A Night in Charleston

I love going to Charleston in the summer time. I'd love to spend a week at a time, but sometimes my schedule just permits an overnight. I like to stay downtown or at the beach, but I really dislike spending a lot of money on a room. Fortunately, I discovered the Not So Hostel a couple of years ago. It is a European style hostel, with shared and private rooms. The hostel's annex, located on Cannon Street, has a number of private room with shared bathrooms. On this trip, we discovered that the Kendall Room has a private bath. This is a great location for getting around Charleston.

After a trip to Sullivan's Island where we drank a couple beers on the beach and did some people watching, we checked in to Not So Hostel. From the hostel, King Street is a short walk. We got on our bicycles and headed out for dinner and drinks. Jay has wanted to try Jestine's Kitchen the last few times we have been in Charleston. This trip, we timed it perfectly and had a delicious dinner of lowcountry fare in the small restaurant on the corner of Meeting and Wentworth Streets. People line up down the street for fried chicken or a seafood platter. It is a bit touristy, but good. 

After dinner, we bicycled down King Street to Battery Park. I love riding along the Battery, with the wind from the harbor blowing through my hair, admiring the architecture and the sailboats, and watching the fishermen cast their lines. We stopped by the Charleston Beer Exchange, one of my favorite shops to stop in while in Charleston. picked up a six pack of one of my favorite beer's, Anderson Valley's Summer Solstice. This beer is summer time. 

We decided to stop in the Blind Tiger Pub on Broad Street. I had to ask the bartender which ESB he had on tap, because I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. It was Fuller's ESB, an ale I have not had on draft outside of the UK. I enjoyed this tasty brew outside in their nice brick walled garden. 

For breakfast the next day, we bicycled over to Jack's Cafe. Jack's is a little greasy spoon with a hometown feel. After another bicycle around the streets of Charleston, we head to Isle of Palm County Park for a day on the beach. Since we were driving back the same day, we decided to park at the county facilities since they have bathrooms, outdoor showers, and changing rooms. The beach was crowded near the bath house, but it opened up with a quick walk down the beach.

Pint at Dunleavy's

For lunch, we hopped back on our bicycles and rode to Sullivan's Island. The tacos at Taco Mamacita were yummy. I had a Thai shrimp taco and a vegetarian jerk taco with their jalapeno corn slaw and a Negro Modelo on draft. We decided we needed another beer, so we stopped in Dunleavy's Pub.  Jay had a Guiness and I had a pint of the Holy City Brewery's Summer Ale. It is nice tasting, slightly smoky ale. Just when it occured to me that the beer could use some fruit, the bartender started slicing oranges. I'm not usually the person to put fruit in my beers, but the orange accented the smoky flavor in a delicious way.

Of course a day at the beach in the Charleston area has to be followed up with a trip to Bottle's and Trader Joe's.