19 - The Juliette (Charleston, SC)

00:00
Hello, hello, welcome back to the biscuits and gravy podcast. I have no idea why I just started the podcast off like that. That was so not characteristic of me. Oh my gosh. I have a very rare day to myself. I know I probably say that a lot because I really don't record podcasts unless the house is quiet. And that is not often with four children and a farm. So,

00:30
Today I'm joining you guys with this really really special episode on the Juliet of Charleston. And before I get into that I want to kind of recap the last couple of episodes. So if you have not listened to episodes, I think it's 17 and 18 if I'm not mistaken. Those are the last two episodes. Those are all about our girls trip to Charleston. I took my two.

00:59
Daughters one of them is 10. She's almost 11 and the other one is 13 almost 14 So I took them with me to Charleston for the first time We've driven through Charleston before on a work trip with my husband when the kids were much younger and so they don't have any kind of recollection at all and I had told them about it and they both just were excited just to experience Charleston

01:28
they know how much I love Charleston and they thought they might feel the same way. And I believe about a, I guess it was about a month ago now that we went. So a month removed, they are ready to go back. So it was right. My hunch was right. They did love Charleston and they are ready for a return trip at some point. So, but the first two episodes about Charleston, I knew this would be a long series because we spent

01:57
a few days there and did all the things that we possibly could in those few days. And so I knew it would take a few episodes just to go through everything and explain what we did and what we would recommend and that kind of thing. So the first episode on this was I believe episode 17 and it was just about kind of our overall experience and some of the different

02:22
stops we made along the way and the ghost tour that we went on and that kind of thing just giving you some of those details and then episode 18 which was the last episode that i posted was all about middleton place which is a rice plantation a former rice plantation now it's it's like a non-profit

02:47
Just an educational center and they have a restaurant there and it's just we fell in love with Middleton. So we talk a lot about going back to Middleton the gardens and everything so Already, we're already it's only been a month, but we're already talking about going back to Middleton. So So this episode though, I really did want to save the best for last I believe and

03:13
My girls are not joining me for this episode. I know that will disappoint some of you who have already told me how they that you loved hearing the girls on the episode with me and just our interaction with each other. So maybe if we do another girls trip sometime then I will I will be sure to have them back on the podcast so they can give their input and get them a little more comfortable in the podcast space because that was their first time really being on.

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podcast and So they were a little nervous and didn't want to say a whole lot which I completely understand so But today I'm going to talk to you about the place that we stayed on our little Charleston Excursion and it was called the Juliet now Let me just say that when I was scoping out places to To stay on a trip

04:12
Honestly, if we if we wouldn't have had a partnership with Somewhere like the Juliet. I'm not sure that we Would have even made the trip honestly Somewhere to stay is very important to me. I know a lot of people are perfectly comfortable and there's nothing wrong with this I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but they're perfectly comfortable. Just Checking into a hotel room, you know a Holiday Inn or just just a standard hotel room somewhere

04:42
and then just traveling to wherever they want to go. We usually do things a little bit differently than that. The destination, the place that we are lodging holds a very heavy weight when we are making decisions about where we're going. So I like to be comfortable. I don't like to show up to a place that I'm not really sure what I'm getting myself into.

05:12
I know you've all probably like we have had bad experiences at places that you stayed where especially in hotel settings where we've had you know some really noisy neighbors or what not and and then I'm just right now I'm recalling in my mind just even some airbnbs that we have stayed in before that I don't even know how they're allowed to be.

05:42
listed honestly. Thankfully those have been few and far between but we when I found the Juliet online I was like this is a long shot in the dark but I'm going to reach out to them and just see if this would be a good place for us to stay and to talk about on our podcast but it was so gorgeous

06:12
timeless, you know, it was in this historic district and It was built in let's see 1855 I believe let me look at my notes. Yeah 1855 It was fully restored Had this like opulent aesthetic, but it looked very comfortable at the same time It was a full house. I was like there is no way

06:41
My little bitty podcast is gonna be able to land such an amazing partnership, but much to my pleasure and surprise they reached back out and said we would love to host you and I like I had to pinch myself. I was like really? So this is my thank you to

07:06
Kristen and all of the people that I have encountered at the The Juliet the people that listed the Juliet You guys are amazing Your customer service is amazing anytime. I had any kind of question or Anything. I mean we didn't encounter any problems. It was just like Just questions about it. I mean they were so quick to respond and

07:34
just really really well done. So good job you guys. Alright so let me get into the episode. I want to really just give you a rundown of what I experienced at the Juliet and then I want to invite you guys to go over if you're not already. Some I know some of you probably listening to this episode are actually looking at pictures as we are speaking right now.

