After months of questioning if I should fly to another country or take a road trip, I decided to road trip down south and name it Southern Charm.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve already got a snapshot of some of the fun—vineyards, bike rides, the beach, and other cute stuff. Now, I’m sharing everything–exact locations, the cool activities, photos, and video footage from the trip. Hopefully, you’ll be inspired to travel and indulge in another culture too.

Theme: Southern Charm  

Locations: Charlottesville, VA | South of the Border | Richmond, VA | Charleston, SC | Johns Island, SC

Activities: road trip, cocktails, food, vineyard, tea plantation, candle making, beach, bike riding, city tour

Must Haves: good vibes & positive energy

ROAD TRIPS are not all that bad—that’s if you have the time, patience, and intentional with planning. For instance, be sure to pair your guests favorite songs with yours, pack a lot of drinks and snacks, map out your pit stops to chunk up the drive, and if you have a camera, begin to capture footage of all the fun. Here a few of mine:

WINE TASTING is such an intimate activity for a group, especially if you love wine. Charlottesville is known to many as the wine country. After much comparison of the many beautiful options there, I decided on Pippen Hill Farm & Vineyards for it’s gorgeous scenery, flavorful food, and of course its craft wine making. With designated sober drivers, my guests and me were ready for a day of adventure. [Read more vineyard tips by clicking here.]

FOOD searching wasn’t quite hard, considering it was Charleston. The south has some of the best finger licking chicken and well-seasoned vegetables like a granny spot called Martha Lou’s Kitchen.   Chilled eclectic joints like Taco Boy & The Eclectic Cafe & Vinyl were good for cocktails with Spanish food or coffee and a pastry.  My favorite two were boutique styled restaurants called Leon’s Poultry & Oysters &Sugar Bakeshop.  If you go to Leon’s, you must get a frose, a few oysters, chicken, and a fish sandwich.  &  you definitely must try the coconut cupcake at Sugar.  (So good, y’all!)  But if you’re anything like me and you’re always in the mood for seafood, Charleston Crab House is where you should be.

DIY was definitely a must. At Candlefish in Charleston they offered a guided candle-making class and you know I was all over it. The best part about the class was not just my two scented candles I made, but also the additional perks. They welcomed BYOB, gifted 15% discount in the entire store the day of class, and a small class size. Overall, a super cute interactive class to take if interested in becoming a chandler—a person that makes candles.

CULTURE in Charleston is everywhere. A few things that I had to experience was the photogenic Rainbow Row, Charleston’s Tea Plantation—which is the only tea plantation in North America, and a visit to the 400-500 year old Angel Oak Tree on Johns Island. Rainbow Row’s brightly colored homes reminded me of the Caribbean.  The elementary teacher in me simply loved the informative tour of the beautiful plantation for tea making and wished I was still in the classroom to share with all of my students. & The storyteller in me had to meet the elderly Angel Oak Tree to visualize it sharing descriptive stories from its historic past with its massively extended branches.

 

BEACH day could’ve been everyday. With a full list of activities, it was a priority to include a relaxing day with a good book at Sullivan’s Island.

 If I could do a Southern Charm Road Trip all over again, I would do it…over and over and over again.

xo,

Carissa

P.S.

TRAVEL TIP:  Here is my birthday invitation that I created and shared with all of my guests for our Southern Charm Road Trip.   Don’t forget to list all of your activities with explicit instructions for your next trip.  It will reduce any anxiety or confusion.