CHARLESTON WALK & WADDLE

Charleston, South Carolina has been named the Holy City which stems from the numerous church steeples that dot its downtown skyline. Aside from Charleston’s historic significance it is also a modern day culinary capital. There are so many notable restaurants you could hit ten from each of these church steeples.

My husband and I walked for miles through the city and three days allowed us to barely nibble away at these culinary surprises.

We arrived early evening the first day with an armload of restaurant suggestions. With just one confirmed dinner reservation (most were shocked by this approach over the New Year’s holiday) we were off! We drove to King Street, found a parking spot immediately, grabbed a window table at Closed for Business (home of the most eclectic draught beer selection in the Southeast) then stepped next door to Monza Pizza for a comforting, hand-tossed, wood fired, bubbly pie. I was loving Charleston after just a few hours and she was loving me right back. It’s here I began my walk and waddle through the Holy City.

Day 1   A glorious bright crisp morning had us out on the streets with a long stroll through the Charleston City Market and quick pop-in’s at several of Charleston’s grand historic hotels. A glance at our map and I noticed we were just a couple of blocks from Cru Café. I guess those two empty seats at the bar overlooking the bustling kitchen were meant for us. Cru Café creates Low Country comfort food in a classic 18^th century single-style home and is equally popular with locals and tourists. On New Year’s Eve we did a pub historic walking tour. Our tummies were growling by 10pm so we thought we’d try our luck at Husk. Cha-ching. We toasted the New Year with 12yo Japanese scotch, hand-crafted cocktails and transformative southern cuisine.

Day 2   After a late morning giddy-up and go we drove out to Middleton Place to ramble the acres of manicured historic gardens. Don’t overlook the restaurant here—it’s quite fabulous. With wind still left in our sails we walked through one of the finest residential showcases in the states, South of Broad (Street), along the Battery and the Charleston Harbor. We met a long-time Charlestonian friend for dinner at the Green Goat. It’s located West of Ashley (River) about 4 miles from downtown and serves up Americana home-cooked meals. The shrimp & grits were the best of our trip accompanied by traditional very tasty southern side dishes—all washed down with my new favorite cocktail, the Moscow Mule.

Day 3   Our next adventure took us over the beautiful Ravenel Bridge to Patriot’s Point Naval and Maritime Museum then later in the afternoon we sipped top-shelf happy hour margaritas at Juanita Greenberg’s. Birthday dinner festivities kicked off with an Orange Ghost cocktail stop at The McIntosh followed by a late-night birthday dinner reservation at Hall’s Chophouse, a family owned steakhouse, one of the best in the state. There’s live jazz music most evenings and a Sunday Southern Gospel Brunch. I’ll have to make Hall’s brunch a must-stop on my next visit to Charleston. –Rochelle, January 2015