08:01
because you're choosing to listen to this episode on our website, bisc And that way you can actually listen to the episode and look at the pictures while I'm talking. So I think that's a great way of encountering our podcast instead of the podcast player. But I know that sometimes it is just easier like when you're driving or you're cooking or whatever for you just to listen to it on your podcast player which is perfectly fine as well.

08:31
But I do want to invite you, if you have not checked out the pictures, you are going to want to check out the pictures of the Juliet because it is mind-blowing how beautiful this space is. And if that does not convince you that you need to try the Juliet for yourself, then I don't know what will capture your attention, honestly. So, alright, the Juliet. The address of the Juliet, if you'd like to check it out for yourself.

09:00
is 82 and a half Spring Street in Charleston. This is in the Cannonboro, I think it's called another community as well, Elliottboro community, like the district. And it's just an older district. You will see a lot of historic homes in those areas of Charleston. It is opulent, like I told you, it is opulent.

09:29
very grand but approachable at the same time. So they really nailed it. Like, you know how you can, you can go into a space and you can feel like I'm not supposed to be here. You know what I mean? Like it's, it's just too nice. You're like, can I sit on this furniture? Can I go to the bathroom? Like, you know, all of the normal things that you would be expected to do in a space, like you just don't feel comfortable doing.

09:58
and that is not the case at the Juliet. It is very nice, very grand, very beautiful, but also very approachable at the same time. I was immediately taken with the style. So like I said, they have fully restored this place, I believe in 2022, I believe is when they restored it, if I'm not mistaken. And so it's fairly newly restored.

10:27
and it is very much my style. It's minimal vintage so I am not a like a knick-knack do-dad kind of kind of girl. I am fairly minimal in my decorating style but I love the vintage look as well which kind of brings a little bit of that like shabby chic with it. So you're going to get a little bit of the the knick-knacky stuff but not

10:56
lot if that makes any kind of sense. Not over-the-top knick-knacky. I'm sure that is not a phrase but I've made it up. I loved the colors in this vase. They are my favorite colors. A really beautiful emerald green color. I was actually considering over the past year I've been... I'm a very slow decorator if you guys

11:23
I don't know if you know me personally, but I am a slow decorator. I like to think things through for a very long time before I actually execute something. And so I've been thinking on a paint color for my living room for literally a year now. And this, one of the colors that is in the Juliet,

11:48
on the walls is actually a color that I was considering for our own space. So after I saw it there, I was like, okay, done deal. I need to put this in my home. But they had beautiful greens, reds, rosy pinks, brass fixtures, painted black floors, which wood

12:18
um it it was like stepping back in time but it was still new and modern if that makes any kind of sense it was just beautiful and i i wish i could just put it into words just how beautiful it was but you um i guess my my oldest daughter sydney she probably put it best when she says i feel like i'm living in a dream that's what she said when she walked in and it's true um

12:46
The girls and I, I have introduced the girls to Downton Abbey fairly recently and so we've been going through all the series, I can't even remember what season we're on now, it's like maybe five, I'm not sure, but they love Downton Abbey as I did the first time I watched the series and that's what they kept saying was, I feel like I'm in Downton Abbey. And so they definitely saw it too.

13:16
and we're kind of in awe at just the beauty of it and just how well it was put together. They had floor to ceiling windows, which are like my love language. I love windows. I love natural light. I cannot have enough windows in my house. They had really high ceilings. The architecture reminded me of our first home, which coincidentally was built in 1856. So,

13:44
You know, the Juliette was built in 1855. Our home in North Carolina, our very first home that we had that we actually restored was built in 1856. So a lot of it reminded me of that home and it was just really cool and very nostalgic for me. They had a platter on the island in the kitchen with some decorated cookies. They had...

14:12
like little flowers on them and a J for the Juliet from a local bakery that did those custom for them and I think that was just a really really nice touch. Anytime you are welcomed with something that has that personal touch and that is consumable, you know it is a gift to the visitor then I think that is a really really nice touch. I put on Instagram.

