What a rollercoaster 2020 has been! With the entire world in lockdown due to COVID-19, we have felt morally and socially responsible to not travel like we normally do. On top of that, we aren’t even able to leave the United States due to international travel restrictions that are in place.
As we’ve settled into this new normal of wearing masks and socially distancing, we have started planning and dreaming about US road trips so that we can continue our love for travel and photography. Our priority for travel right now is to stay socially distanced from others and reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Living in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), we haven’t spent much time in the US Southeast! Because we have spent several months this year staying with family in Chicago, we decided to take advantage of the situation and plan a road trip through North and South Carolina. There, we got to spend time on the beach and in the mountains - two of our favorite things! :)
Itinerary Highlights
Day 1-4: Charleston, South Carolina
Walk through the historic district
Craft coffee (Clark’s favorite!)
The best take-out veggie burgers ever
Flytographer photoshoot
The French Quarter’s beautiful buildings
Incredible vegan ice cream
Day trip beach adventures
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
Day 5-12: Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Acai bowls that are to die for
Biking around Hilton Head Island’s bike trails
The best vegan wraps and salads “to-go”
Beach days!
Sunset bicycle rides on the beach
Sunset dinner on the beach
Day 12-18: Asheville, North Carolina
The best treehouse Airbnb EVER (Airbnb Listing) {Save $35 off your first trip}
Driving the Blue Ridge Parkway
The best vegan sandwiches and smoothies “to-go”
Mountain hikes on “less traveled trails”
Sunrise photography at mountain lookouts
The best sunset lookout on the Blue Ridge Parkway
Charleston, South Carolina
We have spent a lot of time traveling in Europe, and quite honestly, we were pretty bummed when we had to cancel our first anniversary trip to Italy due to the coronavirus. But, WOW, were we impressed with Chraleston - it felt like we teleported to Paris with the brick roads, cute little homes, colorful doorways, and gas lamps.
On our trip, it was important to us to maintain social distancing, so deciding on lodging was difficult! We did not want to stay at any hotels since we would be sharing elevators and would be in close proximity to other people, so we chose to stay at an Airbnb. We found the cutest Airbnb which was a beautiful historic home in the South of Broad neighborhood in Charleston.
South of Broad Neighborhood in Charleston, SC
Our cute Airbnb in Charleston, SC
We highly recommend staying in the sleepy, quaint, and picturesque South of Broad neighborhood! It’s away from the hustle and bustle of the main city streets, less tourists, yet close enough to walk almost everywhere in Charleston.
Each morning we would try to walk around the beautiful city before the head of the day set in. We loved walking around the southernmost part of Charleston, looking at the beautiful and historic mansions, and catching the salty breeze coming off the water. Check out the map below to see some of our favorite walking paths. We wore our masks while walking around Charleston, and were pleasantly surprised that many other people did, too!
Clark is obsessed with craft coffee and is always on a mission to find the best locally roasted coffee in each city that we visit. Luckily, a short walk from our Airbnb was an incredible little coffee shop called Second State Coffee with amazing pour over and cold brew which we would get each morning.
Charleston is well known for their culinary scene, and being foodies, we would normally be all about trying all of the highest rated restaurants. However, due to COVID-19, and not wanting to eat at any restaurants, we decided to find the best takeout in town. We have always been primarily vegetarian, and for the past few months, we’ve been vegan. Luckily, we found the best takeout veggie burger in town at Basic Kitchen.
Both of us LOVE photography, but one of the challenges of traveling as a couple, is it is hard to get photos of us together! Who else can relate?! Recently, we found Flytographer - think Airbnb but for photos! Local, professional photographers sign up through Flytographer to book for photoshoots. We’ve found Flytographer as a great way to capture travel memories - especially for special trips like anniversaries. We booked a photoshoot through Flytographer with Kelsey, a local wedding photographer, and had a great time being in front of the lens on the streets of Charleston. Save $25 on your first photoshoot through Flytographer here.
