This past weekend I was finally able to visit Charleston and see if it really is worthy of its rivalry with Savannah. I have decided that it is. However, I cannot decide if one really is better than the other. I think they are both equal members of the Best Cities to Visit group. I went with my friend Kendall, who is also artsy and travel minded.
We met in Charleston at our hotel, the Motel 6. It was the cheapest place to stay and it was about 15-20 minutes away from everything, so it wasn't too shabby. Everything was easily accessible via the highway. Bay Street Biergarten (baystreetbiergarten.com) was our first stop for dinner and drinks. We both got spaetzle with parmesan cream sauce, sauteed onions and mushrooms, and slices of fried pork belly adorning the top. It was goooooood, especially with a nice Hefeweizen to accompany it. From there we went to the Faculty Lounge, a dive bar/dance club. We both got a drink with rum in it, and boy was there rum. We chatted and drank and people watched, but no one was on the dance floor. We did leave a little early, around midnight, so that could account for no one dancing, but oh well. It was a good drink and a nice atmosphere; the bartenders were both super nice.
On Saturday morning we got up early for breakfast at IHOP and a tour of the harbor followed by a horse-drawn carriage tour. Charleston Harbor Tours and Palmetto Carriage Works were the providers (charlestonharbortours.com, check out combo tours). Each tour was great. The harbor tour is a little fuzzy because I was sleepy, but I enjoyed learning about the history of Charleston from a nautical perspective. We left the car at the harbor and walked to Palmetto Carriage Works, where we checked in for the 12:30 tour. Everything was in walking distance so we walked through the City Market (thecharlestoncitymarket.com) and by the time we saw everything it was time to go back to check in for the carriage ride.
The carriage ride was also enjoyable, our tour guide/driver was very knowledgeable and friendly. I wish I could remember his name! We drove by the harbor, through the French Quarter, down Rainbow Row, past many historical houses, and the city market, for an hour. Lots and lots of history that is all a blur to me now, but was really entertaining when we were on the tour. Also, while it was really hot in Charleston, the carriage ride was actually pretty cool due to the roof on our carriage and the famous winds and breezes that made walking around a little more tolerable in the heat. It was time for lunch, so we went to a crab place that was near the city market. I wish I could remember the name of it! I'm kicking myself for not checking in there. Anyway, I had a delicious shrimp po'boy, Kendall had a crab cake sandwich, and we had fried green tomatoes to start. Everything was great. The shrimp was fantastic. Charleston is the place to get shrimp!
After lunch, we walked back through the French Quarter to check out as many art galleries as possible. I noticed that much of the artwork could fall into these categories: landscape, seascape/nautical theme, still life, non-objective, realism, and people. Most of these galleries were like the ones that you would find anywhere, with nothing really new and unique. The last gallery we were able to go to had some interesting contemporary genre paintings that were priced at about $13,000-$15,000 dollars. The pricing for some of the work I saw was crazy and eye-opening: there's no rhyme or reason to how artwork is priced! By the time we visited our last gallery it was 5pm, and apparently many things shut down at 5pm on Saturdays in Charleston, which surprised us. We weren't able to visit Robert Lange Studios or the Halsey Institute for Contemporary Art, so possibly more cutting edge stuff would have been found there.
On our way to find some pralines for my mom, a girl stopped us to offer us samples of Italian ice, which we ended up buying, and thank goodness because it was hot! When we walked into River Street Sweets (riverstreetsweets.com) they gave us warm samples of pralines that you could just taste the butter in. I bought a pound and they threw in another half pound. They are the same company that sells pralines along River Street in Savannah, but we thought the Charleston ones tasted better.
We went back to the hotel room to regroup before going to see an improv show at Theater 99 (theatre99.com), but when we called about their ticketing procedures we found out they were sold out for that evening's show. Bummer! However, one of the gallery owners had told us about Boxcar Betty's and the Early Bird Diner, so we decided to head to Boxcar Betty's (boxcarbetty.com) for dinner. We each got a different sandwich so we could split them and share, plus an order each of fried pickled green tomatoes and fried pickles. The sandwich that I got was called the Chicken and Not So Waffle. It had Pimiento Cheese, Bacon Jam, Tomato, Maple Bacon Sauce, and Maple Syrup on it. Kendall got the Boxcar, which had Pimiento Cheese, Peach Slaw, Spicy Mayo, and Housemade Pickles. We both decided the Chicken and Not So Waffle was the best. By this time, we found out the night tour about the shady history of Charleston was also sold out, so we decided to go see "Inside Out" at a local movie theater.
The next day, we went to the Early Bird Diner for breakfast (earlybirddiner.com). There was a slight wait, but it was totally worth it. I got the shrimp and grits and Kendall got a mess of something delicious. We each got a biscuit with our meals and they were also deelish. Afterwards, we went to Folly Beach (follybeach.com). It was by far the best beach experience I have ever had. There wasn't much public parking; everyone just parked along the street. We parked a few blocks away and walked to the beach. It was HOT! Kendall and I agreed later that Portugal wasn't even as hot when we visited there in July/August 2008. We rented some chairs and an umbrella close to the water's edge and just basked in the state of being at the beach. We sat for hours just enjoying the State of Being. When we finally got into the water it was perfect: tepid, with gentle waves. The bottom was nice and sandy and shallow. We would have had to go pretty far out to be in waist deep water. We swam for a bit, then just sat in the surf and chatted. It was so lovely. We had to get out of the water when the lifeguard said there was lightning in the area, so we took that as our cue to go home. Folly Beach has now topped Oak Island as My Favorite Beach.
All in all, an Awesome Weekend in Charleston! :D