14:40
One of the first things I said about the Juliet was about the cookies and just how, you know, Adam and I have thought about hosting an Airbnb at some point in the future. And so anytime I visit a place, a rental, I'm always taking notes of like the little touches that just really make a space feel special for somebody. And...

15:05
the kind of atmosphere that I'm wanting to create in my own space one day. And so that really hit the nail on the head right there was the platter of cookies. And there was three cookies, cause there was three of us. And I just thought that was such a nice touch and very personalized. They had live plants. They had a, I think it was a lemon. It was either a lemon or a lime tree in one room. They had another citrus in another room.

15:34
I love, we love plants, me and my girls, we love plants. That was actually one of the reasons why they really wanted to go to Charleston was to see all the window boxes and all of the shrubbery and all of the beautiful gates and all the things that make Charleston so special. So we heart plants for sure. They had big mirrors, chandeliers in this place. There were two porches. So we were in the upper flat. They have an upper and a lower.

16:03
you can actually rent both spaces. And I think that would be a wonderful option if you had a family reunion or you just had a large family, a couple of, you know, different sets of family members, you know, adults, maybe siblings going with their families on a trip to Charleston together or something like that, where you could rent the whole house. And I'm actually, in our show notes, you will see the links to,

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both of those as well, both listings for the upper and the lower flat. And you can check out how they have gotten all five star reviews. So, yeah, which I'm not surprised at. But you can check that out. I'll put that all those links in the show notes so you can check those out for yourself. But we were in unit B, which is the upstairs.

17:00
I did notice from the listings that the upstairs and the downstairs are almost identical in how they are Decorated and how they are set up. So I think I think that's pretty cool, but we were in the upper Had the big windows you could see You know the street view. It was just so beautiful. I can't wait for y'all to check out those pictures But there were two porches to sit on and we were here in February

17:29
And it was actually just the right temperature for us to open the doors and to let the natural in, the light and the breeze in so that it can cool the house down. Because with the big windows, sometimes it would get a little warm in there. And so we just opened the doors to the porches and let that breeze flow in. And it was just...

17:59
like Sydney said, it was magical. She's living in a dream. And because it was in February, there were no bugs to deal with. So it was just, it was perfect, perfect weather while we were there. I was so thankful because the last trip that we took to Charleston, it rained the entire time. So I was so thankful that this was such a good weather trip. The beds and the bedrooms were extremely comfortable. There were two full baths.

18:27
So this upper flat could sleep eight because there was a sofa bed option as well, which we did not use. But the girls were excited because this is the first trip that we've been on where everyone has had their own bedroom. So usually the girls have to share a bedroom, but this time they each had their own bedroom and then I had the master bedroom that had a full bath inside of the bedroom in like this little...

18:57
I don't even know how to describe it, but it was like this little pod in the room and it had like these beautiful doors to open up to the bathroom. And I just, you'll see the pictures and you'll know what I'm talking about, but it was, it was just perfect for us. They had a fancy coffee station. So I learned how to make pour over coffee for the first time, which was a win for me because now I'm like addicted to pour over coffee.

19:26
really considering doing that every day here at home. They had a wine cart if you like wine with an invitation from the host to enjoy any of the wine that you'd like. They had inconspicuous wall-mounted TVs, one in the living room and one in the master bedroom.

19:52
and there was a setting on the TV where it could appear as a vintage framed painting. So honestly, when we walked in, I thought there was a framed painting on the wall, like an old oil, famous oil painting. And turns out, nope, that's the TV. So that was really a cool feature. I thought that might be old news.

20:18
to some of you guys, but I had never seen that anywhere before, so I thought that was really cool. The location of the Juliet is, like I told you, it's in this older community there in Charleston. If you are wanting to go to the historic district to walk around, it is possible for you to walk from the Juliet to...

20:46
the historic district, it's about a 30 minute walk. But since I had my young girls with me and we didn't feel like that was quite the safest option just for a girls trip, we decided to either go, like we would drive to the downtown area, we would park and walk around or we Ubered, which was a new experience as well. So if you missed that.

21:15
In the I think it was the episode 17 then you'll have to go back and hear about our uber experience but There is parking there at the Juliet So you don't have to find like a parking deck or anything like that or a parking lot. There is on-site parking there and Like I said, there is a downstairs there is an upstairs I will list both of those in the description

21:45
and you can check those out for yourself. But they had a gas stove top. They had, oh, there's so many things to talk about. They had a long dining room table that could fit your entire family around if you'd like. They also had the stools, bar stools, up at the island in the kitchen. The refrigerator and the freezer.

