I didn’t want the title for this post to be too long, but I feel like a more complete name for it would be “When Autumn Comes To Charleston: Falling In Love”. All kinds of pun intended. Charleston may be a city that tends to be more associated with the summer months because of the beach, the heat, the flowy southern dresses, and outdoor markets, but a really magical transformation happens when Autumn finally arrives.

If I’m honest, I think Charleston was made for Fall. And Fall for it.

The old, stone buildings, cobblestone streets, cozy restaurants and cafès – they all seem to come into their element when surrounded by the burnt colors of fallen leaves and the warm sweaters that people have been impatiently waiting to wear. Everyone trades in their cotton whites and light pastel colors for the warmer hues of Autumn.

Fall is also my favorite time to spend a day just walking around downtown. The weather is cooler and perfect for strolling and the streets are less crowded. In the mornings, especially, there’s a crisp hint to the air and the breeze rolling in off the harbor feels so good.

And downtown is FULL of the most perfect cozy cafes to grab a warm drink and a little something to fuel your long stroll.

The dunes off the beaches also transform into rolling hills of brown, cream, dark green, and burgundy. Evening walks on the beach bring sunset strolls that are the most perfect mixture of warm and cool colors. I love how the sun highlights the golden sea grasses and leaves the darker greens and burgundies in beautiful shadows.

One of my favorite plants that grows in these coastal areas is the pink muhly grass that blooms during October and November into these beautiful, feathery-light, dark pink “flowers”. They stud the entire coastline and accent almost every neighborhood. It’s a Fall hue that’s uniquely coastal and it’s a refreshing sign of crisp-cool temperatures to come.