A Weekend in Charleston With Kids
Back in June we took a family babymoon to Charleston. We had originally planned for a bigger trip, but decided to scale back and drive to Charleston for a long weekend. It was a lovely city and we would highly recommend.
We left Thursday afternoon and drove about 8 hours and stayed in a hotel somewhere in middle Kentucky. We drove the remainder 7 or so hours Friday morning and arrived in Charleston in the afternoon on Friday.
We checked in to our hotel, The Holiday Inn Historic Downtown Charleston. I often opt for hotels over Airbnb, as I know Ollie’s favorite part of any vacation is the pool and finding an affordable, centrally located Airbnb with a pool usually isn’t realistic. The Holiday Inn was a great place for us to stay, it was a stones throw from King Street, which is the main shopping and dining area, it was clean and nice, and I already mentioned the pool.
Friday night, we did some light exploring of King Street and grabbed dinner a cute Italian race car themed wood fire pizza restaurant, Monza Pizza, then we grabbed ice cream and headed back to rest up/
Saturday was spent exploring much of the city. we started with an amazing acai bowl at Playa Bowl. We shopped our way down King Street including a darling farmers market and art fair in Marion Square. Of course, high on my list was the charming homes below on “rainbow row.” These beauties did not disappoint. This street was everything I hoped Charleston would be including palmetto trees, beautiful flower boxes and charm charm charm!!
We took a playground break at Hazel Parker Playground, then continued exploring down the stunning waterfront district and to the beautiful park at the southern point of the city, White Point Garden. We stopped for a bite at a hoppin’ spot, perfect for lunch,especially with kiddos, Brown Dog Deli. After A LOT of walking we headed back to the hotel for a swim and to rest up before dinner.
We got a hot tip to check out Basic Kitchen for dinner, and it was great spot. Not only was it super duper cute, but food was delicious and so fresh. In fact Ollie had a grand time photographing the garden.
Sunday started with breakfast at a cute little spot, Another Broken Egg. We made our way through the Charleston City Market, a cute spot for souvenir shopping. It was definitely a little too crowded for us, but a must hit for artisan Charleston-themed trinkets. Our main attraction for the day was taking the ferry to Fort Sumter, the site of the start of the Civil War. It was interesting, especially for older kids and the boat ride and views were top notch.
After the boat ride we headed back to the hotel room for Ollie to enjoy the pool and to rest up before dinner. Our last meal in Charleston was a well designed spot, called The Rarebit, with mid-century inspired decor and serving American comfort food for a great price. And finally, dessert (for our second time) at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream.
MUST SEE SPOTS
Rainbow Row
King Street
The Battery
Fort Sumter
We loved our visit to Charleston. While we didn’t do too many kid-specific things, our kiddo still had a great time. He loved exploring and was happy just to have swimming time at the pool. It was a lot of walking for a woman 6 months pregnant, but I made it. The food was great and the city definitely charmed my pants off. If I were planning this trip again, the only thing I would do differently would have been to give us one more day to drive over to the beach.