Do the Charleston!

After Christmas we took a trip to Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, and had a great time in both cities. I was not prepared for the beauty, the friendliness, or the hundreds of beautiful homes. Every street is lined with historic, beautiful homes. It is gorgeous!


We stayed at the Charleston Place Hotel on Meeting Street which is right in the historic area and shopping district. It is an Orient Express hotel so it was quite nice. There were many upscale shops in the hotel including Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and St. John. We were very lucky to get rooms here as this was a last minute kind of trip.

Charleston has great shopping. There are numerous fine art galleries in this area and some very nice men's clothiers. The cool part is that all of the shops and galleries are in beautiful, old buildings. I enjoyed seeing them more than actually shopping.


The homes are breathtaking. As in Savannah, I ran through the historic neighborhoods on my morning runs. It's funny how in this setting, I didn't feel tired or thirsty on my runs (as usual), I was distracted by all the beauty around me!










I peeked in gardens along the way, soaking in ideas and inspiration for my own garden at home.

Again, we ate at many wonderful restaurants including Cypress,

82 Queen,

and my favorite, Gaulart and Maliclet - Fast and French on Broad Street. Why was this my favorite? I'll tell you why...It was recommended by a local who said that she eats here at least once a week. That was a good sign. When we got there we discovered that it was a very small place - TINY. It was packed with people, mostly sitting at "community" tables or bars. We waited about half an hour and used the time people watching. The owner finally summoned us to be seated. We followed him through the maze of packed people to the very back of the restaurant. I mean VERY BACK. It was more like a storage area. This just added to the anticipation of the delicious food to come. We were not disappointed. I had a slab of smoked salmon with a smear of goat cheese and a bowl of bean soup. It melted in my mouth. It was sooooo goooood and quite an adventure.

This is what the place looks like empty. I pulled this photo from their website.

As usual, as soon as I was able, I searched on-line for Charleston real estate (fantasy time). I found my Charleston dream house. It is located on King Street and was built in 1852. It is currently listed at $7,650,000. Worth every penny...

I love vine covered walls. Look at the greenhouse on the right.

A few interior shots...

And for my favorite part, the kitchen...

I could make a lot of shrimp and grits in this kitchen!

Mmm, mmm, good!