Charleston - Part 2

Charleston
…Continued from Part 1

Day 3 – Since Chad and I are both runners, Chris recommended that we run over the Arthur Ravenal Jr. Bridge. Saturday morning we drove over the bridge, parked, ran 2.5 miles down one side, and then ran another 2.5 miles back. The bridge has a concrete wall separating runners and bikers from vehicles.

views on, of, and from the bridge

 I wanted to see one plantation while we were in Charleston. Since Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds recently got married at the Boone Hall Plantation and part of the movie The Notebook was filmed there, it was my first choice! On the way to the plantation, we had to stop and get Chad a "Saban Cake" (oatmeal pie) for his Alabama Game Day Tradition. We couldn't take a chance on Alabama losing due to him not eating an oatmeal pie.

Boone Hall Plantation

Once inside the plantation entrance, Chad and I stopped to take a picture on the Avenue of the Oaks. This is the road from The Notebook that (in the movie) leads to the old house Noah refinished for Allie.

The page of People Magazine showing how Blake and Ryan had the plantation decorated for their Wedding Day.

The Plantation House

Blake and Ryan's Reception Site -- I can definitely see why they wanted to use this venue. Too bad I wasn't invited.

We had a late lunch at Red’s Ice House in Mount Pleasant. This is a great, casual spot for an outside meal and/or place to watch football. We watched part of the Alabama game during lunch and then drove through Isle of the Palms. I enjoyed seeing some of the massive beach houses. I think this one was my favorite.

The back of Red’s Ice House

After taking a small break, we went into some of the local boutiques on King Street and then got ready for our last dinner in Charleston.

some of the King Street Shops

We were still stuffed from lunch and decided on sushi at O-Ku for dinner. We sat at the sushi bar, had Japanese beer, edamame and both smoked and Scottish salmon sashimi. The smoked was my top pick.

Our waitress gave us some recommendations on places nearby to grab a drink. We walked to a bar called Closed for Business. I loved the name and it was a small bar with a relaxed atmosphere but do not attempt to order a girlie drink there. The bar has lots of unique beers on tap and I actually ordered whisky! I tried some fireball whisky and oddly enough, I enjoyed it.

Day 4 – We woke up our last morning to run back through The Battery and along the coast. It was the same run from our first morning but I wanted pictures. It took everything in me to wake up that early, but I promise it was worth it!

The Battery

The sunrise on the coast

Rainbow Row

Five Unique and Random Things I Learned in Charleston:

1.     The difference between a graveyard and a cemetery. If it’s part of a church, then it is a graveyard; if it is out on its own, it is considered a cemetery.

2.     In Charleston, real estate located slightly north of Broad Street is referred to as SNOB and real estate south of broad is referred to as SOB. I believe this makes you a SNOB or a SOB. The houses slightly north of Broad are the houses towards The Battery and on the coast. They are all stunning!!

3.     The front doors on the houses don’t actually open to the inside of the houses. I didn’t even notice until one of our tour guides pointed this out, but the front doors actually open to the porches.

4.     The houses are narrow because the British were used to paying property taxes based on the amount of width their houses took up on the roads. When the British came to Charleston, they built their houses narrow even though they were not being taxed the same way.

5.     Houses built before a certain year cannot be altered without receiving a permit. It takes a long time to receive permission to make any changes and certain things such as the color of the house cannot be altered. You can add on to houses, but you cannot tear down any part of the home. 

In Summary: 

Our trip was amazing! If you have never been to Charleston then I highly recommend adding it to your list and going with a full appetite.