Charleston, Part I

let me start by reiterating that i absolutely love my city. New York is phenomenal and unique and fascinating. there’s really no other place quite like it, from what i’ve experienced.

now, let me follow that up by saying that i toooootally, unabashedly cheated on my first love this weekend.

enter: Charleston. talk about being swept off your feet entirely unexpectedly. gahhh. there was just so, so much to love about this charmingest of all charming cities.

for starters, it’s just begging you to love it.

see? no choice. the very streets demand it of you.

i spent three full days there and absolutely fell in love it. it’s quaint and clean and lovely and so very southern without being hokey (does that make sense?). it’s its own little magical universe, really, and i could not stop exclaiming about how much i just loved everything. i also got to visit the church (but didn’t go inside) where the shooting was recently, which i’m glad i was able to do. the street was roped off to cars but we were able to stand directly across from it, and it was a solemn but really nice moment, to be able to see the outpouring of support and stand there and pray for the city right at that site.

so, let me give you a little recap of my wonderful weekend in South Carolina. i’m going to split this trip review into at least two posts, so here’s Part I.

note: please get ready for a lot of pictures of me. my friend was very diligent in documenting my happiness at each spot!

Friday night: i had a late flight and didn’t arrive til midnight, so my friend (i went to visit a childhood friend i haven’t seen in 16 years — talk about overdue!) and i just sat on his couch and drank wine and caught up til 3am. oh, and yeah, about that whole “no drinking all summer” thing…welp, it’s been revised. i’m happy to say i’m at a “no drinking to excess” standard, which is working well for me, as i’m determined to never drink so much that i can’t wake up early and run the next day. aka, 1-2 drinks is it.

Saturday: knowing i’d want to be active as much as possible, Chris had borrowed his friends’ bikes for us, so we spent Saturday touring downtown Charleston by bike! it was an incredible way to see the city. he lives in Mount Pleasant (which is across the bridge from downtown), so we biked to a ferry and boated across, and then wheeled around the city all afternoon. it’s such a bike-able, easy-to-navigate place, so this was the best way for me to take it all in.

we started by walking around Charleston Farmer’s Market, which was adorable and had live music and street dancers and lots of kiddie bouncy houses and lots of amazing looking produce.

we then walked all over the historic downtown area, which was just so lovely. i was just so in awe of this beautiful city.

we made it to lunch at Fleet Landing right on the water just in time to avoid a thunderstorm, and it was pretty sweet to be inside a waterfront restaurant during a torrential downpour. it was a lively, popular weekend afternoon spot with a great seafood restaurant and chill vibe (i was in gym clothes and didn’t feel out of place), and when the rain cleared, we were able to eat outside on the deck.

i was sooooo stoked for the seafood in Charleston — which i had for every meal, in one way or another — and it didn’t disappoint.

that night (after i napped), we headed back downtown to check out The Rooftop at The Vendue. it was a cool spot with an awesome element greeting you right off the elevator:

a life-sized pin point impression toy.

anyone else have these as kids? i loved them, so this adult-sized one was mind blowing. the 5-year-old in me clearly adored this…as did the 30-something in me who wasn’t strong enough to push the pins from the back. whoops.

one very notable thing about Charleston was that everything was just nice. consistently nice. the restaurants and bars were all clean and nicely decorated and had such easy, comfortable vibes — i liked every single place we went, and found the people very welcoming (which makes sense, as it is the South, and hospitality is a major industry there).

if i had any complaints, it would be the humidity. woof. not my favorite thing, especially when i’m running…but i did manage to get in a fair amount of exercise: i spent Saturday on a bike for hours, and ran 3 miles Sunday morning and 4 miles Monday.

and my favorite part of those runs were the “drop all your things and lay down on the cool cement walkway” at the end. man, did i fight for every step of those two short runs, and afterward, i felt like i’d just gone swimming.

i can’t say the city is a runner’s dream, but hey — nobody gets it all, right?

imma cut out here and save the rest of my recap for next time!

Anyone been to Charleston? What did you like best?
Runners: how do you fare in humidity? i die. i cannotttt.

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