Travel Blog: My First Solo Trip

For as long as I could remember I've wanted to travel. I did a fair bit of it when I was younger with family. I'd been to five states and Canada. But here in 2021, at age 29, I'd never traveled solo. In May, I decided that come fall I was going to go somewhere. And I picked Charleston, South Carolina. 

But here's the glitch: I'd never flown before. I'm a generally nervous person when it comes to trying new things and I was a bit nervous to be traveling by myself as a single woman. I nearly talked myself out of going so many times, even up to the morning of my trip. Then I found this blog post and it really calmed my nerves. 

I think one of my biggest concerns was flying. I'd never been on a plane before and years of watching movies and seeing worst case scenario stories on the nightly news had me a bit... terrified. 

I kept telling myself that thousands of people successfully fly every day without issues and that it's like ripping off a bandage... you just have to do it and get it over with and then you won't be afraid anymore. 

Three out of my four flights (to and from) turned out just fine, the first one was a little turbulent and I got a little nauseous but I was alright. 

I arrived in Charleston around 5:15PM on Tuesday, September 14th and grabbed an Uber to my Airbnb on King Street. The sun was out but the heat was a bit of a shock. We get 80 and 90 degree days in Wisconsin but going from 64 degrees to 84+ humidity was an eye-opener. 

Once I had my things dropped off at my Airbnb, I hopped into another Uber (seriously, most of my expenses on this trip went to Uber) and went to Waterfront Park. 

Waterfront Park was a must-see because I wanted to photograph the Pineapple Fountain. (See photo on left). 

From what I learned later in the trip, the pineapple is a symbol of hospitality in Charleston from back when merchants would bring pineapples to the city as a thank you as pineapples were hard to come by in Charleston at that time. 

Once I walked around the park for a while and took a bunch of photos, I walked over to the Griffon Pub on Vendue Range (roughly just across the street from the park). 

The Griffon is a funky little English-style Pub that has dollar bills covering almost every surface except the tables, chairs, and bar top. One of the major deciding factors in coming to Charleston is my love of seafood and I ordered myself some fish and chips. It was really good but I was still a little queasy from my flights so I took the leftovers back to my room to eat later. 

Day 2 - Wednesday, September 15, 2021

On Wednesday I woke up feeling much better and walked to The Harbinger Cafe less than a block from my Airbnb and had a mocha and a piece of pumpkin loaf. The pumpkin loaf was really good - moist with a crunchy graham cracker streusel on top. 

My loose plans for Wednesday were to go to the Historic Charleston City Market and do a little window shopping on King Street. 

The market was really cool. It is housed in a set of long buildings where vendors set up and sell their wares. 

They sell everything from clothing, jewelry, local artisan pieces, food, and more. One of the buildings is partially air conditioned which is nice as I quickly noticed how oppressive the heat is in Charleston in such a short amount of time. The other buildings are more open air with fans running overhead. Above the first building is a museum, but I didn't stop inside to check it out. 

I did grab a sweatshirt (I'm perpetually cold in A/C), a hat to protect from the sun, some locally made soap, and some postcards to send to my friends in out autumnal pen pal letters this fall. 

Here's a selfie of me sitting outside the City Market before I headed off to King Street.

Also worth mentioning, on the back end of the Market, across the street sits the United States Custom House. Isn't it a cool building? I didn't know what it was so I had to do a little research. 

Custom Houses deal with the importing and exporting of goods into a certain jurisdiction or country and collect customs duty on imported goods. Construction started on the United States Custom House in Charleston in 1852 but was stalled in 1859 because of the Civil War. It would take until 1879 to be completed and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. 

After walking back to King Street I strolled through the shopping district and saw a Louis Vuitton store in person for the first time. (That was a big deal for me) I also browsed in a few other stores before stumbling onto Marion Square. It was a good thing because I was getting pretty overheated by this point and ended up wandering into a Starbucks a few blocks up. 

I finished off my first full day in Charleston at Herd Provisions on Grove Street where I had one of the best burgers I've eaten in a long time. It was juicy, perfectly medium, and had a delicious sauce that was like a thousand island dressing with a kick that I can't quite put my finger on. If you're looking for a break from seafood, I definitely recommend the Herd Burger at Herd Provisions! 

Day 3 - Thursday, September 16, 2021

Thursday I set aside to tour a couple museums - The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon (dungeon photographed on left) and the Aiken-Rhett House on Elizabeth Street. I walked to Rainbow Row and The Battery and took photos of the historic homes. 

In total, I walked 4 miles on Thursday, the most I walked my entire trip, and it was the best group of photos I took. 

The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon above was the original Customs House in Charleston and housed pirates and revolutionaries in the dungeon below. 

Rainbow Row (on right) is one of the most photographed streets in town and people make a point of coming to photograph the beautiful, brightly colored homes. 

The Aiken-Rhett House was once home to South Carolina's former governor William Aiken and the house is considered to be the best preserved complex of antebellum domestic structures in Charleston. Being that it is preserved, not restored, it has largely been left in the condition it was found in with the exception of the art gallery which is air-conditioned and well maintained. It was an interesting museum but it was also very hot and I probably did not enjoy it as much as I would have, had it been cooler. 

I finished off my Thursday at Toast on Meeting Street. Toast is famous for its stuffed French Toast (photo on right) - It's cinnamon swirl bread with currants hollowed out and filled with fruit (peaches or apples) then covered in French toast batter and fried then served with whipped cream. I was not expecting how huge the French toast would be but it was definitely one of the more memorable meals during my trip!

Day 4 - Friday, September 17, 2021

I woke up Friday morning and the weather was a bit iffy. I didn't have any concrete plans; I thought about going to Folly Beach, Charles Town Landing, or tour the Firefly Distillery but Uber was killing me so I decided to do the Historic Charleston Harbor Tour instead. 

First, though, I grabbed breakfast at Another Broken Egg Cafe where I could actually find normal breakfast food that didn't involve a side of greens. I had some time to kill so I ducked back into the City Market before the Harbor Tour. 

For something I did on the spur of the moment, the Charleston Harbor Tour was the best decision I made during my trip. The 90-minute cruise was well worth checking out, the captain was funny and entertaining, and I feel like I learned more about the history and area of Charleston on this tour than any of the other places I'd toured so far. 

Among other things, we saw Fort Sumter, the USS Yorktown, and the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge (which I personally was looking forward to)

I would definitely recommend this tour to anyone looking to see a lot of interesting things at once. 

Finally, I walked to Hyman's Seafood on Meeting Street. I'm so glad I made a point of stopping here for my last dinner in Charleston. Up the stairs and seated at a table where according to the plaque, Danny Glover once sat at, I was served an amazing bowl of Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo. 

On Saturday, I was headed back home. All my nervousness was for nothing. I'd had a very nice trip, seen a lot of cool things, and eaten some fabulous food. To quote a movie I once saw, the things you're scared of are usually the most worth-while. I've ripped the bandaid off and I'm now ready to check out some of the other places I've always wanted to travel to; perhaps once a year?