We visited Charleston in May 2025 as part of our May Carolinas loop. Read about our first visit in 2017 here and our second in 2024 here.

From Myrtle Beach, it was an easy 2.5-hour drive down to Charleston. We were scheduled to stay for two days, but being there without Bugsy was incredibly hard–and the idea of returning to Hilton Head, our next planned stop, without her was unthinkable–so we left Charleston after one night and skipped our next two coastal destinations, Hilton Head and Tybee Island. Fortunately we were able to change our reservations without too many penalties.

Campground

Once again, we stayed at James Island County Park, one of our favorite developed campgrounds. The campground is shady and peaceful with mostly-private sites (we liked our spot, Site 75), and the county park is a delight: 643 acres of trails, fields, playgrounds, bike rentals, a pond with fishing and kayak/paddleboard rentals, a disc golf course, and more. We’ve used it as a base from which to visit Charleston (about a 20-minute drive, depending on traffic), but this time we went 15 minutes in the other direction, to Folly Beach.

Folly Beach

Parking was easy on a Wednesday in downtown Folly Beach, and we parked right outside the Folly Beach Fresh Farmer’s Market which runs every Wednesday from 5pm-9pm. From there, we did a little bar-and-taco crawl, with me as the driver focusing more on tacos.

First stop: Taco Boy, the favorite hangout of friends who frequent Folly. We loved the indoor/outdoor bar and the margaritas, and while I wasn’t ready to start tacoing yet, their tacos looked fantastic.

Second stop: Chico Feo. This taco joint had more of a Caribbean feel with its shady yard and live music. They don’t have a full bar, but they do have delicious food, including snack tacos. Holy moly their mahi tacos rank up there with the best fish tacos we’ve had, and we’ve had a lot!

Third stop: Lowlife Bar, with more great outdoor seating, interesting cocktails, and friendly bartenders. I guess if you have a bar at the beach you’d better have good outdoor space! No tacos there, but our Folly friends said the food is fab.

Fourth stop: Bounty Bar, a recommendation from the bartender at Lowlife. It was the diviest of the group and had a good front porch situation, but I was ready to head home at this point so didn’t fully appreciate it. No tacos there either, but some other snacky options.

Other notes from our Folly friends: they also like the food at Jack of Cups, and recommended Crosby’s Fish & Shrimp Co, a seafood market with a seasonal food truck.

In the morning, after a run in the park, we pulled up stakes and headed four hours northwest to Clemson. I’m sure we’ll visit James Island (and Hilton Head) again, but probably not for a while.