Charleston, SC 2023
Reporting on a leisurely 5-day trip by train down south on the East Coast.
We visited in September. We got to Charleston from Washington, DC via Amtrak, which took us about 10 hours, including an unsurprising 1-hour total delay.
Table of Contents
Day 1
Leaving DC
We arrived at Union Station via Metro probably a bit too early – a little past 8 a.m. with a 9:59 scheduled departure time. But we didn't mind much since we don't like rushing. We found a neat crepe place called Crepe Lena that was open, so we split two savory crepes (vegetable and gyro) and a nutella-oreo-marshmallow-strawberry sweet one. It wasn't long after our leisurely meal and stroll around the station that it was time for us to board. Per Amtrak fashion, our gate was displayed ~25 minutes before scheduled departure time. The line southbound was much shorter than the one I'm used to frequenting – northbound to New York and beyond.
It seemed the majority of passengers were on board by 9:52 a.m. Nonetheless, for some reason we had a ~30 minute delay in departing the station. Great... My partner stayed calm since we weren't in a hurry, but I felt bad as the trip planner and it being his first time on an Amtrak train (!). Alas, no choice but to roll with it.
Riding down the East Coast
For me, this was the third time I was riding south. The other two times I rode to Richmond and Durham, NC. Both those times I experienced noticable delays. Unsurprisingly, we hit more snags along the way on our ride to Charleston, but thankfully the train made up for time a little bit by the time we arrived at our destination.
The last time we rode long train rides together was in Japan earlier this year. I warned my partner that, unsurprisingly, it would be a very different experience on the Amtrak, and southbound. Definitely wouldn't time, as smooth, as clean, or as quiet... but it was still pretty nice, and the vibe was chill and joyful with the crowd of generally older, chattier, and/or more relaxed Americans who were either vacationing (like us), visiting family, or returning home. There were some kids, but they weren't much of a bother. Contrast not just with Japan but also northbound Amtrak, where (it's generally on time! more frequent trains, and) the vibe I feel is Americans who are generally younger and traveling for school or work, talking on phones or typing away on laptops for some business or academic reason. Makes me wonder how the lines in other parts of North America are like.
To pass the time, my partner and I napped, gazed at the scenery out the window, surfed the Net, read books, and watched a few good movies, including First Reformed and The Children Act.
Arriving in Charleston
We finally got to Charleston at 8:20 p.m. Whew! The station there was small but very clean and modern. There was a light drizzle. I got us a Lyft for ~$17. That ride took about 18 minutes to get us to our hotel, The Jasmine House. It is an inn that was converted from a house built in 1843! The room was stocked with local snacks and a plethora of drinks. In the main floor were more snacks and drinks, and we were told breakfast and evening bites would be served there as well.
After settling in a little bit, we went out for dinner a block away at The Matador. I loved their spicy salsa and salty, thin tortilla chips. Their margaritas and birria beef enchiladas were OK. My partner ordered carnitas which were very good. The music was maybe my favorite part: so many classic hip hop hits, including TLC, Snoop Dogg, Outkast, T-Pain, D4L's Laffy Taffy! ha.
We packed leftovers, walked a bit around the main street area, and then came back to the room. It's so nice to just walk everywhere and not have to rely on a car, let alone other transportation!
Day 2
Leisurely morning
Very tired from the long commute, we slept in and relaxed at the hotel until ~11 a.m., enjoying complimentary coffee and resisting the other complimentary light breakfast munchies.
We then headed to Ha Long Cafe shortly after it opened. We ordered an Americano (for my partner), a taro latte with boba (for me), a "special" (traditional) banh mi, and a lemongrass pork banh mi. The banh mi, especially the traditional one, were the best we've had in the U.S. I remember the banh mi in Vietnam having a flakier, lighter bread, but the one here was close. Most importantly, it had pate!
After brunch, we enjoyed a Pineapple Whip from the Pineapple Hut, located in a fun outdoor seating area with live music next to the City Market. It's a rare thing to run into Dole Whip, and when I do, I must get it! It always brings back fond memories of our first (and currently only) visit to Hawaii in 2019, where we first tried it.
