Charleston, SC:
Here we are together again and another year around the sun. Emphasis on together again. It's one of my favorite times. This year, my very good friend asked for a repeat trip of a few years ago in a special that we hold dear to our hearts - Charleston, SC. This trip was to be a mix of old experiences with a sprinkle of new. We definitely hit the target. Let's start with this stay - Hotel Emeline.
Check-in was a breeze and the only arrival question we had was - where do we park? Luckily, we were very close to the Bank of America parking garage and we also knew we could have utilized the valet parking service but opted to self park. The walk across the street was easy. Well outside of the drink cooler that gave my friend a little pause on the brick road :-), we made it safely. We arrived to welcome cocktails. Who doesn't love that! The lobby was beautiful and adorned with a winding staircase and a small shopping center with a variety of items. There was plenty of seating while you await travel partners or check-in as well as a cute coffee bar to grab your Capp's, Latte's, or plain old black coffee which is now becoming my favorite. There are some steps in the entry way but they have a ramp in case you wanted to avoid the trek with your luggage. Nice add to avoid an unnecessary trip and fall.
The rooms were a nice size. My friend chose the Socialite room. Keep in mind that some of their rooms and suites carry the same name so be sure to know which you are booking to understand the space you were dealing with. For example, there is a Socialite room and a Socialite suite. We thought we were getting the bigger suite but after paying more attention to the details after the fact, we realized we were booked in the standard suite. Since it was 6 of us, it worked out to be 3 to a room and there were 2 rooms booked so either way we were covered in terms of space. You also have to be specific when requesting connecting spaces as all of their room types do not adjoin.
I really loved this hotel especially for the location. It's in the middle of all that you could ever want to be close to. We stayed at the Charleston Place last time but the rooms were just overpriced for the weekend seemingly due to it being St. Patrick's Day so the Emeline was a great choice. It was literally in the face of the CP so we weren't far off from what we are accustomed to. The layout of the room was fairly simple. My chief complaint was the low lighting. It worked but the only place you can get decent lighting was in the bathroom. Also, there was a storage dresser for clothing and a hanging rack but no closet. We managed but if we all unpacked (like I do lol), we would have run out of space quickly.
Despite that and the dogs, I would absolutely stay here again.
See our travel tips at the end of the post if you are interested in booking here.
Friday Evening:
We dropped off our bags and headed to the bar. Go figure. The wait was about 45 mins to get a seat in the courtyard for dinner. This was a-ok with us because we could just sit, chat, and drink. The perfect start to a Friday evening. We finally made it to the courtyard and the stars were coming out. If you happen to book this hotel, do not skip this part!! Dining in the courtyard was so relaxing! We didn't want to leave and it was the perfect night to sip under the stars.
We ordered a few items from the menu and honestly for hotel dining, everything was absolutely delicious.
Pictured from Left to Right: Crab Linguine: Squid Ink Pasta, Lump Crab, Fresno, Lemon (this was spicy but delicious), Pepperoni Pizza: Smoked Mozzarella, Pepperoni, Oregano, & the Italian Manhattan and Sangiovese wine.
We also sampled the chopped salad and Brussel sprouts (not pictured) and it was one of the best chopped salads + set of sprouts eaten to date.
We trotted off for our next adventure. We landed at a cute spot up King Street called Vintage Lounge. Here we had a CB and wine as a post dinner snack.
We snapped a few pics some unsolicited (rolls eyes, lol).
See the one that is socially acceptable to publish.
Rideshare pickup was a breeze to get here and we landed a 'Party Uber'. Flashing lights everywhere, a karaoke machine, and some Lil John and Flo'Rida. Guess who had the mic? <inserts tears of laughter>
Let's just say we had an 'experience' returning back to the hotel and one that none of us will forget especially the birthday girl. Me and my bright ideas. But - sometimes they listen to me and this night they did. Now I am thinking why did they? But on the other hand, if it wasn't for me suggesting to walk 25 minutes back to the hotel, we never would have gotten these cute snaps! I will admit I thought the hotel was closer than it was. Tonight the blocks in Charleston felt like the blocks in New York. Just would never end. We finally made it back but barely and laughed about it for hours the next day. Mission accomplished.
