I hadn’t been to Charleston since I was a teenager. That was before I became a foodie, fell in love with taking pictures, before instagram was created and before I became obsessed with traveling. So, this stop during our 4th annual summer road trip was an exciting one! We typically stop in Atlanta or Savannah on our way to the mountains from Florida, but I wanted to change things up this time and take the kiddos to a city they’ve never been.
Charleston wasn’t too far out of the way to make an overnight stop, so I booked one night at King Charles Inn (via Expedia TAAP for Travel Agents) The hotel is on Meeting Street and centrally located. We walked everywhere. We only had two days, so we were non stop. We walked the cobblestone streets, strolled down Rainbow Row, wasted money at It’Sugar, visited the infamous Pineapple Fountain, had dinner at High Cotton, took our own walking tour of movie set locations from The Notebook (7 separate locations in a 4 mile radius), checked out two of the most gorgeous churches in the city (St Philips and St Michaels) and I snuck away while the kids were still asleep to run a few miles along the shoreline to see the beautiful homes at The Battery. We had breakfast (chicken & waffles) at Poogan’s Porch and on our way out of the city, drove through campus at Charleston College, which was a gorgeous campus.
Stop in on a road trip or stay for a while. Charleston, The Holy City has a southern charm everyone should experience!
A list of The Notebook movie locations:
- College of Charleston – the backdrop for Allie’s College (Sarah Lawrence college in the film)
- Intersection of King & Mary Street – Where Allie and Noah lie down in the street to watch the traffic light (the traffic light was actually a prop and not a working street light)
- American Theatre (446 King Street) – The theatre were Noah & Allie go on a date
- William Aiken House – The wedding dress fitting scene
- High Cotton – The restaurant where Noah looks through the restaurant window and sees Allie with Lon. *A restaurant manager at the time had a cameo in the movie and played the maitre d’.
- Calhoun Mansion (14-16 Meeting Street) – The interior of this mansion was used for the scenes from inside Allie’s summer home
- Porter’s Lodge (right before the intersection of George and Glebe Street) – Lon waits outside his car for Allie at the college after he recovered from his war injuries in front of this pink building.