In the evenings, many of the cute little Charleston homes will turn on their front porch gas lamps. We loved walking around The French Quarter neighborhood of Charleston in the evenings and pretending like we were in Paris.
The French Quarter in Charleston, SC
We also found a hidden pizza take-out spot nearby called One Broad Street - there’s no sign but the line in front may give it away. We got pizza to go and ate at the nearby Joe Wiley Waterfront Park on a blanket. Such a romantic, socially distanced dinner. Normally, we’re pretty healthy eaters, but when we’re on vacation, we do splurge a little. One of our favorite treats is ice cream - especially if we can find a local ice cream shop with vegan options. Oh boy were we in luck in Charleston. Off Track Ice Cream was to die for and we may have lost count of how many times we went.
Not only is Charleston, itself, stunning, but the surrounding areas are gorgeous! We took a couple of trips to the surrounding neighborhoods and beaches. We loved driving over the bridge to Mt. Pleasant, a little community just East of Charleston on the Hog Island Channel. The homes along the water were gorgeous, and it was so fun to drive through the neighborhoods with water views of Charleston in the distance.
A short drive past Mt. Pleasant is Sullivan Island’s Beach, a popular destination on hot days for the locals. We parked on a residential side street and used one of the many beach access trails to walk (~5 mins) to the beach. Be prepared to take off your shoes, or wear sandals, as we had to walk through areas of shin-high water. The Sullivan Island Beach was beautiful, and not too crowded, even on a hot summer day.
As we left town, on the way to Hilton Head Island, we decided to stop at the Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. This is one of the more popular historic plantation grounds in the Charleston area, and with the current events around racial injustice, it really made us experience the grounds through a different lens. Although the gardens were beautiful, the history behind the buildings, bridges, trees and flowers, left us with feeling somber about the United State’s not-so-distant past.
We cannot recommend Charleston enough and already cannot wait to go back to experience the city once the current pandemic is over. The city of Charleston is majestic and left us feeling like we had got a sliver of the European trip we had been planning on!
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
What a difference from Charleston! One of our favorite parts about this road trip through North and South Carolina, was the different types of cities and geographies we got to experience. The sleepy city of Hilton Head Island was the ultimate relaxing time we needed, to recoup from the stressors of normal life.
We were fortunate to have a friend who lives on Hilton Head Island that leaves for the Midwest each summer for several weeks. She kindly offered to let us stay at her townhouse!
With so much relaxing, we found ourselves getting into a daily routine on the island. Most days started by getting the most amazing acai bowls ever from Delishee Yo - a local vegan order at the counter joint in central Hilton Head. We also picked up lunch to-go when we got our acai bowls and HIGHLY recommend the So Cal Wrap, Hummus Plate and Yom Rolls.
Most days we headed to the beach after our acai bowls. Luckily the beaches on Hilton Head Island are long and wide enough to allow plenty of social distancing if you walk far enough down the beach. We brought a small cooler which was great for keeping our Delishee Yo lunch cool so we could enjoy our wraps and hummus on the beach. Also make sure to bring a beach umbrella and sunscreen! We brought floaties to float out in the water which was incredibly nice on the hot and humid days.
Hilton Head Island is one of the most bicycle friendly places we’ve been! You can get almost everywhere by bike as the entire island is interconnected with shaded bike trails. We had so much fun riding around and exploring the island on our beach cruisers. In the evenings, we rode our cruisers down to the beach, and at low tide (make sure to check online tide charts), the beach is 200+ feet wide with hard sand allowing us to ride several miles up and down the beach. There’s nothing more relaxing than watching the sunset while cruising around on a bicycle.
To celebrate our one year wedding anniversary (!!!) we created a private beach dinner with to-go food from… you guessed it, Delishee Yo! It was such a romantic way to celebrate our first year of marriage, while socially distancing.
Hilton Head Island is such a relaxing place to enjoy riding bikes and lounging on the beach. It was really easy to socially distance while enjoying great food and the outdoors. We can’t wait to go back in the future.
