Charleston

Charleston, South Carolina is only a 2 hour drive from Savannah (you can find more on Savannah here), and is a great place for a day trip!

When we left Savannah, we decided to stop at Prince William’s Parish Church. Also known as Old Sheldon Church.

Leaving Savannah, take interstate 95 towards Charleston. From there, you will turn off onto highway 17. The church is a short ways off of 17, but not so far that it is out of the way or a detriment in getting to Charleston.

Driving down Old Sheldon Church Road is like going back in time. Fields line the road, and the old moss covered oak trees that the south is known for mark your path.

The church was originally built in 1751. It was burned down during the Revolutionary War, rebuild in 1825, and burned down again during the Civil War in 1865. Tough times for this beautiful building.

The grounds are fenced in, and parking is across the road. When we arrived, we were the only ones there.

Walking into the grounds from the entrance

The roof and windows are obviously gone, however the walls and a marker where the alter once stood are still there. Graves still line the church grounds, so please be respectful.

Our next stop was the Charleston Tea Plantation, the only commercial tea plantation in the United States.

While the plantation is interesting, it's a bit out of the way to get to. If you don’t have a lot of time in the area, I would skip it as there is a lot to see in Charleston that you wouldn't want to miss out on.

This is the path that we followed around Charleston. It was a nice walk and offered up most of the interesting and historical sights to see. We parked in a garage on Market St. and Meeting St. and set out from there.

Our first stop was Poogan's Porch at 72 Queen St. for some brunch. They are open from 10:30am - 2:30pm and then again from 5pm - 9:30 (or 10pm on Friday and Saturday). Poogan's is a quaint old house that was converted into a restaurant, so each room is different and unique.

The menu is seasonal, but one thing that doesn't change, the biscuits! They were so dang good.

Brunch was the eggs Benedict with crab cakes, really you can't go wrong with food here!

Charleston is fully of cute little alleyways and side streets. Near St. Phillip's church you will find Philadelphia Alley, home to cute houses and garden pathways.

A block away from Philadelphia Alley, you will find Chalmers street. Home of the Old Slave Market Museum.

One of the things that I like about this museum is that they didn't tear it down or try to hide what it used to be. They are owning what happened in our history and showing why it was such an abhorrent time that should never be repeated.

After our trip to the museum, we headed to the Pineapple Fountain down on the water. I love all of the old cobble stones streets around Charleston, I couldn't help but snap some pictures.

The famous Pineapple Fountain.

The colorful houses of Rainbow Row located on E Bay St. was our next photo opp.

E Bay St is a nice little walk with a lot of cute houses and alleyway's to explore.

If you aren't looking for Stolls Alley you would miss it as it's much smaller and less traveled than the other alleyways. I want to say it was about 115 degrees this day and the alleyway was marked with a sign that said "Cold Water This Way." Much like an idiot in a horror movie, or the van that says "free candy" we followed the sign in the hopes of cooling off even a little bit. If it turned out to belong to a murder suspect, our only hope was that he had air conditioning....

Doors to secret gardens.

Turns out there was cold water at the end of that alleyway and not a murderer after all. I do hope the signs were truthful and the proceeds are going towards suicide prevention. It's a cause near and dear to my heart as a counselor.

Stolls Alley opened up into Church Street, which we followed to get to the Battery. I'm glad we did because we were rewarded in doing so by some beautiful antebellum homes.

The Battery, which is their term for the seawall surrounding the bottom part of Charleston.

On our walk back to the car, we decided to travel down King Street. I'm glad we did because the houses were amazing. I was too wrapped up looking at everything to remember to take picture, but you will have to trust me and take a walk down King St.

Our second to last stop of the day was the Unitarian Church on Archdale St. If you are going to go, make sure you check their tour times. They are only open for tours on Saturday and Sunday.

The outside of the church is pretty plain, but the inside is stunning.

Our final stop of the day, was the Historic Charleston City Market.

I'm happy to say the first building you come to is air conditioned! I'm pretty sure we spent about 30 minutes in here doing nothing but basking in the a/c!

It reminds me of the French Quarter Market in New Orleans a lot. If you are looking for anything, you can find it here. Bedding, recipes, knick knacks, shoes, toys, jewelry, art, you can find just about everything!

On our drive back to Savannah, we stumbled upon the Carolina Cider Company on highway 17, just a bit before you get to Interstate 95.

They have just about any cider you could think of: Peach, Muscadine, Blackberry, Black Bing Cherry, Blueberry, Strawberry, Apple, and Cinnamon Spiced Apple. As well as homemade soaps, tea, fruit, candy & nuts, mustard, salsa, pickles, honey, flavored butter, jams, pickled veggies, soup mixes, dips, sauces, rubs, rice, and grit mixes.

I managed to fit 2 of the medium bottles of cider (Peach and Muscadine) and their jalapeno honey mustard into my check bag to bring home.

That's all from Charleston! If you haven't checked out our Savannah post yet, you can catch it here!

-Until the next adventure!