Each summer I make a list of shops and restaurants I want to visit, mostly found on other blogs. My new favorite breakfast spot is Callie's Hot Little Biscuit. This place is truly a hole in the wall, found at 476 1/2 King St, and was the perfect start to a day full of shopping. Connor tried the bacon, egg, and cheese special, while I went with the cheddar and chives biscuit with butter. Y'all, this place was so quaint and so good. Good enough that I daydreamed about opening my own biscuit shop right here in Fountain Inn. For lunch we walked over to Queen St to try a place I see all over social media, Husk. We chose the house burger off of the menu that changes daily. We were so pleased with the service, and next time we will request to sit out on the balcony. Another fantastic lunch spot is Boxcar Betty's off Savannah Highway by the mall and movie theatre. They serve gourmet fried chicken sandwiches with homemade sides that are good enough to kick Chic fil a to the curb! I topped my sandwich with cheddar and bacon jam, and it quickly became my favorite meal of the entire trip. We also made time for some of our tried and true spots, Kaminsky's Dessert Cafe and The Ice Cream Boat at Bohicket Marina.
While we spend most of our time on the beach, we did reserve one day to exploring Charleston. Some of my favorite local shops were the Preservation Society and The Commons. Of course we stopped at Anthroplogie and the Lilly Pulitzer shop as well. To take a break from the crowds we decided to tour the Aiken-Rhett House, and had a blast exploring this 19th century home. The tour is self-guided so we were able to take our time and really explore the grounds. The house itself has seen better days, but to imagine was it was like in it's prime was really magical. (Downton Abbey fans - this place is for you!) On the way back to the island we stopped at two plant nurseries, Hyams Garden Center and Abide-A-While Garden Center. They were both so beautiful, and I was able to snatch up a few plants to bring back home with me.
If you've never been to Charleston before there are a few other spots I recommend visiting... South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston Tea Plantation, Firefly Distillery, and Folly Beach. These are touristy places you need to visit at least once!
Right outside the gates of Kiawah and Seabrook is Freshfields Village. This busy square is where the grocery store, post office, restaurants, and gift shops are located for both islands. The Farmer's Market is on Monday nights and other free activities are planned throughout the week all summer long. I could really write a whole post of Freshfields alone, but I'll save that for another day!