Asheville, North Carolina
The Carolina’s truly have so much to offer! With our first week and a half spent on the Atlantic coast, we were ready to take on the mountains. Living in Seattle for the past few years, we weren’t sure how the Appalachian Mountains would compare to the Cascades, but WOW were we shocked at the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville. It was the first time we had seen the mountains in 4 months and we sure missed them.
We stayed in the nicest Airbnb we’ve ever experienced (we’ve stayed in a lot of Airbnbs!). It was a cute circular home, nestled in the mountains a few minutes up the road from Asheville. Everything about it was perfect. From the walnut breakfast bar, to the coffee setup and Parachute mattress and duvet set - it was heaven!
Unfortunately, we did not get to take advantage of Asheville’s well known brewery and restaurant scene due to several restaurant closures and our desire to be socially distancing. We did, however, find another incredible order-at-the-counter vegan restaurant called Elements Real Food! We got their Beet Sandwich and Chocolate Smoothies to-go several times, and kept it in our cooler for snacking after hikes and during sunsets on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a 469 mile stretch of road running through the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina. In 2019, the Blue Ridge Parkway hosted 14.9 million visitors which is more than Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon COMBINED! We loved driving the parkway and pulling off at the many overlooks to see layers upon layers of mountains. The Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville has many easily accessible hikes in close proximity. To maintain social distancing, we tried to find less popular hikes, and to stay away from the waterfalls which seemed to be attracting tons of people. Some of our favorite hikes from the trip were:
Black Balsam Knob
Distance: 2 miles, Elevation Gain: 400 ft
Normally an easy out and back hike with 360 degree views. Unfortunately, we went for a dinner picnic and we were completely socked in!
Graveyard Fields Loop
Distance: 3.5 miles, Elevation Gain: 450 ft
A heavily trafficked loop, however, most tourists are only going to the lower falls - a short walk from the parking lot. We extended our hike to the upper falls which had very few people and enjoyed a refreshing dip in the water!
Catawba Falls
Distance: 2.5 miles, Elevation Gain: 300 ft
Normally, this hike is swarming with people, so we decided to go on a weekday morning to avoid the crowds! Fortunately, the trail is wide enough to maintain social distancing when we passed people. It’s a beautiful out and back trail with several waterfalls on a well maintained trail.
Johns Rock Trail Loop
Distance: 4.9 miles, Elevation Gain: 1082 ft
Looking Glass Rock Trail is one of the most popular trails near Asheville so for less crowds, we opted for the less traveled Johns Rock Loop. This trail has absolutely breathtaking views of Looking Glass Rock across the valley. We loved this trail and highly recommend it.
Pink Beds Trail Loop
Distance: 6 miles, Elevation Gain: 337 ft
We did the Pink Beds Trail Loop on a hot Saturday afternoon while the masses were at waterfalls trying to cool off. We basically had the entire 6 mile trail to ourselves! With little elevation gain and mostly shaded, this was a great hike before catching a relaxing sunset.
We both love photography and wanted to catch as many sunrises and sunsets as we could! It was challenging, however, as the mountains around Asheville had patches of fog, lots of clouds, and intermittent and unpredictable rain at times! Even with the weather challenges, we found our favorite sunrise spot, and our favorite sunset spot on the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Favorite Sunrise: Craggy Pinnacle Hike
A short quarter mile hike to the top of Craggy Pinnacle, right off the Blue Ridge Parkway, gave way to sweeping 360 degree views for two incredible sunrises!
Favorite Sunset: Cowee Mountain Overlook
Layers upon layers upon layers. WOW. This overlook is about an hour from Asheville, and completely blew us away. We spent three sunsets at this overlook and had such a unique experience every single night. This overlook made us realize why these mountains are called the Blue Ridge Mountains! Read more about the Best Sunsets Near Asheville.
Asheville and the surrounding areas are absolutely stunning, and this is coming from Seattlites who are always exploring the Pacific Northwest mountains. We loved the hiking and photography the Blue Ridge Mountains had to offer and can’t wait to come back in the future to take full advantage of the foodie scene!