Day 6: About 15 minutes from the main part of Savannah was the train station I needed to be at to catch the Amtrak! For my first Amtrak experience, it was very lovely and actually on time. You can sit anywhere in coach and I opted for a window seat to check out the scenery. Luckily for me, the train was going in the direction of my seat. I learned a very hard lesson in Versaille, when I was headed back to Paris with seats facing the other way. Let’s just say my motion sickness kicked in and I did not feel so good. Anyway, the train was an easy two hour ride with decent Wi-Fi. There was plenty of room, but it might’ve been because it wasn’t a popular route on a Wednesday (more to come on when I took it to DC). Do people take the trains in the US? Yes. Are they as efficient and nice as the ones in Europe? Maybe not so much, but it is definitely a cool way to get around. Outside of the Ubers/Lyfts I had to take to get to and from the train stations, the trains were fairly affordable. This ride cost about $20.
Plenty of room on the Amtrak 
I arrived to Charleston shortly after 10 AM and called my Uber to take me downtown. The train station was about 20 minutes from the area, so not too far but not exactly super close. Since vacation rentals were a bit out of budget, I stayed at the Hyatt Place Charleston/Historic District. Overall, Charleston to me seemed a bit pricier for one person. I paid about $159 a night (taxes included) for a 2 night stay on a Wednesday/Thursday. Given that check in wasn’t til 3 or so, I was very early. I went ahead and got my uber to drop me off there to see if they could let me store my luggage. Let me tell you the best part of hotels is that they do have the ability to let you in early if a room is available! Vacation rentals are pretty strict with check-in due to the nature of housekeeping in them. However, that is not a problem with hotels since they are just rooms and I was very thankful for that! As a preface, this day was actually a work day, so it worked out that I could go work from my hotel room.
After working for a bit, it was time to find some food. I asked the valet guy outside my hotel for recommendations with Wi-Fi. He had recommended Meeting at Market for decent food. It took about 25 minutes to walk there from the hotel. I had the fish tacos and a glass of rose. The bartender was nice enough to hand me the wifi password and it wasn’t too busy on this Wednesday to even take a conference call with my boss. Once I finished up work, I opted to walk along the waterfront. It was a bit quiet for a Wednesday evening, but I did stumble upon Rainbow Row! I love the colorfulness of Charleston!
Of course after all the walking I’ve done, I had to stop at a rooftop bar. A friend had recommended The Rooftop Bar at Vendue. There was some promotional filming on the floor I ended up on, so I didn’t really get to take advantage of the views. However, if I had walked up one more flight, I would’ve ended up at the actual rooftop… oooops, I think I was just ready to sit down somewhere.
After my time in the waterfront, I decided it was nice enough to walk back towards the Historic District. A lovely 30 minute walk back and I think I was getting a little hungry. So, my next food stop was Coast Bar and Grill. I sat at the bar and ordered a cocktail. I wasn’t super hungry, but figure something would be better than nothing. I wanted the calamari, but I think they might’ve been out. I ordered the ceviche and it was a bit unexpected for me. It reminded me more of a shrimp cocktail, so it wasn’t bad, just wasn’t what I envisioned for ceviche. I think if I had been more hungry, the entrees would’ve been better! I will say this place stayed pretty busy through out the night. I would love to try it again with friends, so you can split a bunch of things.
Day 7: Another remote work day, but since I’m on the East Coast and working Central timezone hours, I had a couple of hours before I needed to be on. I ventured down the street to try Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit. The tiny little biscuit shop had a line, but turns out it was mainly people waiting on their orders. I ordered the biscuits and gravy and a coffee. With no seating near the shop, I walked back to my hotel and ate in the lobby. Holy crap, it was so goood! I will say it was very heavy for breakfast and I was not sure how I was going to eat later. I ended up saving half of it for lunch. The sandwiches looked good as well, but I’m a big fan of biscuits and gravy, so I had to try it.
In between meetings, I looked up things to do in Charleston and I saw there was a sunset cruise available this Thursday evening. If you know me, I like to put myself in romantic situations by myself… (this theme continues on later). Anyway, I decided to book with Charleston Harbor Tours. I had a couple of hours to kill, so I found this happy hour near my hotel at The Brick. It was very empty during happy hour, but I had some fried mac and cheese balls with a glass of red wine. Not the most happening place, but it was a nice snack to get me through til the tour. Afterwards, I walked over to the Cocktail Club. These bartenders I had met in Savannah had told me I needed to come here. If you walk past it, I’m not sure you would even notice it. It’s somewhat of a Speakeasy. The drinks were delicious!!! I almost cancelled my sunset cruise to stay here. So many fun drink names and they also had a happy hour feature. It was definitely a place to be!
While Charleston is a fairly walkable city, I was running late to my sunset cruise. With Ubers being so expensive and sparse, I splurged for a lux so I could get there on time. Luckily when I arrived, there was a long line to get on the boat. Unfortunately for me, that meant I was not going to get a spot to sit on the boat. As a solo traveler, it’s typically pretty easy to snag a spot at a bar or restaurant. For a sunset cruise?? Maybe not so much. I ended up standing the whole time. Once I checked in, I beelined straight to the concession stands. They were serving drinks and snacks. I purchased a Rose can and found a spot on the side for the tour. The tour was about 90 minutes. We saw one dolphin!!! Not many other animals on the tour, but it was a nice relaxing evening to be on the water.
After the cruise, I headed back towards King Street to find some food. I stumbled across this piano bar near my hotel called John King Grill & Bar. For a Wednesday night, it was very popular that I couldn’t even get upstairs to the dueling pianos. I grabbed a caesar salad, while I waited paitently to get upstairs. It was a wonderful way to cap off my last night in Charleston, singing the most fun songs! &&& that’s a wrap for Charleston… to the next stop we go!
Where In The World Was Lisa? 