Charleston/Folly Beach Vacation Recap
I am so excited to share all about our family vacation to Folly Beach and Charleston, South Carolina! We are currently on our 9 hour drive back home to Maryland, so I figured this would be the perfect time to write this blog, while it’s fresh on my mind!
Where We Stayed…..
This was honestly my first time ever staying in an AirBnb! Shocker right!? We had a wonderful experience! We stayed right on Folly Beach. Folly Beach is only about 12 miles from downtown Charleston, and the cutest little beach town! The couple who owned it were wonderful to work with, and were very easy to communicate with. The outside of the place was nothing too amazing, however, the inside was great! It looked as it had been recently updated and it was very clean! It had 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms. The one bedroom had built in bunkbeds, so you could easily sleep 8 in this house. It was very kid friendly. It had a high chair, pack in play, and other kid things already there. The best part of this house was the location! We were only 1 block from the beach! It was an easy 3-5 minute walk right to the ocean. The house was also right behind the islands only grocery store. They were open 24 hours and had everything you could possibly need! We were also just a short walk away from many different restaurants, bars ,and stores. The only time we had to drive was when we left the island.
Link to where we stayed here.
What We Did….
Running
If any of you know me at all, you know that I started each day with a run. One of my favorite ways to explore a new place is on foot! Folly Beach was a wonderful place for running! Everything was safe, everyone was friendly, and you could run along the coast for a lot of the island! I also saw lots of people walking, riding bikes, and driving golf carts! If running isn’t your thing, there’s plenty of other activities to do!
The Beach
We honestly didn’t do anything during the day except go to the beach! We are beach people, and we were blessed with awesome weather! Folly Beach has plenty of beach activities to participate in if interested! They are known for their surfing, in fact, they offer surf lessons! You can also rent paddle boards or kayaks!
Charleston Carriage Ride
One of the nights we went into Charleston, we got tickets for a carriage ride around the city. It was an awesome way to really see a lot, plus learn about the history of the city. Our tour guide was very educated on everything we saw, and the whole thing was a great experience! We did book tickets the day before. The cost was $45 for adults, and $35 for kids. The tour lasted an hour.
The company we used for the carriage ride linked here.
What We Ate…
Let me start by saying that there are TONS of food options in Charleston/Folly Beach! The list I had was massive! Unfortunately, we were only there 3 nights, so there was a lot we didn’t get to try. We did eat breakfast and lunch at our airbnb each day, since we had a full kitchen. There was a Harris Teeter 2 miles down the road (as well as the island grocery store/market place right beside our house) that made it very convenient to get groceries.
I can’t wait to go back and mark some more off my list! Here’s the ones we did try….
Taco Boy (Folly Beach)
The first night we were there, we stayed on island and ate at a local Mexican place called, Taco Boy. The food was amazing! I will say be prepared to wait. We had to wait over an hour on a Sunday night for a table of 5. (it also could have been because of lack of help) The food was worth the wait though! I had the best shrimp quesadilla I’ve ever had in my life! The margaritas were also amazing! They just recently relocated to this new, bigger building. The atmosphere was awesome. Lots of outdoor dining, plus a rooftop bar. Highly recommenced checking out Taco Boy!
Taco Boy’s website linked here.
Oyster House (Charleston)
On our 2nd night, we ate at the Oyster House in downtown Charleston. We did make reservations for this dinner. This food was AMAZING. My mom and I split the shrimp and grits (on the left) and it was SO good! The flavor was like something I’ve never had before! Mark got the shrimp boil and he also said it was amazing! I absolutely recommend checking this place out if you like seafood!
Oyster House website linked here.
Little Jack’s Tavern
One of my favorite things to do when visiting a new area is to see what restaurants have won awards for their food. One of the first things that popped up when I started my research was Little Jack’s Tavern. Back in 2017, this place won a competition for best burger in the United States! Y’all know I had to go and check it out!! This was a good burger!!! I think the caramelized onions on the burger really made it! It also came with a house sauce that was excellent. I will say that at $16 for a burger and fries it was a little pricey, but it was a good burger!
Little Jack’s Tavern website linked here
***I am writing this as of August 2021, and none of the places we visited required masks. There were several that had the employees wear them, but none required customers to wear them.
Others places we stopped by worth mentioning:
Kaminsky’s Dessert Cafe (We got carry out for this and I don’t feel our experience was the best because of this. I’ve seen pictures from when you dine, and the desserts look amazing. So I suggest making reservations and dining in)
Byrd’s Famous Cookies (free samples, need I say more?!)