for me and bubbles for Laura to pair the food, of course.

    Following a power nap, we meandered back over towards the aquarium to catch the boat that took us over to Fort Sumter. It was a pleasant 30 minute ride over in the sunshine to the island. Shortly after embarking, we saw some dolphins playing near the edge of the port. The fort itself was a shadow of its former self after being bombarded -- the flagpole atop the fort had a red line about halfway up to mark the 3rd story that the fort used to reach. Since it was the last group of the day, we got to participate in the flag lowering ceremony. We wandered a bit around the fort reading the plaques, gazing upon the many cannons and mortars, before ending with a spectacular lecture given by one of the rangers recounting the history of the fort and its history through the civil war.

    After seeing seeing the dolphins again on our way back we went back to the hotel to change into workout clothes and made a quick appearance at the gym. I scurried back to the room to shower before 6 so we wouldn't miss the complementary wine and cheese hour.

    We sipped our wine by a fire pit and enjoyed the cool weather until it was time for dinner at Zero George (the Hotel's restaurant)... which was divine.    Read more

  • TravelerCharleston
    Day 4

    Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

    March 22, 2023 in the United States

    Laura let me sleep in this morning, which was most excellent.

    We decided to rent a car, so we could learn to fully appreciate how all road signage either came too early such that it was ambiguous, or came too late (EXITLEFTNOW!!!) To be of use.

    Still, we did manage to make it out to the Magnolia Gardens, which sits on a former plantation used to grow Carolina Gold Rice (the premier money-making crop for Charleston, farmed with slave labor). We strolled around the garden briefly before boarding a trolley that took us around the property. Our guide quickly pointed out several alligators sunning themselves on ramps sticking out of the swamp, after which Laura retracted further into the trolley interior. Besides the gators, there were tons of birds, turtles, ancient trees with hanging Spanish moss, and of course, flowers that we admired on the ride and subsequent walk around the demesne.

    The trolley also looped around the remaining slave cabins on the estate property, with a mostly unfiltered dialog around the conditions they endured leading up to liberation.

    We decided not to tour the mansion on the property, but did learn that it was the third constructed -- the first burned down after being struck by lightning, and the second was destroyed by the union army.

    Taking advantage of the rental car, we drove over to a local brewer (Holy City) to sample some local beers and have a quick bite for lunch.

    After another nap, we grabbed two of the world's largest personal umbrellas provided by the hotel, and bumbled our way over to the city market to look at local knickknacks and art.

    On the walk back we spied that one of the restaurants we had earmarked already had a line forming, and a call to our backup conveyed a three hour wait-list. Searching our other pre-flagged choices during wine-and-cheese hour showed that Chez Nous, the restaurant we went to on our first night had a 7:30pm table open up. Since we both really enjoyed it, we decided to go back and snagged it. As their menu changes every day, it was an excellent choice to round out our trip to Charleston.    Read more

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