I feel like dancing the Charleston
A little while ago, one of Mr. O’s best friends announced he was getting married, which is always a happy moment. We thought it would be a destination wedding, as the lovely bride was American, but were we surprised when we heard where we were headed – the lovely city of Charleston, in South Carolina.
First things first, and a bit of Google Mapping was required – found it! How to get there? Atlanta seemed the closest option, and with a little help from BA, off we went.
Atlanta is a bit of a strange place – but it has grown on me! The home of many large corporations like Coca Cola and CNN to name the few, it is located in Georgia, the peach state (this bit of information will be important for later!).
The World of Coca Cola in Atlanta, Georgia
We stayed downtown, which is strange as it has many skyscrapers but no shops, many conferency-type hotels.. and the lovely Centennial Park, where you can find an incredible attraction.. the World of Coca Cola! The Westin Peachtree was our home for the night – the tallest building in town, it offered incredible views of the city’s skyline. The fact that the hotel upgraded us to the Presidential Suite, may have helped a little (we only found the extra bedrooms before we left!!)
When I go to the USA, I always use Open Table to book restaurants – and wasn’t I surprised when I found Boston’s Legal Seafood right there? I was suddenly hungry for oysters, clam chowder and crab legs with a side of.. a Georgia Peach cocktail 
The next morning, bright and early (thank you, Mr. Jetlag), we set off east towards Charleston. En route, we couldn’t ignore the giant billboards which kept telling us that we should have peaches. One of my favourite fruits, I had no choice but to oblige! They were sweet and delicious as expected.
Lovely sweet peaches
Having done a bit of research, I “accidentally” found out that we had to make another pit stop en route.. hum.. a little of shopping at the Tanger Outlets in Commerce, GA was necessary!
By 5.30pm we arrived and checked into our grande dame hotel, Charleston Place, close to King Street, on the “fashion mile”. Despite being a small city, Charleston has all the big-name shops and quirky boutiques you could want.
Charleston Place Hotel – photo by Charleston Visitors Bureau
What is so special about this small city in South Carolina? Well, it’s postcard pretty; the people are pretty lovely – “y’all from England?” – and, best of all, British accents are few and far between.
We left the hotel and walked towards East Bay Street, where the trendiest bars and restaurants can be found.
Market Pavillion Pool – photo by Market Pavillion Hotel
We headed to the Pavilion Bar, on the rooftop of the Market Pavilion Hotel, where we enjoyed views of historic Charleston and the city’s spectacular sunsets, a cascading pool and signature cocktails, the perfect place to start the night, and I did so with the local speciality – a sweet tea martini. Made with local Firefly sweet tea vodka (definitely the find of the trip) and topped with southern lemonade, it was destined to be the drink of the night. And the first of many, naturally.
East Bay Street – photo by blaineharrington.photoshelter.com
For dinner, we booked a table at Slightly North of Broad or SNOB, as the locals call it. Located in a 19th-century brick warehouse just north of Broad Street, it gave us a taste of some of the South’s best dishes: stuffed Caroline quail breast and seared grouper. And, of course, there’s another opportunity to try a variation of the tea martini, appropriately named the Charleston, which appears to be the same as the previous one, but now with a hint of mint.
Gotta love the Charleston
The night was still young, and there were plenty of places to check out before 2am, when everything shuts down. We started at the Social Wine Bar, as we wanted to see if it really had 4,000 bottles of wine on display. It looks like it probably did, though time constraints mean we manage only to try a few. We ended the night at the Rooftop Bar at the Vendue Inn – but not before trying the other Firefly vodka flavours: peach, mint and lemon.
Isle of Palms beach
The next morning, a little bit light-headed, we woke up bright and early to get to the beach and top up our tans. We chose the Isle of Palms beach, less than half an hour away along the coast. There’s nothing like a sun lounger and a couple of dips in the sea to clear our heads.
Very strange sunlounger!
The next day we headed towards the lovely Savannah… but that is a story to share later!
Funnily enough, we didn’t dance.. humm… we may need to go back :) oh well, another trip to plan!
Mrs. O
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Sounds delightful Mrs O! Haven’t been there, but had heard of it. Wouldn’t mind sitting on one of those beach loungers…the sun, sand and beach is always welcome in my mind!
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It’s really quite a place! We first went for a friend’s wedding and loved it. And then we went back a couple of years later!
Is it wrong that I would like to have that drink, the Charleston, at 8 am?
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Technically, no! It is ice tea, after all
Great pics! Love Centennial Park and World of Coca-Cola in ATL. Especially tasting all the Coke products from around the world. Isle of Palms is a fav spot around Charleston, love checking out the beach area homes and grabbing drinks there. Nearby Folly beach good too.
totally agree!
Charleston has some SERIOUSLY good restaurants. I got to try four of them four nights in a row when I spent a week there for business. It is one of the most charming towns in the U.S. – tucked away so that it isn’t too easy to get to but close to me in Atlanta
By the way, next time you come to Atlanta, check out my writeup about what to see: http://ilivetotravel.me/2011/08/03/atlanta-what-to-see/ !!
Hi Raul, I will and “for the record”, Atlanta isnt as bad as I originally thought
for some reason we have had to fly over at least 4 more times, and now we kind of know what to do! But still a bit strange 
Yes, but next time, maybe I will get to show you guys the other Atlanta!
I look forward to it
seriously!
Seriously lovely! I would so love to visit Charleston but I’ve been to North Carolina a few times. I also adore beaches and cocktails…two of my favorite combinations. Also dig Glenn Miller! Lovely post.
Thank you Charu. I would love to explore the coast more.. one day! North Carolina reminds me of that Richard Gere movie.. I need to get there!
Looks lovely. I was on my way to visit Charleston, when I got a phone call my uncle had passed away. I had to turn around and drive to Arkansas for a funeral. Never have made it back. This post makes me want to make that trip one day.
Oh Ted, so sorry to hear that. Glad this has inspired you – it is definitely worth a visit!
Damn I love being a Southerner! I’m so glad you enjoyed life south of the Mason-Dixon Line. I used to live in Atlanta, and I agree, it is not the most desirable location for a shopping tourist. Definitely not Mrs. O’s cup of sweet tea vodka.
And did Mrs. O like that vodka! To be honest, I don’t drink vodka at all until I found firefly. Cant be every week as a bit sweet, though!
king crab legs, yum! Great post, and loving the photos again!
pleasure, Sir!
Looking forward to Savannah. I have friends who’ve been and are full of praise.
Thanks Jo
promise I will get on to it! Was a lovely place indeed 
Oh, wow! It looks like it’s such a charming place… Now I want to go there!
It is so pretty, Ana, really worth it!
love the cocktails! they look delicious! South Carolina is FAB!
I need to go back
s-e-r-i-o-u-s-l-y – could it be good for “that” trip we mentioned a while ago!