King Street is THE street for good shopping. It beats a typical mall any day. Apparently I was not the only one who thought so since it was actually more crowded than the streets of New York. Ha. I was happy when Lauren from Amen Inspired Design and Le Lapin Bebe mentioned South of Market via Instagram. Can I tell you how much I love Instagram??? Anyhow, the shop was brilliant. Kay Douglass is by far one of my favorite designers and I believe she was one of the first designers who made Belgium design so popular here in the states. Do you remember this home from House Beautiful? Still an all time favorite and even though it was published years ago it still looks current, now that's good design. It was a treat to stop in and see goods that I have seen in countless magazines in person that she has used in her rooms. The styling, mixing, and sheer beauty of it all was mesmerizing. I think Birmingham could use a South of Market. Charleston and Atlanta is just not close enough.
Charleston {The Sites}
We were in Charleston only three days and only two of those were full days. We could have spent a week there and still never tire of it I am sure. Thankfully, our whole family loves to walk and explore. We all, including the kiddos, find architecture and magical gardens memorizing. Charleston of course had no shortage of these, but I think my favorite detail is that the old homes had the most beautiful doors that opened onto porches. Not into houses, but onto porches made for lounging, get togethers with friends, and a good tall glass of sweet tea on warm summer days.
Some of the homes had such a lean it was almost whimsical. I do wonder what the inside of these homes feel like and if it were the wind that caused it or what else.
Oh, and a few moments after hours of meandering when your daughter decided walking down the historical streets like chickens is more fun and the moment your son becomes a teenage thug seems like a brilliant idea.
We also went aboard the USS Yorktown which my grandfather came home on from war. It was nice to think that maybe we stood where he stood and tried to see if we could pick him out among all the old photographs. I sure do miss him. KJ was memorized by the sheer hugeness of it all and the jets didn't hurt either. We spent a couple of hours there and could have easily done more. Just a TIP: we bought our tickets off of the Charleston Groupon. It saved us tons. It seems they have a good rotation of activities. I am thinking next time a historical walking tour would be nice.
We toured Sullivan's Island. It's worth a drive through if you don't have the time to stop even. We picked up seashell's and buried our toes in the cold sand. We explored Fort Moultrie. The Mr and I enjoyed the history of it all and although a beautiful site now how awful it must have been to actually fight from. The kiddos enjoyed the sheer exploration of it of course. Many people recommended eating at Poe's Tavern. Unfortunately due to what we thought was cold weather at the time and a bit of drizzle we never got to enjoy it. The tavern is small, but has great outdoor dining which was not practical at the time. Can't wait to try it next time! With the line they had it must be something good.
Charleston {HUSK}
Yesterday as I sat and pulled photos that I wanted to blog I came out to a mere 50! Ha. After a second culling I decided that maybe this week we should just deem Charleston week. Of course I then had to decide which post to do first and quickly came to the conclusion that good food + architecture with a little family dabbled in would pretty much sum up all my joys into one. We spent three days in Charleston and can't wait to go back to explore some more. It was stunning. One of our favorite things to do as a family is walk, look at architecture, and eat well. All three things were easy to achieve here. We ate at Taco Boy twice, it was that good plus very gluten free friendly. When people heard we were heading to Charleston pretty much everyone mentioned HUSK. We got a lunch a reservation, which is all they had a month out. People were being turned away left and right. I now know why.
HUSK is housed in a historic home that holds true to the Charleston style. The wait staff was beyond kind and was sure to provide enough options for me to eat and even the chef made changes to dishes so I could actually have a 100% safe meal AND dessert. The restaurant felt like you were dining with friends and we never felt hurried even though we were the only people with children. It had the atmosphere that lends itself to a leisurely meal to simply enjoy all they had to offer. If you follow me on Instagram you saw my shrimp and grits plate that was AMAZING to say the least.
They do not have a kids menu, but our kids pretty much eat it all and Ellie actually loves to try anything that looks "fancy". KJ was a little nervous at first, but in the end could have had just the bread bowl with homemade butter and been quite happy.
As I walked through Charleston I noticed quite a few of these bench rockers and was excited to see one up close at HUSK. I discovered they are OLD CHARLESTON JOGGLING BOARDS. I want one bad for our porch. The kids rode it like a see-saw but you can sit in the middle and it kind of just lulls you.
We decided that in every city we wanted to have one family picture. People get so nervous when we ask them to take pictures with our camera. The Mr sets up the shot and tells them the two buttons to use and in the end you can tell people like the excitement of it all. It is sort of like a machine gun with a much better outcome. I kid, sort of. KJ for Christmas wanted a camera. We found this Nikon on a huge black Friday sale on-line and I recommend it 100%. I may even borrow it for blog posts here and there. He has an eye for photography. Ellie snapped both the picture of KJ and the first picture of us with the big camera and KJ snapped the last two with his {both with different edits}. I think one day KELLEN JACOB PHOTOGRAPHY could become a brother/sister business rather than a husband/wife one.
A horse drawn carriage was a common site in Charleston and our walk back from HUSK we happened to cross many of the carriage houses for the horses. Ellie and I kept an eye out to make sure they were properly cared for. At one one point I thought Ellie was going to make a break for it and try to give them all a cuddle.
