I can always tell a good vacation from how I feel when it’s over. Sometimes extended weekends away are fun, but I return home feeling tired from travel and days behind on my to-dos. This vacation? I’m arriving home feeling refreshed, exuberant about things to come and … well, maybe a little behind on things like laundry and housecleaning, but those aren’t really important, are they? I didn’t think so. This is life: 
Poorly taken pictures in the moment while we are all laughing. Bliss. Hanging out with good friends just sweetens the experience. Hailey agrees. 
Currently I am staring a virtual folder packed full of photos and trying to not be that girl that posts every single picture of vacation… but then I figured it’s Monday and surely some of you wouldn’t mind scrolling through a few pictures while you wait for your coffee to kick in, right? I hope you don’t mind because I want to show you so much, from our 4th of July golf cart parade of Sullivan’s Island To the coolest bars in downtown Charleston! 
I wasn’t sure of where to eat first with so many amazing options, so when my new friend Brittany tweeted that she thought I’d like Puree Organic Café, I said great! 
I was stoked when I saw how adorable it is, but the real clincher is that this place is geared towards offering nourishing, organic meals for the whole family, including the littlest members… babies! Not only do they have the fanciest high chairs of any restaurant I’ve ever been to and wooden toys for Hailey to play with, they also include homemade organic puree blends of fresh foods for babies alongside mouthwatering adult options. 
They’re also cool and casual enough that they didn’t mind Hailey putting her feet on the table. Aren’t babies impressively bendy? I savored my grilled cheese with sautéed kale and tomatoes with a quinoa salad and split the barley bowl with Hailey. I really want to recreate this barley bowl that was bursting with flavor, so I did some ingredient guessing while Hailey played with Brittany. 
They became fast friends! I’d like to say that all my eats were this clean, but c’mon, it is vacation and when it’s 100 degrees out, sometimes you just need ice cream from Kilwin’s! 
Ice cream turned out to be a slippery slope (pun INtended) when it led to happy hour which consisted of a raw margarita and DElicious shrimp ‘n grit fritters with Andouille sausage, pepper jelly and arugula from High Cotton. (Gina, can you please figure out how to make something similar to these and send me the recipe?!) A margarita and a Charleston Cocktail (Maverick vodka, Madeira, iced tea, lemonade and mint infused syrup over ice) later and I was in the groove for meeting new friends! Hi horsey. Of course, it wouldn’t be a vacation to Sullivan’s Island without a trip to Poe’s Tavern. The fish tacos did not disappoint, but David’s Amontillado Burger stole the show with it’s guacamole, jalapeno jack cheese, pico de gallo and chipotle sour cream. We did a few things besides eat. Some days we spent time swimming dunking Hailey. After a few tries and a chorus of cheers greeting her post-dunk, I’d say she got quite comfortable with the pool. She loved floating and swimming around with dad. On those days, we balanced out our indulgences with healthy dinners cooked at the house. Shrimp taco turned salad? Nailed it. For breakfast we tried out yet another local gem (Mount Pleasant is FULL of them), Page’s Okra Grill. 
They say their mission is to buy quality food and prepare it correctly. Sounds simple, right? We followed suit and ordered simply with bacon, eggs, grits and waffles. How impressive can such simple dishes be? Let me tell you, VERY impressive. The waffle was fluffy and the perfect amount of maple-y sweetness. Hailey inhaled it. The bacon was crisp and packed with pure flavor, not grease. The grits? Creamy dreamy. High five, Page! We had checked Sullivan’s Island, Charleston and Mount Pleasant off our list, but I was interested in exploring Daniel Island as well (for non-southerners, all these places are within 10 minutes of each other on the coast) 
Daniel Island was pretty awesome. So much green space; so many parks! On a recommendation, we grabbed lunch at Vespa Pizzaria while we were there and I fell a little more in love with the Charleston area when I bit into the incredible veggie pie. Even though I ate all vacation long and didn’t even hit up half the spots I’d like to try, so it looks like we’ll have to go back, try The Mustard Seed and finally meet up with Christina (I hate that our schedules never matched up!). Well, there you have it. More than you probably cared to know about what I ingested on vacation. Now off to reminisce a bit more before finally starting the day…
Do you have any summer vacations planned?
Where are you going?
Kaitlyn @Keeping up with Kaitlyn says
Looks like you had and AMAZING time!! I would love to go down to that area sometime!
This summer I’ve been to the Biltmore, today I’m headed up to the Amish Country and in 2 weeks down to the Outer Banks!!
Have a great day 🙂
Brittany says
Where at the outer banks?? I’m heading back to the coast later this month, too 🙂
Liz @ iheartvegetables says
That sounds like SUCH a fun trip! I’ve been to Charleston a couple of times (my brother actually got married there!) and I love it!!
blackhuff says
I don’t mind at all for you to share your photos or vacation posts with us. Me being a foreigner, it’s nice to see your country in photos and also what you write about it. So thank you for sharing. And don’t stop.
Shari says
Oh my gosh, that picture of Haley with her little foot up on the high chair is too cute!