City Market shopping
My parnter had to go back to the hotel for an hour to take a call, so I wandered by myself around the area. I primarily found myself wandering through the City Market. I bought a sweetgrass basket made by hand with 4 kinds of thread – sweetgrass, bulrush, palmetto, and pineneedle – from a nice woman who had been weaving for 63 years. She said her grand aunt taught her, her grand aunt's mother taught her grand aunt, and so on. I also bought a small hemp bag and handmade bowl with a three-dimensioanl crab design in it.
Self-guided walking tour
I met my partner back at our hotel room, which was good timing with the end of his call. We rested a bit and then headed out to do a self-guided walking tour around the area. My coworker recommended doing a tour in Charleston, though unfortunately the one he liked was sold out. I then had the idea of doing a self-guided one from when we visited Kauai and did a self-guided driving tour using a very affordable phone app called Shaka Guide. I found a similar one for Charleston.
Taking our time, we finished it in about 3 hours and really enjoyed it. It took us through the downtown area, by the harbor, and through a few parks. We learned a lot about the area's founding, its central role in U.S. slavery, how much slave owners thrived here, valorant attempts by enslaved people to escape, and major events that occurred here during the Civil War.
Dinner and a heavy play
We finished the tour a little after 4 p.m. We went back to our room and rested a little before walking 1.2 miles to Mesu, a Japanese-Mexican restaurant. I thought there would be fusion-styled food, but it was really in my opinion a menu of sushi, sake, and Mexican tacos, drinks, and desserts. Not complaining! it was still very good. We had 3 tacos – crispy chicken, baja fish, and barbacoa braised beef. They were pretty good, though huge. The stars of the show were the two sushi rolls we ordered – Hamachi Tale and Hawaii 5-O. So yum, some of the best sushi I've had in the U.S. The drinks and churros were also great, as well as the overall vibe and service.
After dinner, we slowly walked over to PURE Theatre, where I had tickets for a play called The Chinese Lady. We were about an hour early because I'm apparently bad at planning dinner-and-play dates! But we enjoyed our company and watched a fun Youtube video. People started arriving at around 7:10, and we were surprised at how picked the small theatre got since we were alone for the past 30 minutes. The play started a little after 7:30 p.m. Unlike DC shows, it seemed folks were allowed to bring in snacks and drinks from the bar.
The play had some heavy material, exploring the life of the first Chinese girl-turned-woman who was sold by her family to Americans to be on display as an exotic exhibit for most of her life. It was very good.
We walked the 1.5 miles back to our hotel afterward. Many parts of Charleston reminded of a chiller version of New Orleans.
I was in pain from the walking :( but hopeful that sleep would heal me.
~19,000 steps, 9.8 miles
Day 3
Crepes again
We started the day a couple of hours earlier than yesterday. We arrived at Beizh Pan Crepes shortly after they opened at 9:20 a.m., excited to have crepes in the galette style we first had in Kyoto earlier this year. These crepes were so good! To start, our savory ones were salad-based with balsamic dressing, and a ham, cheese, and mushroom one with salad on the side. The sugary dessert was a banana, strawberry, nutella, and whipped cream one.
International African American Museum
After a quick refresh back in our room – we again loved how close the hotel was to everything for these quick breaks – we walked 0.7 miles to the new IAAM, which opened earlier this year. I got us a timed entry at 11 a.m.
It was probably equivalent in size to just one or a little over one floor of the African American History Museum in Washington, DC, but I personally liked that. Our museums in DC seem to be in the style of being massive and needing multiple days to fully experience them. Maybe that's convenient for us since we live near them... But on our travels to different places that we'll much less likely revisit, we've liked the smaller, more concentrated museums that don't feel overwhelming but still high value.
