In This Post: Known as the birthplace of sweet tea and where flowers bloom in every corner, Summerville, South Carolina is a small town bursting with beauty and Southern charm.
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The Look: Gal Meets Glam Daphne Dress (more sizes here and here) | Castañer Wedge Espadrilles
Because I know I don’t want to live directly in the heart of a city, one of the hardest parts of figuring out where to move to is researching what areas around each prospective city would be a good choice. Before my road trip last month, I had spent the most time researching the Charleston area because it’s been at the top of my list! Within that process, I came across a small town that literally sounded too good to be true – Summerville, South Carolina. Even “Summerville” sounds like where The Flash would go on vacation when he needs to escape Central City and not a place in real life, right?
The Summerville website already had me at “flowers bloom by the acre”. Then, literally days before the trip, someone visiting from out of town came to take one of my classes at Yoga Innovations and once we got to talking, I found out she lives in Summerville, SC and I just couldn’t believe it. I am so glad that our paths crossed because after hearing about how much she loves it there, I was even more sure it was a place I needed to look me into and visit.
While we didn’t stay in Summerville, it was just a short 35-minute drive from our hotel in Mount Pleasant. After some time for self-care in the morning (via a barre class and smoothie), we headed over to explore for the afternoon. As we drove in, there were blooming azalea trees all over, charming houses, and a diverse array of both chain and local stores and restaurants. I was interested in checking out the more historic part of town so after driving around get a feel for the area (in awe of the white picket fences, lavish front porches, pale colors homes, and scenic greenery), we headed towards Hutchinson Square.
Where to Eat in Summerville, SC:
Since my sister doesn’t believe in breakfast, I knew I wasn’t going to get any photography out of her until I got a meal in her. Looking for something local, casual, and quick (we had already started the day later than planned), we ended up at Matt’s Burgers and were not disappointed. I had a delicious ham and cheese sandwich and I don’t remember what my sister got, but she was happy about it! Their sweet tea was also SO good.
The Birthplace of Sweet Tea
In fact, Summerville is known as the birthplace place of sweet tea, so not only will you find great sweet tea at every restaurant, you can even stop and see Mason. It’s a replica jar over 15 feet tall that was filled with 2,524 gallons of Sweet Tea on National Iced Tea Day in 2016 to successfully set the Guinness World Record for the World’s Largest (Sweet) Iced Tea.
When to Shop in Summerville, South Carolina:
In the heart of downtown Summerville, you’ll find Hutchinson Square which is a park and local gathering spot lined with boutique shopping, small businesses, and local spots to eat. Overwhelmed with how much I had already spent on the trip, we opted for window shopping instead of going into the stores, but I would love to have spent all day looking for Gem finds and unique treasures to take home.
Where to Get Ice Cream in Summerville, South Carolina:
There’s another little strip right across the way that we passed coming which had a colorful, fun looking candy and ice cream store in it, called Simple Treasures. We had the best intentions to visit before it before we left the flower-filled town. But, the heat spiked real quick in the afternoon and with full bellies, sweaty everything, and a hungry baby, we instead hopped in the car to cool off before heading to our next spot, Azalea Park. Keep reading to find out why we didn’t make it there either – LOL.
Summerville South Carolina is also known as Flowertown
This place just keeps on sounding more and more “me”, doesn’t it? While there were blooms lining many of the streets in June, everyone I talked to could not stop telling me about how beautiful Summerville is in the Spring. In fact, each year, thousands of people come to visit for the Flowertown Festival – a three-day arts and crafts showcase where you can take in the vibrant flowers and celebrate the season (it’s also a fundraiser to benefit the YMCA) while supporting the local area.
It’s held in Azalea Park which I desperately wanted to visit because I kept reading about how beautiful it is in my searches. I don’t know if my GPS took me to the wrong spot or what happened. When we pulled up (not seeing anything that screamed “here are the flowers!”), we could only find a parking lot with about 10 spots in it – all of which were taken. After spending a bit of time driving around trying to figure out if there was somewhere else to park, we gave up and that’s when we headed to Shem Creek Park to see the dolphins!
Like most of our days on this road trip. Nothing was perfect, but every adventure was so worth it. Pretty images and sweet memories aside, there was a lot of sitting in the car Google search new plans, stops pulling over to change poopy diapers, and many photos that were never taken because my sweet then 2-month-old niece doesn’t like to not be in motion. There were so many life moments that happened in between the Instagram worthy photos and looking back, I wish I would have taken photos in the not-so-perfect things too to bring another level of realness to this post! Traveling is messy (especially with a baby) and adventures are never, ever without flaws, but getting to explore these beautiful places and spend time with my sister made the stress of those less enjoyable moments quickly melt away.
