Charleston Recap + Everything You Need to Know About Visiting Charleston

Ok so I just had an amaazzzing weekend celebrating an old college BFF's bachelorette party in Charleston. I hadn't been to Charleston since another bachelorette party five years ago (5? 4? 6?). Despite being around college friends and attempting to party like I was in college, I did survive and I did have an amazing time. So here's the scoop on Charleston (one of my BFFs lives there so she told me about the places we didn't go).

Beaches:

Isle of Palms: This was a nice quiet beach with a few restaurants and bars but definitely not party city. Fortunately we brought our own party so this was no prob. Saturday we took a shuttle 30 minutes into downtown Charleston that cost $5/person so def not bad.
Sullivan's Island: Closer to Charleston, location of Charleston's University of Georgia bar so obvi I went there.
Folley Beach: This party beach was our college fav. Lots of people, lots of boozing, kind of like a college party.

All very bachelorette friendly as you can see.

Bars:

Husk Bar: This place is well-known for its restaurant but my friend (a real live local!) swears by the bar scene at night.
Midtown: This was very bachelorette-party appropriate. Live southern rock band, lots of college kids, shots all around. My friend lost her phone here and at the end of the night left her name and phone number for the bartender to call her if he found her phone if that tells you anything about how the night ended there.
Republic: This place was pretty sweet because it had table service with flaming bottles and a dance-y dj playing inside but a live band playing outside.
Market Street Saloon: We fortunately didn't make it to this one but everyone said it is THE bachelorette spot. A Coyote Ugly bar (aka dancing on the bars) that forces the bachelorette to dance on the bar.
*Sidenotes about the bars: If you want to hear live music, Charleston's noise ordinance forces it to cut off by 11pm. Also taxis are maaaddd expensive BUT this weekend was their first weekend with UberX so I definitely recommend using that. Or booking a shuttle ahead of time for a big group. Just be ready for that major expense.

BACON FRIES THIS IS REAL

Restaurants:

Fish ($$$): Thai-French-Seafood fusion. Sounds weird, tastes amazing. We ate here on Saturday, it's definitely on the fancier side but not SUPER fancy.
Xiao Bao Biscuit ($$): Asian soulfood. SAY WHAT? My friend swears everyone has to eat here.
The Grocery ($$$): Farm-to-table, all local, all goodness. BFF says this is where they go when they're in the mood for something fancy. I am dying to try it, also dying to go back to Charleston asap so we'll see how that goes.
Rarebit ($$): Could eat literally everything on this menu. Also could drink every drink on the menu. Yeah yall.

See: Ghost Tours. This is Philadelphia Alley which caught on fire forever ago but apparently you can hear people's screams at night. EEEEk

Things to do:

Beaches (above)
The Market: They have a big market place full of fun things to check out.
Carriage tour: This was totally unnecessary for me because my friend took me around town and explained everything to me but I really recommend this if you don't have someone showing you around. Charleston is so rich with interesting history.
Ghost Tour: A place this full of history has got to be haunted right?

Ok now for my photo dump of amazingness.

Woke up to this view every morning:

Hey franz!

The girls on the beach. The MOH brought us all tank tops that said "that's what she said" and the bride's said " yes". Funny.

The 3 of us met in the dorms freshman year and lived together 3 years of college. Now we are all getting married within 9 months of each other. Weird right?

The above mentioned bacon fries with the lobster roll from Fish. Yes please.

I was seriously impressed by all the greenery in IOP.

Squinty eyes = Lindsay trying to drink like she's in college

With my tour guide Steph! On the battery.

Steph told me this color is Charleston's pink and that is why so many buildings are painted pink in the city. Look for it when you're there!

Hi cute tiny streets!!

Obligatory dog pic of my friends' dog Merlot. HI!!!