Around (Another) Town: Our Trip to Charleston

After leaving San Francisco, the hubs and I headed to Charleston for a quick getaway. This was my first time in the city and I must say it was gorgeous. 

Our first stop was to MAGNOLIA PLANTATION, a site with much to offer. While there we ate at the aptly titled Peacock Cafe and ran into this beauty.

A few more steps away was this stunning image, even more beautiful in person.

Next to the cafe is a very nice petting zoo with all sorts of animals. A great place for children and adults alike. They have ducks, goats, roosters, bunnies, and more.

After that we took the plantation's guided nature tour, which was fantastic. It offers close-up tours of their swamp. The swamplands are featured in many of John James Audubon's paintings. You can see close-ups of gorgeous flocks of birds including magnificent Blue Herons. 

But watch out because there are also snakes and alligators!

Along with beautifully mature Virginia Oak trees.

We also toured the main house, which was an excellent tour. Sorry, but they wouldn't let me take interior pics :-( If you get down to the area and enjoy period furniture and architecture, definitely take a look, and be sure to visit the first floor gift shop.

The property features some impressive gardens that one of the old owners had planted for his wife.

While in town we stayed at the CHARLESTON PLACE HOTEL. 

 

The accommodations are quite nice, and give you a nice dose of southern decor.

The hotel's bar the THOROUGHBRED CLUB offers the best meal I've eaten this year.

I highly recommend their fried oysters with caviar and spinach cream sauce, along with their braised beef panini. Both are excellent and very reasonably priced.

One of my favorite things about the city was its' historic architecture. Here are a few of the homes we passed by. Notice they take their porches very seriously here.

And for me a trip would not be complete without a visit to a local thrift store, so I stopped in SC THRIFT STORE. I'm glad I did because the owner was a pleasure to chat with and they offered tons of awesome costume jewelry.

I picked up these items for $50, which isn't too bad.

Well that's the end of our trip. It was a great time. Be sure to see for yourself what Charleston has to offer if you can.

Around (Another) Town: Our Trip to San Francisco

You may have noticed things have been a little quiet on the blog. That's because for the last several days the hubs and I have been away on travel. We had to attend an IT conference for work that was in San Francisco. While there we had lots of fun. SF happens to be where my best friend Kevin lives, so he showed us around.  Kevin says hi everyone.

The first place Kev took us was LOVEJOY'S, an extremely charming tea room with an affiliated antique store across the street.

The ambiance at the place is incredible. It feels like it belongs in London. I wish we had one in B'more, I'd so host a shower or party there.

In addition to the decor being great, so is the tea.

I also tried the hot chocolate, it was very tasty.

They offer a nice variety of tea sandwiches and crumpets. 

 Next up, we went to a few open houses. I always like to peak at the housing inventory in other cities.

A deck off the master, how lovely.

I'm a big fan of the bright kitchen.

San Francisco is known for it's bay windows. I think they are so awesome.

One evening we went out for sushi at OSAKA. The chef there is very innovative and concocted the roll below called The Power of Love, made with shrimp tempura, cucumber, mango, cream cheese, and a sweet mango sauce. It was delicious!

My favorite destination on the trip was MUIR WOODS NATIONAL PARK, which boasts beautiful 700 ft tall redwood trees.

This place is a true national treasure. Pictures can in no way capture its beauty. The place is just breathtaking. I definitely have  to come back to experience it again.

A few other food spots worth mentioning are SUPER DUPER a very good hamburger joint (make sure you get the single burger if you go),

and MINNIE BELL'S food truck.

They offer smothered steak with grits.

Lastly, I went on a VICTORIAN WALKING TOUR that was very interesting and enlightening. On it I learned about San Francisco's victorian architecture and saw a few celebrity homes. 

All in all I had a great time, and can't wait to visit again in the future.