Saturday Morning:
We started the morning with coffee and capps in the hotel's shop to gear up for brunch.
My friend wanted a repeat so we headed back to a brunch spot that we went to 2 years ago - Poogan's Porch. We had reservations but still waited for approx. 20 mins to be seated which considering the crowd that was not bad at all. Seated for brunch and let's just say we all went it. We sample just about every appetizer on the menu and with 6 people, that's not hard to do. We got a little bit of it all. Every single thing ordered was delicious. No question about it. We ordered 2 carafe's of mimosas - one regular and one pineapple. When you say a 'splash' of juice, they really just give you a taste, lol! But who are we to fight that. I usually sample a Bloody Mary and the one here was really good. Super spicy but one of the best I've had. Everyone loved their entrees. I had the Fried Chicken with Hopping Johns and Collard Greens. Some of the best fried chicken ever. The batter was not thick or oily whatsoever plus it was seasoned to perfection. Yum Yum!
We strolled some on King Street and ran a few errands before stopping back over to the hotel's bar. We then hitched rides on these bike wagons - I don't know what else to call them but they were super fun and got us from point a to b fast without having to book a ride share. We thought about the horse rides but then I was reminded of what's in the bag behind them. Yah, definitely not doing that today.
We had mid-day drinks before retiring to our room to rest and get changed for dinner. The time went by extremely fast but it always does when you are having fun.
Let's dish on the onsite dining/bar details. It's called Frannie and the Fox. You can find their menu here. It's super-chic and cozy. The decor and seating were all our speed so we loved hanging out here. Probably the most ordered item was the Sangiovese wine. Whewww it was something special. Let's just say I (yes, I lol) had all the girls on this one. Ok so there is only 5 glasses so someone must have gone against my recommendation....there is always a rebel! LOL!!
Rest was short but sweet. We were up and ready for din-din.
Squeezing in our duo pic because we are up next - the April babies.
Tonight we were heading to High Cotton - another repeat from previous years. You can't go wrong with this place. We loved it the first time and we loved it again. If you don't know by now, I am going to have me some oysters. I had the lamb chops for dinner with a side of chimichurri. For my starter cocktail (does that sound bad?), I had the Bill's Bramble but it was a bit different from what I am use to. High Cotton is part of the Hall's family of restaurants and the Hall's version is somewhat different but it didn't go to waste. :-). And then of course, I literally ate almost all of the birthday girl's dessert.
Everyone sang Happy Birthday even the birthday girl and champagne was on the house.
Saturday was great but exhausting and it was time for bed after this. We returned to the hotel to wake up the next day to do it all over again.
We had to get one post dinner picture but we were literally in the same spot hours before.
We are definitely aging backwards.
Sunday Morning:
We hitched those bike wagons again for another repeat, for the Gospel Brunch at Hall's. I wasn't going to suggest walking again. I probably will never suggest walking anywhere EVER again, lol!! You just had to be there for that Friday night stroll. We got there early and got a great table. Unfortunately, it wasn't near the gospel singers but nonetheless it was still an amazing experience. The food here is always great.
Today, I opted for crab cakes. Between the lamb chops and fried chicken, I wanted something lighter. The something lighter was the crab cakes - not the potatoes. This did the trick.
Then the weekend felt like it was over. We caught a ride share back to the hotel where we had 1 planned activity which was to literally pick up a bracelet that was being repaired for one of my friends. Everyone else left but my riding partner and I stayed behind. I have no idea how this turned from 1 hour into literally 5 extra hours of shopping, more eating and you guessed it more cocktailin'. We shopped again on King Street and ate a late dinner back in the hotel's courtyard. This was so not planned but was one of the highlights of the entire weekend.
Sunday Afternoon:
Shopping on King Street is so much fun and I must admit, the treatment was like whew keep it coming. When they bring out the champagne in both stores, well ummm yeah and let's just say the sales personnel at both Louis Vuitton and Gucci had very a very good day. It's their (these other 2) fault, not mine. I only played a small part in this unsolicited shopping spree. I'm going to have to space out my shopping dates with these two in the future.
And then, we were on I-26 just like that. Happy Birthday Naeemah!
Looks like fun!