I especially liked the concentration on South Carolina's role in African American history, including dedicated exhibits to the Gullah Geechee people whose lands span from north Florida to the Carolinas. I also felt many of the stories and facts I learned or relearned hit me differently – whether that was attributed to the good presentation of the material, being in a different stage of my life, or having some similar material I had been exposed to before just get better reinforced in mind, I am not sure. These experiences are enriching, not just to learn or relearn important history and different perspectives or ways of life, but also to remind myself that there is way more to life than the corporate ladder and capitalist soul crushing machine.
We wrapped up 3/4ths of museum by the time my partner admitted to being wiped out. I bought a bag and magnet, and then we headed back to our room for another hour of rest before dinner.
Dinner at Chubby Fish
We walked 1.3 miles to this famous seafood restaurant that doesn't accept reservations called Chubby Fish. We arrived at 4:30, 30 minutes before official opening, and there were already about 15 people ahead of us. Thankfully we were able to make first seating when they opened a few minutes after 5 p.m. The interior was a fun ocean blue with lots of nautical decorations. Along with local beers, we ordered a tuna crudo, tuna ceviche served on a long, thin piece toast (!), chili garlic shrimp with rice, bluefin crab tagliatelle, cauliflower cacio e peppe for $150 + tip. Wow, everything was truly delicious! and worth the 30-minute early arrival.
A lighter evening show
After dinner, we went back to our room again for another break until the beginning of a comedy mystery show at 8 p.m. My partner got us tickets to The Black Fedora Mystery Comedy Theatre's "Help! I think my characters are trying to kill me!" show. This theatre was just a 5-minute walk away from our hotel, yay! The theatre offered yummy snacks, beers, and other non-alcoholic drinks at surprisingly very affordable prices while you watched and, if you wished, participated as a fellow audience actor in, the show. It was pretty darn fun! I enjoyed a super yummy cookie and ice cream dish and chips and queso, and my partner had a couple of beers while partaking in some of my snacks.
The show ended at 10 p.m. We walked through the night-time City Market, which was on the way back to our hotel, before settling in for the night.
15,625 steps / 7.1 miles
Day 4
Old Slave Mart Museum
We had a yummy brunch at a nearby South Asian restaurant. We were the first guests to enter as it opened at 12 p.m.
After that, we headed to the Old Slave Mart Museum, a small museum situated in the building of an actual slave mart. It was humbling.
Dinner at Bintu Atelier
We leisurely walked back to our hotel, had some drinks, and then took a long walk out to an early dinner at Bintu Atelier, a small, highly-rated Nigerian restaurant despite being quite off the beaten path (it must be a beaten path if it's highly rated) main streets. We luckily snagged one of the last coveted and available tables.
While the atmosphere and service were nice, honestly I thought the flavors were a bit bland.
We walked back to the hotel and relaxed, then went to bed early for our long journey home tomorrow.
(lost data on steps / miles)
Day 5
Going home
We woke up early to have complimentary breakfast at the hotel. It was pretty good – an assortment of pastries, fruits, and coffee. I packed away some of them as snacks for us to eat on the train. Our train home was at 9:15 a.m. and was supposed to get back to DC at 7:10 p.m.
It was good I packed the snacks, because we got hungry! There was also a food counter in one of the cars, so I bought us a veggie tray and chips to tide us over.
Miraculously there weren't major delays this time, and we arrived at Union Station shortly after the 7:20 p.m. We indulged in a Shake Shack dinner before taking our last (local) train back to our home station.
(lost data on steps / miles)
Reflection
It was fun doing a short and leisurely domestic trip by train for a change. Downtown Charleston has a fun vibe, several good restaurants, and a chock full of important, underappreciated American history.
However, taking Amtrak at this distance is pretty rough given the not-so-uncommon delays I've experienced several times, including this time.
In terms of Charleston itself by foot, without a car, even for ~3 full days I felt a bit limited beyond the main street.
If I had to revisit Charleston for reasons beyond Charleston itself (like a wedding), I would gladly revisit. But to come back just for Charleston, I may need some more convincing--and perhaps a car rental.