Charleston Shopping + Day Two

Our second day in Charleston was destined to be one close to our temporary home, the Francis Marion Hotel, as that very evening we would be attending the wedding of one of Nate’s cousins and his new bride!

Shop my wedding outfit: Dress size 0 | Shoes |
Bag (outlet find) similar here, less expensive here |
Lip color “Heat Wave”| Bracelet

What’s a family to do on King Street to knock out a few hours till the main event? Eat and shop. Not too shabby for a couple of time-wasting activities if you ask this foodie/shopaholic!

What we ate // where we shopped –

Lilly required pancakes (literally all she’s eaten for the last two weeks), so we made our lives easy by getting breakfast at the hotel’s own Swamp Fox restaurant. The breakfast buffet was extensive and so delicious – also free for kids under 5 (half-price for older kids)! I made my own lox and bagels with their pastrami seasoned (I think this was the seasoning?) smoked salmon, and of course had bread pudding for breakfast dessert!

The first place I wanted to check out was Lake Pajamas. Purveyors of high quality, silky-soft modal and pima cotton pajamas and house dresses for mamas and kiddos, the quaint beachy two-story shop is a peaceful place to shop and play for the whole family – even Nate was loving the decor! From the Francis Marion, hang a right and walk south down King Street for about 5 minutes. You can’t miss their calming summer themed PJ window display and soft sky-blue LAKE sign hanging overhead.

We ducked in and out of a few antique stores, window-shopped Louis Vuitton and Gucci (a girl can dream, right?) and then stumbled upon this…

Tucked a little further back than the shops and restaurants to either side is the Unitarian Church of Charleston’s very old graveyard. Yes, I am telling you to stop and check out a graveyard. Why?

Because you’ve probably never seen one like this. Completely overgrown with sub-tropical plants, revealing 200 year old headstones, iron fences and maze-like pathways. Mysterious, stunning, a unique juxtaposition of life abounding, and death.

Come out of the stillness of this urban jungle and back onto King Street, then head to the next store you need to visit while in Charleston!

Featured in Town & Country, Harpers Bazaar, Architectural Digest, and more; Amanda Lindroth is full of island chic gifts and home decor.

Layla said “it feels like being inside a basket,” haha! I had to agree with her, the store was undeniably cozy and full of beautiful things to shop.

At this point, Nate took the little one back for a nap while Layla and I continued into a few more stores. Freddo for some refreshing gelato, J. Crew because I can’t not stop in, Williams-Sonoma for a new spatula, a few gourmet foods stores for some snacks, Hampden clothing, and Beckett Boutique (where the employees are so sweet and helpful!) to check out the gorgeous pieces from designers such as Needle & Thread, Love Sam, Loveshackfancy and Petersyn, to name a few.

Then it was time to get ready for the wedding!

Elevator selfie – because taking pictures was an afterthought.

Sadly, but also a good thing, we were having so much fun that I think I took a total of 4 pictures the entire evening. I didn’t get a shot of the bride’s stunning lacy gown or perfect bouquet, no food shots (which is the real tragedy here because the food was SOOO GOOOODDD), and very few pictures of my girls meeting their little cousins for the first time ever. The memories are clear as day though – especially of the fried green tomatoes with whipped goats’ cheese and pepper jelly hors d’oeuvres, of which I probably consumed at least a full tray’s worth.

Day two recap:
See: Amanda Lindroth, Lake Pajamas, Beckett Boutique, the honey store (you’ll know what I’m talking about!), and the Unitarian Church’s graveyard.

Skip: This day was actually perfect, we took it easy and made sure the girls were rested and good to go until late into the night for the wedding celebration!

Vacationing with kids is so different from traveling just with your spouse or friend. Your pace has to be both much faster and much slower to accommodate their needs; their separate, different and often poorly timed needs. It’s an adventure in itself. Don’t worry about having an Instagram-perfect trip – meaning, don’t feel pressured to try every restaurant currently trending on social media, don’t worry about how your trip will look written out as a “guide,” (nobody is qualified to write a credible guide after one or even a few visits, honestly), and don’t spend more than a minute or two trying to “get the ‘gram.” Enjoy the trip and time time away from real life with your loved ones.

Up next! The final post in my Charleston trip series! Subscribe to get emails updates now – you do NOT want to miss this post!

xo, Mia