Charleston

We arrived in Charleston hungry in both appetite and for adventure.

We had been rerouted due to the unfortunate incident that happened in Charleston a week prior and the President was in town. So after parking at our hotel, and changing into shorts, we went off in search of lunch.

Passing turquoise walls and pink buildings, we settled on what is known as the restaurant that has the best burger in Charleston, Husk. Since I am on a one girl mission to eat all the burgers, I insisted with my friends that we go for lunch to cure the burger monster brewing inside of me. Fresh yeasty rolls made their way out to the table from our kind waitress and we sat back enjoying our patio view of the Mills House Hotel. It’s perfectly pink posterior was illuminated with the bright afternoon sun, and the patio provided the perfect people watching perch for us. Since we were immersing ourselves in the height of the Southern Culture, we all got a famously southern dish: Shrimp and Grits for Monique and Rachel, a Burger for myself, and then Luisa went with the healthy option of Fried Chicken. Only kidding, there is no healthy Southern Cuisine. Although, some have tried; nothing beats the deep fried crispy skinned chicken much like how the South cooks it up! But today it was all about the half foot high burger they put in front of me. For those of you already dwelling in Atlanta, I can say that this burger is very Holeman & Finch like in that it uses pickles, onions, thin burger patties nestled between melty cheese and sitting on a fresh bun. BUT it’s no Holeman & Finch bun, although, a very tasty second. This burger hit the spot, but the home fry style french fries? An utter disappointment. I also don’t really like home-fry style fries so I’m a little biased. But they’re just never as good as the regular hand cut fries I’ve grown to love.

After eating our full, we realized if we were going to explore all of the French quarter and the Historic King Street we were going to need a little caffeine. So we turned the corner and happened upon blue skies and bull eyes.

As a lover of Iced Coffee, this looked just the place to score a quick sip before heading back into the beating sun. If you’re ever in need of a quick caffeine fix in Charleston, be sure to pop by Bull Street! They use frozen coffee as their iced cubes so you never lose any coffee taste as the ice melts. A HUGE perk to this perky perk lover.
Heading back up King Street, we found ourselves dipping in and out of the air conditioned shops to escape the sun and her humidity. One such shop that delightfully invited us in, was a different kind of library.
An instagramers dream: white marble, quirkyness exploding from every shelf and table and unique knick knacks protruding from all corners of the store. Each bell jar housed a beauty asking to be lifted and snifted.
Candlefish is a first of it’s kind candle shop started by the lovely people at Rewined. They wanted to bring the fun of candlemaking back to the consumer in a non-Gatlinburg-touristy way. The shelves are lined with hundreds of signature scents all created from the workshop behind us (they even have interactive classes where you can make your own smell. What do you think Darling Down South would smell like?). The “Library”, as they call it, is a Southern Belle’s heaven where you can choose candles based on their smell, not their name. Much like how books should be chosen, but we all know we bought The Vacationers for the cover. *wink*Upon entering you are given a Library Card which you can circle and ‘x’ to determine if you like a certain scent or not.

Shorts || Top (out of stock) similar || Shoes || Handbag || Sunglasses

After climbing ladders and picking scents based on sheer whim, I inquired with our Chandler about their origins, to which she pulled out a leather backed ledger and flipped through pages as if some Medieval scene from Diagon Alley. Most candles I loved had a floral but masculine air to them, one however smelled like hot melted butter and vanilla, but I ended up settling on number 62. The scent of Charleston as they called it.

Spending more time than we imagined possible, we said our goodbyes and ‘see you agains’ and headed back into the heat and past the Riviera where our Conference awaited the next day.
Walking further up King, we popped our heads into a pink and white palace: Moon and Lola. Best known for her baubles and acrylic monograms, she was also one of the generous sponsors of the conference! Although after falling in love with the pink couch and colorful gallery wall (all prints of which are purchase-able in store) we headed back to our hotel (the beautiful Belmond at Charleston place) and we welcomed with Southern Pimento Cheese and a charming map of Charleston created by Cheree Berry Paper. With only minutes to spare, we quickly changed, clicked our heels together and popped to the rooftop where cocktails and socializing awaited hosted by Swoozies and Beaucoup!