A Romantic Weekend in Greenville, South Carolina

This past weekend my husband and I got the opportunity to get away from it all for a night thanks to the Home 2 Suites in downtown Greenville, South Carolina.

I was only slightly nervous to leave Finley for the first time, but I knew she was in good hands with my sister, only 35 minutes away. And spoiler alert, she did fine. We both survived being away from each other and I wasn’t totally anxious the whole time. Win!

Disclaimer: This blog post was made possible by the Home 2 Suites in Greenville as well as Sip Rooftop bar in Greenville. I was not paid for this post however I did receive a nights stay at the hotel and a meal at Sip in exchange for my honest reviews.

We rolled up to the Home 2 Suites in Greenville not long after the 3pm check in time on Saturday. We were greeted by the valet station who helped us unload the van before parking it for us. A day of parking with the hotel’s valet is $15, I’m not sure if there are alternative parking areas but I’m sure there are, as the only parking I saw (for the valet cars) was only set up for about 10 cars.

Everyone at the front desk was very friendly and we quickly got our room key and headed up to our room.

We were set up in a nice corner suite with a big king size bed. These suites are very relaxing and are set up with everything you may need. There’s a kitchen with a dishwasher, fridge, microwave and sink, and you can request a hot plate if you need one! There are dishes and silverware at your disposal in case you don’t want to venture out to find food.

The general vibe in our room was very laid back. I think the purple and dark blue hues help encourage rest and relaxation, which we definitely did. We immediately made ourselves comfortable and settled in to watch a movie and drink a couple of beers that had kindly been left in the fridge for us.

One thing I love about the Home 2 Suites is it’s effort to “Go Green” in as many ways as it can. They recycle, have optional towel washing days, water saving toilets, and much more.

We lounged around for a couple of hours and did a whole lot of nothing…and it felt FABULOUS.

I think all parents just need to escape to a hotel for a night every now and then. It’s so refreshing not to have to worry about the kids or the messy house or what to cook for dinner. Even if it doesn’t happen that often, it’s a perfect way to just take a breath between the chaos that is life with little kids.

If the weather wasn’t so wet and cold and miserable, we might have wandered up and down main street and taken a walk through Falls Park, but it was drizzling and in the 30’s so we opted to stay in! Last time we spent a night in Greenville it was cold too. Maybe once we will go up there in the Spring or Fall!

The Home 2 Suites is actually dog friendly, which I thought was pretty neat! My husband said we should have brought our dog but I reminded him that our dog is also basically a toddler! There is a dedicated spot out by the parking lot for your pups to go potty, too!

Around 7:30 we decided to walk up the street to grab a bite.

The friendly folks at the front desk offered us umbrellas when we told them we would be walking, and they helped us find our way when my phone’s GPS wouldn’t cooperate. They even ran out the door to chase us down when we ended up walking the wrong way! All of the staff we interacted with at the hotel were very friendly and helpful.

The walk was beautiful despite the rain. I love all the twinkle lights Greenville has decorated their streets with!

We found SIP without any trouble. It’s in a little plaza right off of Main street and there’s a big sign outside alerting you of the rooftop bar’s presence. Despite being a rooftop bar, SIP was still warm, inviting and comfortable! I was a bit nervous about it being cold, or partly closed off due to the weather, but there was a cover over the patio, heaters, and plenty of space to move around! The atmosphere was very cozy and we got there right in time to catch the live music; a singer named Trey Stephens. Trey played covers of acoustic artists like Jack Johnson and John Mayer, which is my favorite kind of music!

We met with the GM of SIP, Mark, and he gave us the lowdown on the place. SIP can accommodate a lot more people than you would think! The patio alone can hold around 100 people! There was a party of 70 while we were there and it really didn’t feel like it to me. Mark showed us their new menu and pointed out a few of their newer items, like the meat and cheese boards and the cookies!

We were waited on by John Black, who is definitely the best bartender in all of Greenville!

John totally spoiled us with goodies and took great care of us the whole time we were there. For our first night out in a while, it was absolutely perfect. We learned that “the key to a great drink is the ICE” which is a trademarked quote from John himself ;). My husband loves Jack and Coke, and he said that this was definitely the best one that was ever poured for him. I drank a couple glasses of prosecco that was light and bubbly perfection. Before we left, John poured me a glass of their house made sangria (and I’m a sucker for a good sangria), which is one of their signature beverages. It was fruity and delightful!!

In addition to the sangria, SIP also boasts an in house bourbon, and various fruit infused liquor drinks, which you can see fermenting on the shelves. I love all of the small details that you will notice if you take a look around the bar. James sampled the bourbon and I had a sample of their “Frose`” or ‘Frozen Rose”. This alcoholic slushy was SO good. It was very light and fruity and not too sweet. It was cold and rainy out but I still would have had more of this to drink! It would be the perfect drink for a warm day too!

We chose a meat and cheese tray as well as a jalapeño popper grilled cheese sandwich that had bits of tender pork belly in it (SO GOOD).

Mark explained to us that SIP is a great place to go before or after your main course, but honestly I filled up really well on what we ate here. To be fair, appetizer type dishes are my favorite kind of meal anyway! I want to go back and try their goat cheese, blueberry and arugula grilled cheese next time! When we finished our savory food, we sampled 3 of the cookies that are new to the dessert menus. All of them were delicious!

We lingered at SIP for nearly two hours eating and talking and taking silly videos for my Instagram.

It was truly the perfect date spot, and would be a great choice for something a little more casual than sitting at a table in a nice restaurant, but something nicer than a coffee shop. The vibe was very dressy casual and it’s definitely a bar for those of us who have well outgrown the college bar scene!

On our walk back the rain and wind intensified so we were really glad that the Home 2 Suites was only a couple blocks away, and that they had graciously lent us some umbrellas. A good idea here would be to get some branded umbrellas to let those of us who come unprepared use them…free marketing!

When we got back to the hotel we took a few photos in the lobby and then went up to our room. At this point it was close to 11pm and we were exhausted so we turned on a movie and almost immediately fell asleep! Of course going to bed much earlier than usual, we were both up by 7:30am. That’s what uninterrupted sleep will do for you I guess!

One thing I loved about our room is that the blackout curtains worked SO well. When I woke at 7:30 I couldn’t see any light coming from outside at all, and we had two big windows on each wall.

We watched a little TV and then got dressed and went down to the lobby for the included breakfast.

We were pretty impressed with the spread, but there was a big group of guys who came down at the same time and took up almost all of the space, so we took our food back up to our room. I made myself a waffle, because if you don’t get to make your own waffle at a hotel…did you even go? James grabbed a bunch of microwave meals that were pre-cooked and we were really impressed with how delicious they were! We discovered that the desk in our room rolled out, becoming a dining table. We ate there while watching Hoarders.

Checkout was easy and everyone there in the morning was just as friendly as the evening staff. We really had an amazing weekend in Greenville and I wish we could have stayed there longer! I love my babies but sometimes taking a day/night to recharge our batteries and remember that we are more than just ‘parents’ is super important! Not just for our marriage, but for our sanity!

If you were to take a day trip kid free to somewhere near you, where would you go??