Vacation Part Two; Charleston!

Hello again! This is part two of my recent vacation.  [Part One]

When we started planning our vacation, I said I wanted to visit Charleston on the way back since I had been before and loved it so much. I started to look for hotels downtown, last time I visited I stayed on the outskirts, and it was a pain! Everything I could find was over $300 for an evening! I’m fine with paying $200ish for a night, but over that I get antsy. I found an article in the New York Times about Charleston on the cheap which mentioned NotSo Hostel. I e-mailed Gregg right away to see if he’d be “down” with staying at a hostel, I got an e-mail back shortly that he was up for adventure! I booked each of us a bunk for $23. 

On Saturday evening around 6pm, we reached Charleston. As soon as we were driving in, I was already pointing, oohing & awing to Gregg about how beautiful Charleston is. Let’s face it, the architecture is amazing! Charleston has amazingly distinctive stately homes and classic buildings, which have stood the test of time, wars and hurricanes.

We pulled into NotSo Hostel, walked inside and found the front desk. An awesome nice girl helped us check in, gave us the room keys and codes for the main areas. We saw a stack of towels that can be rented(?) for $1. We took two, since ours were all campy. She then showed us to the Cuba room where we’d be sleeping.

The room had four bunks and was connected to a shared kitchen and bathroom. It was adorable. I’ll just say it now, the bathroom was really nice. It had marble stand up shower,  a cute chair to put all your stuff, and a huge vanity/mirror. Some of the reviews online said the bathroom was a disgrace, but it was clean and quite nice. The whole place made you feel like you were staying with a good friend.

After a much needed hot shower, Gregg and I headed to downtown Charleston. We parked (we could have taken a taxi/bike cab up but decided to drive) and walked around for a long time. If you are hungry, I’d suggest picking a restaurant before heading out! Charleston is a food town! Every single place looks amazing.  After taking in all the beautiful sights and smelling everything delicious, we picked a restaurant named Slightly North of Broad, or “Snob”. There was a 45 minute wait, Charleston was PACKED on a Saturday night. I saw at least 5 different bachelorette parties and Captain Morgan vendors dressed up as pirates. We decided to sit at the bar and get a drink while we waited for the table.

While waiting, the bar tender, James, was amazing. He was really attentive, and even heard Gregg when he mentioned we should look at a menu while waiting, and brought us a menu without us even asking.

Dinner: We started with a Charcuterie plate, that had head cheese, olive pâté and other various things. I was asking Gregg what head cheese was, and he suggested I didn’t ask! Gregg got scallops with this amazing crab crepe thing for his entree. I can’t explain it really, but both were yum, and this is from a girl that hates seafood! I want to try scallops again now! I got short ribs in zucchini cups. It was the most perfect shredded beef in perfectly cooked zucchini. Over all, Slightly North of Broad, or “Snob” was great. The bartender even started joking with us, and I love that. ;)

We headed back to the hostel. I said hi to a few guys that were drinking out back by the bonfire, then called it a night. We talked to our two roomies who were from Germany. They were both so so so sunburned! It was funny to giggle and talk to people as you are falling into dream land.

The next morning we woke up crazy early, 6am or so. We took showers, packed up, and decided to go out for breakfast, even though NotSo offers free breakfast. (It’s bagels & english muffins + tons of toppings) We walked down the street to WildFlour Pastry. We picked up coffee and scones that were incredible! We also found a book from Bookcrossing which is a book club that tracks books. You are to leave them in random spots so people find them. Like hide & seek book finding!

While walking to and from WildFlour Pastry, I noticed that one of the most unique features of the houses are the placement of its porches. From the front, the house looks like its entrance is a door to the left or the right. But if you look to the side of the house where that door is, you realize the door actually leads to the porch itself and the true front door is on the porch. Here is an image I found online:

So beautiful! :)

Once we got back to the hostel we headed back to Tampa.
Here’s some more random pictures, plus two videos of NotSo Hostel.

The hostel had bikes for rent $20 a day

I found this flower in NotSo’s garden, anyone know what it is?

Oh, and in case you are curious… head cheese according to Wiki: “Head cheese is not a cheese but a meat jelly made with pieces from the head of a calf or pig (sometimes a sheep or cow) in aspic. It may contain onion, black pepper, allspice, bay leaf, salt, and vinegar. It may also include meat from the feet, tongue, and heart. It is usually eaten cold or at room temperature as a luncheon meat. ”

ps. thanks amazing bf for a great time. :) I enjoyed exploring & adventuring! :)