22:14
and the dishwasher were very well hidden because they were just built into the cabinetry and looked like cabinets that you just open up. So the girls, I was the same way, but the girls were just ooh and an ah and over every little thing. And that's the thing about this place is like you.

22:35
Like there are so many special features that you could look around and you could look around and you could look around and you'll still be finding things that you're falling in love with in this space. The girls and I did, I mean, we wanted to enjoy this space as much as possible. So I know we had like a busy itinerary, but I was like, we're gonna spend as much time as we can just relaxing here. So.

23:01
There were a couple of times where we decided not to go out to eat and we had Uber Eats deliver our food to us, which was super nice and convenient. They didn't have trouble finding the place. And then we could just enjoy watching a movie together and sitting on the couch and talking. In the mornings, I'm still like I'm reminiscing about in the mornings when I would wake up to do my quiet time, I would walk into

23:31
the living room and the sun would just be coming up and you could see the sunset. I've actually, I posted a picture on Instagram of the sun. Sorry, it's not the sunset, it's the sunrise in the morning. Good gracious. And then, you know, with the big windows, it was so light and...

23:52
as that sun came up, it was just filling the room with light and I was just sitting there drinking my coffee and having my quiet time and I was just as content as I could be. I love that. I love those quiet mornings and the Juliet is definitely a place to have a quiet, just a beautiful slow morning. And you know they welcome... that's the thing is like with places like this you would think

24:22
no children are allowed or something like that, but they welcome children. That's how inviting their space is. It's something that you would expect to be off limits for little ones, but they welcome little ones and they have made it very convenient to have them there. And so I wouldn't hesitate a bit. I was just thinking about like, when we take our entire family with.

24:51
the boys with us and everything, would this be somewhere that we could stay together? And I think absolutely yes. This would be a great place for us to stay together. Like I said, the parking was convenient, having our car right there. If you've ever been to Charleston, you'll you know then that parking is crazy. It is really chaotic.

25:19
I know the first time that we stayed in Charleston, we stayed somewhere where they had valet parking at the hotel that was like an add-on, but if you did not add that on, then you would be parking down the street at a parking deck and walking and then having to go get your car and all that stuff. So being able to have your car on site in Charleston is a really rare feature. So that was a really big plus.

25:48
Y'all, I could go on and on and on about the Juliet, but I'm afraid my rambling would not do it justice. So I'm just inviting you right now to go and check them out. They have a beautiful Instagram account that they just started. So please go follow them on Instagram. Let them know that Biscuits and Gravy podcast sent you over there. And by all means, if you were planning a trip to Charleston, I could not recommend the Juliet more highly. So.

26:18
It's just fantastic. So please, please, please do yourself a favor and go and book a stay at the Juliette with your family, with your girlfriends. I thought, man, what a wonderful trip this would be if me and some of my girlfriends went sometime just to stay at the Juliette and have a good time.

26:44
Ubering into Charleston and doing all the fun things and and that kind of thing. So You will not be disappointed You can check out their five-star reviews on Airbnb to see how How much everyone else has enjoyed them as well, so it's not just me and it's not just because

27:05
We had a partnership with them to come and stay and experience their place, but truly because they have something really, really special. And you guys know that that is the heart of this podcast is for me to be able to express to you people who are doing hospitality the right way and people who are hosting, having rentals and things for the public who

27:35
deserve to have a review done. You know deserve to have recognition for it because there are so many people and so many places out there who um how should i put this nicely um don't deserve your patronage maybe is is is the nicest way i can say that but um the Juliet thankfully is not one of them. I was so excited.

28:03
be able to stay at somewhere so sweet and so beautiful and so inviting. So I run out of words. I can't even I can't even verbalize anymore what I want to say about the Juliet. So I'm gonna call this an episode and I hope you guys have enjoyed it.

28:21
I hope you will join me for my next episode in a few weeks. And please give me some feedback on any of these. Sometimes I see people in person who have listened to an episode and they'll give me feedback, but don't take a chance on us seeing each other in person. I would love to get an email from you. Send me a DM on Instagram. I don't have a Facebook for the podcast specifically, so.

28:50
If you'll send me a DM on Instagram or an email, that would be great as well. So thank you for being here and for listening to this episode and please go check out the Juliet for yourself and be amazed. All right. I will talk to you guys next time. Bye.