Just back from Charleston

Lindsey Reichert
Feb 27, 2021
4 min read

How was your trip to Charleston? It was so great! (Jen will think this is funny. Apparently, I say the word “great” all the time). Arrived on Monday and I was so excited getting off my flight! It was funny because the first thing I did was fill up my water bottle in the airport. I asked the cashier for a cup of ice and I was so thrown off when she started a conversation with me and called me honey! Definitely could feel that I was in the South. Got to my hotel and it was in such an awesome location. We were off the main streets and close to the water. So you could walk out the door and see the fountain and the water right there!! I found out that the hotel had bikes as one of their accommodations which was a huge score! So I took a bike and went to the local market grocery store to pick up food. Went back to the hotel as it started to rain, took a tub, tv and nap and read until Jen arrived! Then our week was off! The bikes were honestly the best thing we could have asked for! We did so so much biking and it was such a fun way to explore the city and not need to pay for an Uber. And everything is within walking distance but biking gave us a little more freedom to explore and see more of the city. One day we ended up doing a 20 mile bike ride to the beach on these 1-speed bikes. We were laughing so hard as people were running past us and passing us on the side. We also each had our headphones in and we did a conference call with our Mom. So we were all talking the whole ride and it was fun to have mom be a part of it. We rode our bikes from our hotel to the beach and left around 4pm to go back so we caught the sunset right as we were riding over the bridge. And got to watch it go down the whole way over. I couldn’t stop praising God, it felt like a gift he gave us after a long day.

I also loved that we were right by the ocean front path! Jen and I are both so active that we woke up every morning and did workouts or went for walks or runs along the water. It felt like a walk on the beach every morning. And it took you right into the heart of the city so we could loop around to find good coffee shops on our way back.

We ate good food but it’s hilarious because Jen and I aren’t necessarily foodies. We were laughing because we could both go eating the hotel breakfast, snacks for lunch and maybe something for dinner. But definitely need to stop at all the coffee shops. We kept laughing because everyone was telling us about the great food and all the restaurants to try and that wasn’t really what we wanted to do. But I honestly looked forward to continental breakfast each day that was delivered to our room and then we would eat it as a picnic or take it to the rooftop terrace. I think we ate 4 meals out total and one of those was ice cream for dinner... my personal favorite!

Things we learned about Charleston and experienced: it’s so much slower. Just a low key pace of life. People are nicer and the southern hospitality is real. Food and culture is really important. We decided we wished we had done more research about the area and history before coming. Vacation styles: Jen’s style is more of a lay at the beach all day! My style is do do do and pack the day full of activity and adventure! Luckily we knew this about each other. Two days were super full and adventurous, one day was laid back on the beach. Jen was also great about having a "yes attitude"' and anytime I would ask to do something she would say yes and I was thankful for that!! Also, if you want to lose weight just go on a vacation with Jen and Lindsey. So most days we averaged between 10,000-18,000 steps, plus workouts and bike rides. And we were only really snacking for food! I also loved just wandering around the city. It's what I imagine Paris feels like. That you could walk down any street and find these cool doors or windows and you want to take pictures of everything. And then there will be a cute little coffee shop that pops up. Plus I loved those walks with Jen because we had the best conversations.

Pictures, pictures, pictures. I think that taking pictures actually makes me enjoy the experience even more. Taking pictures is part of the experience. It makes me stop and notice things more because I’m looking for the beauty and how I want to capture it. I also love getting to share with people who aren’t with me and I want to help them see what I get to see. So we took lots of pictures. It was great! ;)

Jen and Lindsey Charleston Itinerary: Monday: Travel and out for dinner fancy restaurant. Evening pictures and street strolling.

Tuesday: Morning run, bike ride exploring the city, lunch at Miller’s, pictures, souvenirs, snacks at the hotel for dinner, grocery shopping, call with Mom, bed

Wednesday: Morning workouts on the dock, walk to coffee, rooftop breakfast, bike ride to the beach, sit on beach, ride back for sunset over bridge, ice cream for dinner