Saturday

Packo and I share an equal love for all things coffee and beverages. Our first stop of the day was to Lodi, a coffee drive-thru. As an indecisive girly, the menu of options was overwhelming but I settled on the coconut cream cold brew and gave it a 100/10 – phenomenal! We headed to Daniel Island for a morning market where Packo set up her earring display (Instagram handle below). This little town is so aesthetically pleasing – just picture palm trees, modern beach house architecture, and everyone in stylish athleisure wear. I went to the DIME for bacon, egg, and cheese bagels and another coffee.

After a few hours here, we loaded up and went to Island Cabana Bar on the water. This place feels like a hidden gem because it is a cute place right on the water with an open patio on the dock with a huge variety of drinks. After about an hour here, we headed to Packo’s favorite beach spot away from the crowds, though it was the weekend after Labor Day so the crowds were already minimal. We set up our beach spot at Isle of the Palms beach where we yapped, drank, listened to music, and took some pictures.

We love a girl dinner, which to us, means Mexican food and margs. We drove to Azul in Park Circle for just this! After shoving our face with chips, margs, and dinner, we needed to walk it all off. Packo took me to a spot with a spectacular view of the bridge at sunset. Minus the little crabs scurrying on the walking path, I thoroughly enjoyed this view.

Sunday

I had 2 requests for my visit here – a cat cafe and an antique store. For my last full day here started with a stop at The Station in Park Circle, an antique store but also has modern, local clothes and goods. There were so many pieces I would’ve loved to buy, but clearly could not fit in a carryon suitcase. From here, we made our way into downtown Charleston to find brunch. The first rooftop patio we saw, we decided to try it out, and we were NOT disappointed. Ritual Rooftop is where we had brunch and drinks, and we gave this place an A-plus-plus. We had mimosas, empanadas, chicken and waffles, and a breakfast burger. The food was truly insane, and the vibe was very boho – my fave.

We had tickets for Pounce Cat Cafe at 3pm. If you know me, you know I’ve been to several cat cafes and try to visit one in every new city I visit. For only $17, you get to spend an hour in the cat cafe and a drink. If you’re a cat lover, I cannot recommend visiting a cat cafe enough. The cats come from local shelters to be placed for adoption, and it is just the most wholesome experience you’ll have. Very stress relieving too!

After befriending all the kitties, our hour was up and we went strolling through downtown to see the pineapple fountain and walk along the water. We did some shopping at the 2nd Sunday on King Street Market along the way, as well. We ended our time in downtown at Zachary’s Daiquiris. This place has several frozen daiquiris, so I got a flight of 3. We ended with dinner at Locals in Mt. Pleasant – a sports bar with sushi and bar food.

Flights

To avoid using any PTO (my specialty), I took a Friday evening flight out of Philly at 6:45pm through American Airlines with just my carryon suitcase and a backpack. I left work just a smidge early to beat any Friday afternoon Philly traffic and get to the economy parking lot. If there is one thing about the Philly airport, it is that it will almost always never go to plan – my flight was delayed an hour once we boarded, but luckily this was only a 1 hour and 45 minute flight. I landed in Charleston just before 10pm. I was shocked at how small the airport was, but it made it easy getting out and catching my ride with Packo.

Again, to avoid using PTO and maximizing my time in Charleston, I got the first flight out of Charleston at 6am. Thankfully, Packo only lives 10 minutes from the airport, and it’s a small airport, so I could justify sleeping in until 4:15am. From the time we left her apartment to the time I got through TSA was about 20 minutes – I was impressed! I got my Starbucks coffee and snacks while waiting to board. And of course, another hour delay once we boarded the plane. I landed in Philly at 8:20am and arrived to my home by 10:15am to start my work day.