Hey y'all! If you follow me over on Instagram, then you know that we did some adventuring in downtown Charleston last weekend. My father-in-law lives less than 45 minutes from downtown Charleston so we love to go explore the area when we are visiting him. A lot of our adventures in Charleston were cost free. Yes, you can go to downtown Charleston, spend a few hours, and spend very little money. I am a super budget conscious person so before we go anywhere, I always Google things to do in the area that are free or low cost. I can almost always find a great comprehensive list of free/cheap things to do in pretty much any city! You can totally travel and experience new things on a small budget. I really don't shop when I travel, I save my spending money to try new food and drinks in the place we are visiting. I rarely buy anything else!
Our day did cost a little bit of money because we got ice cream, drinks, and lunch during our visit. But we are always smart when dining out. We almost always share a plate, especially when we are traveling. Sharing helps us not get overly full or we don't have to worry about waiting food. I don't like wasting anything, especially food! Also, it's just so much cheaper! Sometimes we will get two appetizers so that we can try different things, especially if it's a place to never eaten at before.
The first place on the agenda was Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. I had seen a few other people post about this ice cream shop on Instagram so I started following their page a few months ago. The flavors sounded incredible and let me tell you, it didn’t disappoint! We got lucky and got there when no one else was in the shop. I was surprised because I had heard so many other people online say that there’s usually a line out the door and a long wait. We were able to sample lots of different delicious flavors. I picked Gooey Butter Cake and it was so good!
Our next stop was to get a drink at The
Skinny Dip. I was craving frosé because it was so good the last time we
visited! This place was seriously so Instagrammable. There's a store downstairs
and upstairs is a coffee and wine bar (plus beer). We love everything about
it! For lunch, we went back to a restaurant called The
Rarebit on King Street, which was just a few blocks down the
street from The Skinny Dip. We found out about this restaurant by chatting with
the barista at The Skinny Dip the last time we were here. Asking locals where
to go eat, is often how we find the best places! We went back there for the
amazing Moscow Mules. They are made with their own house made ginger beer. So
delicious! We the special which was fish and grits. Our food was amazing and I
would definitely recommend The Rarebit!
As far as shopping goes, I really
didn't do any at all, just a little window shopping as we passed by stores. But
really, anything you are looking for, you can find it on King Street! So many
great stores from Free People to small shops. If you are looking to do some
serious shopping (and eating/drinking), then Chalreston is the place for you!
You don't have to look very hard to find all of the Southern charm that Charleston has to offer. Just simply look around and you'll see it! We love to check out the amazing architecture and historical spots on Rainbow Row (check out this link for more about this area; such great information for your own free, self-guided tour). Since we were being budget conscious, we did our own walking tour but can get guided tours in a horse drawn carriage! We have been here so many times but I feel like there is always just so much to see. They also have ghost tours as well and we did one of those awhile back. Charleston is just such a beautiful city!
We always park in a public parking garage close to Waterfront Park. It's so much easier than worrying about the metered parking on the street and it's pretty inexpensive. It's a dollar per half hour. We went to Waterfront Park first to see the fountains and walk on the pier. There's even swings on the pier to enjoy. My kids loved this area and we even brought their swimsuits so they could play in the fountains. They were really excited about this because it was close to 100 degrees on the day of our visit! It's such a fun area to take children... and it's free!
Like I mentioned above, it was super hot the day of our visit. When we came in December, the temperature was perfect at around 70 degrees but it was so foggy. During this visit it was so pretty and sunny but incredibly hot. A swimsuit is really the best option for beating the heat but since I wasn't going to be swimming in the fountain with the children (even though I did put my feet in the water to beat the heat), I had to come up with an alternate outfit. I wore my favorite denim mini skirt and this fun leopard tee with gold gladiator sandals (which are incredibly comfortable for walking around the city in). I love bringing leopard print into spring and summer by adding summery pieces, like this straw crossbody bag. An easy, comfortable, and stylish outfit for exploring Charleston!
Thanks so much for visiting! I hope you have a great day!
S H O P T H E P O S T:
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