Charleston: Traveling with Kids During Changing Times

We had planned a family trip to Charleston long before Covid happened. After 4 or 5 trips had to be cancelled we were holding our breath for beaches and such to open. A few weeks before our trip things started opening up so we decided to go and find out what it's like to travel during these changing times. 

Everything is less strange outdoors

Plan a trip somewhere that you can spend a lot of time outdoors. We had planned to spend a lot of time at the beach but the forecast showed rain/thunder storms every day. We decided to rent electric bikes to ride on the beach and around town. That was the best decision we made for our trip.  We spent hours each day riding bikes on the beach and around Isle of Palms. It was such an easy way to get to the beach and made it so that you could find a spot away from the crowds but still come and go so easy.  I would take my bike back to the house to take our 1 year old home for naps and the rest of the family was able to stay. We even rode all the way to the Arthur Ravenel Bridge. We rented for 5 days from Rebellion Roads and they were so kind and accommodating! 

Bring your walking shoes

You will never experience Charleston the same way. There were so few people around compared to normal.  It was so nice to walk the streets seeing the history and architecture. We made the mistake of letting our 4 year old wear flip flops. Rookie move, not sure what we were thinking!  She got a blister in between her toes and I carried her on my back the mile back to the car. 

Plan ahead for dinner!

Restaurants have less tables now which means longer waits.  It was a 2+ hour wait at most restaurants in the middle of the week. We called ahead and got reservations when we could which made a huge difference. For places that don't accept reservations, I suggest getting there before 6.  If you wait until after 6 you won't be eating until 8. My absolute favorite place we ate was Fleet Landing.  We had the stuffed hush puppies, seafood pasta, and pecan pie. We also loved Page's Okra Grill  and Lewis Barbecue. If you're looking for more suggestions, there were. a lot of great recommendations on this post. 

Plan for down time

There are less things open right now so some of our days the plans fell through and the weather wasn't warm enough for the beach. The bikes helped a ton with those days because we just filled it with rides on the beach. I also  brought my paints and spent hours painting on the patio.  That was my heaven.  I am so glad I thought to bring a few supplies because I ended up being home alone while Millie napped quite a few times. 

Our trip was definitely different from normal.  But we still had an amazing time and it was worth the memories.  We pushed our girls out of their comfort zones and learned to adapt to change.