Charleston, SC

Will be in Charleston for 4 days mid-May with my wife at a Business conference (sans bike) Lots of free/personal time.
Any advice must see / do ? Thanks

If you want to take the tour you can do a horse carraige ride OR you can walk aroudn the downtown. Also resturants in downtown are pretty good.

Lots of history in Charleston

Walking along the waterfront to Battery Park and seeing all the historical homes is interesting way to spend an afternoon.

http://www.charlestonmuseum.org/topic.asp?id=19

There's a bay tour of Fort Sumter.

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=fort+sumter&fb=1&gl=us&hq=Fort+Sumter+National+Monument&hnear=Fort+Sumter+National+Monument&cid=14086237637822611645

Patriot's Point has some interesting attractions including the USS Yorktown....

http://www.patriotspoint.org/

Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island....

http://www.funbeaches.com/Sullivan%27s-Island.html

Charles Town Landing.....

http://www.charlestowne.org/index.shtml

A great seafood restaurant...

http://www.coastbarandgrill.com/index.html

There's plenty more -- you could spend weeks in the area and not see everything.

Military History too

also, Ft. Moultrie and Ft. Sumter are accessible.
Some plantations on the Ashley river are open for visitors.
My favorite way to hang out is walking Market Street, the Battery and among the houses south of Broad Street.

Charleston advice

Why am I not surprised that my BMW family came through yet again
Next time in Toronto, look me up and I will buy you a Pint !

Charleston Pics

jimfastcar,

Great info in the above posts. I have spent a few days in Charleston over the last several years and enjoy the area a great deal. I have enclosed a link with a few photos for you to view in anticipation of your visit.

http://raptor02.smugmug.com/Travel

Today we went to Jack's Cosmic Dogs for lunch. Check it out and grab a cool t-shirt before you leave.

http://www.jackscosmicdogs.com/

We also toured Calhoun Mansion and visited Wentworth Mansion (the first photographs in the Charleston Gallery were taken at Wentworth Mansion). We asked if we could look around at the Wentworth and took the stairs to the top for a great view of the city. Impressive view even on a cloudy day.

http://www.calhounmansion.net/

http://www.wentworthmansion.com/

Hope you and your wife enjoy your trip.

Take care,
JC

One final note, fast before you visit as you can eat your way across the Low Country. Great food.

jimfastcar said:

Why am I not surprised that my BMW family came through yet again
Next time in Toronto, look me up and I will buy you a Pint !

Click to expand...

Why, that's a fine idea. . Enjoy your trip to Charleston!

And from the parking lot(s) at Fort Moultrie, you can find you way to the beach along Sullivan's Island and enjoy a great walk along the Atlantic. There are a few restaurants on Sullivan's Island that we meant to try but didn't get around to it -- they were always crowded, so that's a good sign.

A lot of "downtown" Charleston has been bought by upscale retail chains and is mostly a shopping opportunity though the food is good with lots of choices. Parking sucks - lots of tourists especially any time school is out - and is an expensive tourist rip off by most US stds so if you're not staying downtown, see if your hotel runs a free shuttle there- some do.

There is a small local microbrewery called Coast up near the closed naval base a few miles up river from town. They do a superb kolsch and decent everything they make. Small, disorganized but they brew well- not sure of hours. Other local breweries are only fair. Couple of good local places up that way for lunch, also.

If you're into military history, Patriots Point has a carrier, sub, destroyer and Coast Guard cutter open for inspection. The sub is an oddball example and a rusted mess externally, the others less so. Not well maintained compared to other similar in US but interesting. Carriers are huge internally and can take hours just to walk all the decks. Various generations of naval jets on display also. Place is big enough the google earth will give you a fair look at its setup.

Coastal forts (Moultrie and the boat out to Ft. Sumter) can also be interesting. Moultrie shows evolution of the designs over time as weapons improved though by its last iteration, coastal forts were as obsolete as their contemporary battleships.

Charleston is also the "gay capital" of that part of the US in a discrete southern way that you'll likely not notice.

Bring your GPS for exploring...

Are you there yet?

Have you left yet for Charleston?

Just reinforcing the carriage tour suggestion. It's really enjoyable. Our tourguide was an Episcopal priest and his talk was fantastic and entertaining too.

The local diner downtown, a couple blocks east of the old marketplace is the place to go for breakfast. Everyone's there for great fare--a real slice of local life.

Don't buy antiques! I hope I don't step on any toes here, but I have a lot of decorators in my family, and it is a well known fact that high street shops in Charleston and Savannah sell their antiques to tourists at twice the price offered to locals and professionals. Southern charm at work. If there's something you or your wife really likes, go on the web and find a local ASID interior designer, and hire them to be your agent in the purchase.

Have a great time. Wish I could share that beer with you in Toronto, but no time soon I'm afraid.

Tommy Condon's is my favorite eatery, one short block from the Market. Bring hydration as it gets pretty warm. Comfortable shoes are a must, If you plan to tour Patriot's point, visiting the Yorktown will give you lots of exercise with all of the stairways (ladders to sailors) that you will have to negotiate. Ft Sumpter Is very historical of course, but was much modified since the Civil War.

Definitely an interesting area to visit.

Leave tomorrow am

Thanks all, my wife and I are looking very much forward to it..

jimfastcar said:

Thanks all, my wife and I are looking very much forward to it..

Click to expand...

And Savannah GA is so close. Hard to pick a favorite, but I have mine.

Charleston

Returned this morning from a memorable vacation, thanks for all the advice.
Lovely city, great history and food !!

If you can, go to Cru Cafe in downtown Charleston !!