Lee says
We actually have tentative plans to go to Charleston for Labor Day weekend. My BIL lives there (on Johns Island).
emily s says
Yum! I grew up 2 hrs from Charleston and haven’t been to these particular places! On my list!
Jenny says
Mmmm everything looks delicious! Hoping to stay on Sullivan’s Island next time we visit Charleston and will definitely have to try a few of the restaurants you ate at!
jessie says
Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us. It looks like you, your family & friends had an amazing time. All the food looks delicious. Charleston truly is a beautiful area!!
The husband and I are going to Greece in September for about a week n half. Cannot wait 🙂
Brittany says
Greece?! Amazing!! Visiting the Greek isles on my bucket list! Wish I could go with you 🙂
jessie says
Yes we will be going to the Santorini Islands!!!
Booo, i wish you guys could come!! I would love to meet you & that cute bundle of joy you have!
Gina @ Running to the Kitchen says
Haha, I can try! Won’t guarantee success though 😉 Looks like a great vacation. I love Charleston!
Brittany says
I always think of you and your ability to create delicious food, so I’m willing to bet that you could nail these! 😉
Jen says
Aww I’m so glad you guys had fun! LOVE all the pictures! How on earth did H get into that position in the highchair w/ her foot up? Such silly babies 🙂
Presley @ Run Pretty says
Okra Grill is one of our favorites! I’m glad y’all had fun! I can’t wait to take my little boy to Charleston. My sister lives down there so I hope it will be sooner rather than later. 🙂
KaraHadley says
I loveloveLOVE Charleston! I so need to go there more often. My boyfriend’s parents rented a house on Sullivan Island last Thanksgiving and we all stayed there. It was so great. And we ate at Poe’s! Ahhh, now I want another vacation.
Kelly @ Runmarun says
GREAT post and photos! You all looked positively joyful in every picture! Very cool picture of Hailey being dunked underwater- what was her reaction? I am considering doing it to Lula but am a little reluctant but maybe I should take the…plunge! 😀
Enjoy getting back into the swing of things!
Brittany says
I still can’t get over Hailey resting her foot up on the high chair. And her face in that pic is priceless. So happy we got to have lunch, and next time we’ll be sure to get an even bigger group together! And, I am sooo glad you made it to DI and loved it as much as I do. That children’s park you went to (with the ‘map’ of the city and the little bridges/boat) is right next to where I live. My complex was right there on the left 😉
Lauren B. says
Great post! Thanks for sharing your incredible vacation with all of us. And I am dying over Hailey’s foot on the high chair- how on earth did she do that?! 🙂
Amanda Perry @ Sistas of Strength says
WOW! Looks like you had a blast. 🙂 We are just trying to get up to my parents lake house as much as possible this summer. It’s easy to get to, inexpensive and we love it!
Kristen @ notsodomesticated says
Wow, what a fun trip!! I love all of your food pictures. We had a Kilwin’s in Sarasota when I lived there, and we used to all go to the beach and then stop at Kilwin’s after. They had a blueberry waffle cone ice cream that I was in love with!
Lisa says
I want to go to Charleston so bad, it looks beautiful. And all the eats you had look extremely tasty!! Sounds like such a fun time
Adria @ A Spoonful of Healthy says
Looks like you had quite a culinary weekend!! 🙂 And everything looked so good.
Victoria says
I love Squeeze! It’s so cute and sleek 🙂 Glad you had a fun get-a-way!
Jen says
looks like a great trip! i LOVE charleston, especially mount p and sullivan’s (it’s sullie’s namesake!). my favorite thing to do in charleston is eat! 🙂
christina says
you did a great job at attacking charleston!! loved seeing the pics. but so sad we didn’t get to meet up! 🙁
chelsey @ clean eating chelsey says
Haha I love the picture of Hailey with her foot up on her tray. Aubrey does that all the time and she thinks it’s hilarious.
We are going to Mexico this summer! Woohoo!
Jen@HealthyFoodandFamily says
Looks awesome!!! I love finding new places to eat in a new area! We spend the majority of our summer here: http://www.thinkdunes.com/
JenRD says
Isn’t it amazing how bendy babies are? The foot on the table looks like something Maya would do. She loves putting her feet in her mouth too. Were you nervous about dunking her in the pool? Does she instinctively know to keep her mouth closed? I would be afraid of her swallowing too much water!
Brittany says
I was a little nervous, but know of babies much younger that get dunked. She cried the first time after getting dunked, but has gotten better each time and now doesn’t mind it at all. I bounce her 3 times and say one two three then blow in her face and dunk her real quickly. I;m sure she’s gotten some water in her mouth, but being that we live around water, it’s so important to me that she gets comfortable around it as soon as she can. 🙂
Paulina says
Wow. I only know of Charleston from reading and watching Gone With the Wind a thousand times. It looks beautiful! We are renting a house at Lake Michigan next week which is almost as cool as the ocean. I can’t wait to go on vacation!!!
Matt @ The Athlete's Plate says
Definitely looks like you had some great meals!