{"id":7884,"date":"2014-07-03T08:42:58","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T12:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theenchantedhome.co\/?p=7884"},"modified":"2014-07-03T10:13:04","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T14:13:04","slug":"back-highlights-round-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/2014\/07\/03\/back-highlights-round-1\/","title":{"rendered":"I am back……Charleston highlights round 1!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello my friends! I am back from my southern road trip and had an absolute blast. I realized I truly am a southern belle at heart ( I do have southern blood on both sides so it’s no surprise). We had such a marvelous time. The only<\/em> complaint…the intense heat\/humidity, not good for “the hair”. A hat can fast become a southern girls best friend:) We packed a lot into 5 short days and next time around, we hope to have an even more leisurely schedule to allow for even more exploration!<\/p>\n

First stop, we headed to Charleston…… which is such a beautiful, elegant quintessential southern city. I have added my comments and observations to my short travel list below but it is a city that has been beautifully preserved,? with it’s classic, elegant style successfully infused? with today’s modern conveniences. Loaded with lots of wonderful shops, antiques stores,? and restaurants…..it is a city that is a lot of fun to explore on foot but admittedly we did our share from the confines of my air conditioned car:)<\/p>\n

We managed to take a lot<\/em> of pictures…you know me and pictures there is never ever such a thing as “too many”.? I took note and very much enjoyed the kindness and hospitality that is very much the way of the southern people…service always friendly and aimed to please. I will divide this trip into? three posts,? given the amount of pictures that we took.<\/p>\n

So today it will be part 1, first a few notes (exclusively my opinion) and then a? barrage of photos that hopefully captures the essence of the lovely charming Charleston! Then we will move onto Savannah with a snippet of Beaufort, Bluffton, Kiawah and Palmetto Bluff (my future home when we are ready to retire).<\/p>\n

If you have specific questions or want to know more about my observations, feel free to email me at theenchantedhome@gmail.com.? I am not here to bash any establishment but this is an honest and accurate account, the good and the bad…thankfully it was almost all good!! Certainly nothing a bowl of gumbo or a praline or two can’t cure:)<\/p>\n

A special thanks? to Sandy of You May Be Wandering<\/a> who helped me book my hotels and gave me all kinds of amazing tips and travel recommendations. She is the ultimate travel agent and I cannot sing her praises enough! Click here <\/a>if you have a trip in your future!<\/p>\n

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Hotels, restaurants and things to do…….<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Planters Inn<\/strong>– by far my favorite of the two hotels we stayed in. Elegant quintessentially Southern, beautiful, gorgeously appointed with fine antiques and oriental rugs, it has that small boutique hotel feel that almost makes you feel like the houseguest of a fine southern family. It was absolutely spotless and traditionally decorated, the rooms were luxurious but understated and super elegant, has all the modern conveniences but without compromising the hallmarks of being a stately, well appointed traditional hotel.<\/p>\n

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Charleston Place<\/strong>– Unfortunately a disappointment, but hopefully not a lifelong one! They are in the process of a major renovation (very much needed). The newly renovated rooms are on the higher floors and as I do not take elevators we were in one of the older rooms. It felt tired, the hotel is much larger, and almost has an upscale convention-y feel to it (to me). The room was pretty but not pristine, there were many signs of how much a renovation is in order. It was a larger hotel and more commercial feeling. Just lacked the polish of Planters Inn. Great service and responsive management who absolutely? aimed to please…am sure when the renovation is complete, it will be wonderful. (remember I am also a bit of a germaphob and a little OCD)<\/p>\n

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Husk<\/strong>– Progressive, great dining, good fresh food, lively atmosphere, fun energy and well located. Go!<\/p>\n

Hominy Grill<\/strong>– Overall our fave:) Awesome food, great casual setting, southern flair with a twist, there is a reason we went back twice (w0uold have gone a third time if we were there longer)!<\/p>\n

Hanks Seafood-<\/strong> Good, popular place, I had a great meal, my sister had to get hers back twice! Came back twice just lukewarm, but the flavors were good, liked the atmosphere and it had a nice energy. Service was slightly lackluster here, such as our waitress upon serving our food talking about whether we think the “fish eating your calous pedicure” is worth all the hype???? Huh?? Talk about losing my appetite!<\/p>\n

Charleston Grill<\/strong>– Great food, really yummy, absolute recommend<\/p>\n

Palmetto Cafe- <\/strong>(in hotel) for breakfast….fantastic…one of the best breakfasts I have had in a long time.<\/p>\n

King St<\/strong>– loaded with all kinds of shops. We were there to seek out only those exclusive to Charleston, was surprised at how many mainstream brands there were which held zero appeal to me, I loved the antique shops and small boutiques….found a few goodies to take home:)<\/p>\n

The Slave Market-<\/strong>Iconic so its a must see even if you feel you have seen enough hand made sweet grass baskets to last you a lifetime:) It is incredible to read up on the history there, to think it was a slave trading depot of sorts prior to the Civil War. The Slave Museum was equally fascinating.<\/p>\n

Rainbow Row<\/strong>– This iconic strip of residential beauty is a must see.<\/p>\n

Plantations-<\/strong> We visited two, located outside Charleston (about 20 min( Magnolia and Middleton. It was said that Magnolia has one of the most beautiful gardens in the country, I was frankly a little disappointed. We kept walking in the sweltering heat looking for that “aha” spot where it lived up to it’s name, and it did not. The house also was not the typical plantation one expects when you think of when you hear the word. I preferred Middleton, it was very stately, but no doubt the history of both places was fascinating to hear about.<\/p>\n

House looking<\/strong>– Definitely a highlight was taking walking and riding tours to see all of the beautiful old Charleston homes. So utterly charming, I am a sucker for a pretty doorway and entrance, and give me something with ivy and beautiful planter boxes and I get weak!<\/p>\n

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So that sums things up in a nutshell, a lot of wonderful memories to relive. Here? are some<\/em> of my pictures (yes that’s right SOME of what I took). Enjoy……<\/p>\n

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Sorry I now realize, I should have forewarned you that I was going to be showing you some mouth watering pictures of some pretty amazing food!<\/p>\n

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So…those are just some of the highlights from our stay in beautiful picturesque Charleston. Many many laughs, bad hair days, walking and driving tours, amazing meals, shopping excursions, and? too many calories to count later, we have the memories of a wonderful southern road trip to enjoy and cherish…until our next one.<\/p>\n

And we have decided there will most certainly be one, sooner than later:) Thank you for stopping by, really missed being here. Part 2 to come in a few days, with more southern beauty to share. I am headed to the beach later today off and on for the next few weeks but will be working from there, so look forward to playing “catch up” on all I missed while I was away. Wishing you a wonderful and safe? holiday weekend!<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello my friends! I am back from my southern road trip and had an absolute blast. I realized I truly am a southern belle at heart ( I do have southern blood on both sides so it’s no surprise). We had such a marvelous time. The only complaint…the intense heat\/humidity, not good for “the hair”. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[1196,1197,1199,1198,1848,1806],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7884"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7884"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7884\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8120,"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7884\/revisions\/8120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.enchantedhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}