One of the blessings of being a student at University of South Carolina is the ability to go to so many fun cities for weekend trips. Throughout college, my favorite city to explore has been Charleston. This MLK weekend, my friends and I headed down for a girls trip!
Where To Stay in Charleston
We were lucky enough to have a friend from Charleston who’s family offered to host us. If you are looking to stay in an Airbnb, I recommend being as close to downtown as possible. So much action happens on King Street from shopping, to restaurants, to night life. Unfortunately, Ubers are very expensive. Our Uber from Downtown to Daniel Island was $50 but during the peak season it can get up to $100.
If you are looking to be near the beach, Isle of Palms is more upscale, while Folly Beach is more of a small hippy beach town vibe.
Mount Pleasant offers great restaurants along Shem Creek, but you don’t really need to stay there.
Things To Do in Charleston
- Walk the The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge from Downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant
- Go to the beach
- Shop along King Street
- Water Front Park
- Shop at Mount Pleasant Town Center
Where To Eat in Charleston
Tavern and Table
Oh my gosh, I was drooling just looking at the menu. The appetizers can’t be beat. We ordered the cornbread skillet and bacon brussel sprouts. For my main course, I had the fig and prosciutto flatbread and it was TO DIE FOR. I left no crumbs.
My only complaint is I hated the Moscow mule. I normally love Moscow mules and this one had blueberries and blackberries which is my absolute favorite so I was very excited. I was disappointed to realize that the ginger beer had fresh ginger that burned my throat.
The CO-OP
This place is so cool! They primarily sell different flavors of frose that you can order a flight of or take to the beach! They also have coffee and sandwiches that are surprisingly amazing. I devoured my turkey avocado sandwich that had veggie cream cheese, micro greens, and tomato on top. It is a funky place, decorated all pink, with an owner that has a great sense of humor that might bother some. They are franchising in many major cities now which is exciting!
O-Ku
O-Ku is currently under renovation so we went to their popup location. Even with a temporary limited menu, we loved our experience there. We started with edamame and fried cauliflower that ranked the favorite food of the weekend among my friends. They primarily serve fresh rolled sushi, but I ordered the chicken teriyaki bowl and it was great.
Toast
This cute brunch place has several locations in Charleston but we went to the one on King Street. They have a large menu so there is something for everyone. Most of us ordered the sweet tea fried chicken and biscuits. The biscuit was massive so I couldn’t finish it because I also really liked the cheesy grits that came with it. If you want to have a boozy brunch, they offer vodka infused mimosas.
Charleston Nightlife
We went to three different bars over the two nights. We were looking for a lively atmosphere because we all LOOOVEEE to dance.
Republic Biergarten & Kitchen
We started our night here and I have mixed feelings. It is beautiful with fancy chandeliers and feels like a very upscale club. However, the vibe of the inside kind of sucks because they have so much space roped off for bottle service that there isn’t much room to dance. The outside bar is great with bench seating for large groups and cool decor. It happened to be raining that night though so I wasn’t super in to it. Definitely come here on a nice night.
Share House
Share House is only a year old and you can sort of tell by the mixed crowd. It was typically younger (22-30s) with a few random 50+ along the wall. There were two rooms with different DJs, one playing 2000s hits and one playing hip hop and rap. We had a great time making a fool of ourselves dancing to both.
Note: There is a $10 cover fee and no cash is accepted.
Uptown Social
Uptown Social has a much bigger reputation and I can see why. They have a very large first floor that has live bands earlier in the night and DJs beginning at 11. Upstairs has a very small room with a bar and DJ, and then a great rooftop with TVs and it’s own bar as well. I loved it here, it lived up to the hype for me. This crowd was all over. It was people coming from weddings, 50+, young adults, and college students.
Note: There is a $10 cover fee and no cash is accepted.
This was our first girls trip but certainly not the last! If you are looking for some things to do on more of a college budget, check out my blog post from my previous trip to CHS!
