4 Hours in Charleston, South Carolina

Earlier this summer, after much research and excitement, I got the opportunity to stop by Charleston, South Carolina for a few hours while on a road trip down to Hilton Head Island.

The night before our time in Charleston we had come up with a game plan. My mom had gone through the places I found online that seemed interesting, and we created an itinerary for ourselves. We had plans and backup plans, and were all set to go.

We arrived in Charleston around noon and decided lunch was the first order of business to tend to.

Guys, if you ever find yourself in Charleston, Lewis Barbecue is a must. They were great about allergies, and my meal was delicious. I got the ribs, and they were cooked to perfection. When I picked one of them up, the bone slid out of the meat! It took “fall off the bone” to a whole new level. My mouth is watering as I’m sitting here thinking about it. If only I lived closer!

My sides were cowboy beans and pickles (because salt is a must have, especially when travelling!). The beans were good, but not my favorite. The pickles had a bit of a kick to them, but nothing I couldn’t handle which was nice. In all honesty if I ever find myself back at Lewis, I may just order more meat and skip the sides altogether. They were good, but the meat was seriously next level.

When I finished my meal, I went through the space and took some photos. I mean, how could I not?! The décor was extraordinary.

After our fantastic meal, my mom and I hopped back in the car and headed further into Charleston. We ended up passing a United States Custom House on our way to the water, which I thought was pretty neat.

When we got to where we wanted to go, we realized it was right in the blazing sun and fairly crowded. The heat was getting worse, and seeing as I’m heat intolerant due to my chronic illnesses, we didn’t want me feeling sick when we had a few hours drive still ahead of us.

The decision to just slowly drive through the city and take in the sights was one of the best decisions we made. We ended up on Rainbow Row, which was one of the spots I had wanted to see, and there was an open parking spot right in the shade!

Rainbow Row is a block of fun, brightly colored home that you truly can’t miss. I wish I’d gotten a better shot of the whole block!

My mom and I decided to hop out of the car and take some photos in the shade, and another mom who was with her daughters taking photos offered to take our picture! I’m really happy with how this turned out.

We continued to venture down Rainbow Row, and I’m so glad we did! There was some amazing metal work and gardens down a cobblestoned side street, and the architecture was just incredible. If I could have wandered around all day, I would have!

Alas, it was still hot, and getting hotter the further we walked from the water. Before we went back to the car, I somehow convinced my mom to walk back to the water. It was only about a block or so from Rainbow Row, and the ocean breeze felt amazing. There was even some shade!

At this point even though I was pretty worn out. We walked back to the car and put Charleston Tea Plantation into the GPS, hoping we’d make it before closing time at four!

Charleston Tea Plantation is the only working tea plantation in the North America. And it happens to be home to the brand that makes one of my favorite teas! We had no idea that Bigelow tea was made in the United States, but that made our little trip more exciting.

To get to the store and central area where things operate for the tea plantation you have to drive past a fair number of tea fields. It was so cool to think some of those very tea leaves could turn into my favorite Vanilla Caramel tea!

In the shop I somehow managed to convince myself not to buy a tea pot, even though the mini ones were adorable and very tempting. We sampled some teas, and bought our favorite.

Then while my mom went through their educational experience video thing, I sat on the porch in a rocking chair and looked out over the tea fields. There was even an American flag flying from the front of the porch, and it felt like a true southern experience.

While I was chilling in my rocking chair, I saw a beautiful butterfly, and naturally I snapped a photo or two.

Once my mom came out of the shop, we went to look at the tea fields up close. They happened to have the largest sweet tea in the world, so more photos were taken.

The Charleston Tea Plantation also offers trolley tours, but we decided to skip that as we still had to drive to Hilton Head and didn’t have a ton of time left before the plantation closed for the day.

If you like tea and find yourself in the area, I would definitely recommend visiting the Charleston Tea Plantation. It’s simple, but neat in that it’s the only one in North America, and you can see the tea and learn about the process right there!

On our way to the highway from the tea plantation, we made our final Charleston stop at the Angel Oak Tree. This was something I had been hoping to see and I’m really glad I got the opportunity! I don’t really have any photos as it was crowded and hard to truly show the scale of the tree in a photograph, but trust me, it was spectacular. The Angel Oak Tree is hundreds of years old, and one of the oldest standing trees on the east coast! It’s roots come out of the ground and tunnel back in, thicker than I’ve ever seen. Some of the branches are held together via a suspension system because this tree is that old and that big.

Angel Oak Tree: free, awe-inspiring, good for putting things in perspective. That thing made me feel tiny!

After the Angel Oak we got back in the car and finished off the last leg of our road trip. Though I only spent a few hours in and around Charleston, driving out of the city on our way to the plantation I was in awe of the architecture. I would love to go back one day when it isn’t so hot to explore some more!

I am truly happy with what we did in Charleston and I have absolutely no regrets. It makes me excited for my next city adventure!

My Charleston photo diary, with even more fun photos of my adventures, is coming soon!