A little time to sightsee in Charleston, SC -- Advice?

[keenercam]

Any ideas for a summer weekend in Charleston, SC? We are attending a family wedding and will have a bit of time to sightsee. Any recommendations on sights or restaurants we should try?

 

[Duckfan]

I will be going to Charleston soon but I have never been so I can only guess the good things. On the TripAdvisor board they always say you need to take one of the carriage tours. Here are some things I am looking forward to: taking a carriage ride, going to the tea plantation, eating at Jestines, seeing one or two of the historic homes.

 

[GeorgiaPeach8]

I LOVE Charleston! Be sure to walk along the Battery and see the houses on Rainbow Row. Also, the last time we were there, we took a boat ride...nothing fancy just a Greyline on the Ashley. We saw dophins jumping in front of the boat. It was really neat.

 

[Jeafl]

We took the historical horse and carriage tour and it was wonderful! The driver/guide had tons of little known information about some of the houses he showed us. I remember it being pretty reasonable too, around $12 a person maybe?

 

[keenercam]

Thanks, everyone! These ideas sound wonderful!

 

[sharkB8HooHaHa]

When are you coming? The reason I ask is because the Tea Plantation has very limited times that it's open to the public and the summer is not prime time for them.

The carriage tours start at $20 per person, but they are interesting. Two things you need to know about them...if it's seriously hot, they can't work the horses and will shut down for the day. And there are 4 zones that the carriages work and they go on a lottery. Some tours are better than others, but you can't pick which one you take. If there is a particular house you are interested in, you can tour it by foot.

The ghost tours are interesting, if you enjoy that kind of thing. The Old Exchange Post is kind of neat for the same reasons.

We have lots and lots of shopping between King and Market streets, and if you're here on a Saturday morning, the farmer's market in Marion Square is lots of fun.

 

[BalooTheBear]

We were there last summer for the first time - had a really nice time...
You can stop at the visitor's center and pick up packages for the harbour tours and carriage rides. We went in August so it was hot.... My advice for either would be to go early in the morning before it gets too hot. The market place is nice too and there are a lot of restaurants all in that area. Have a great time!!!

 

[bcvgal]

The ope air market on Meeting St
Get some pralines!!! yum
Water Front Park with the pineapple fountain
White Point Gardens with the gazebo
Walk along the battery

 

[My2Cinderellas]

when I was there several years ago, we toured a couple of the historic houses. we also did a tour to Ft Sumter - very interesting. can't remember where we ate but it was all good.

 

[sharkB8HooHaHa]

Oops...I just double checked and the plantation IS open year round, they just don't harvest now and the fields are quiet. Wadmalaw Island is a bit of a drive from the peninsula, but lovely.

 

[tar heel]

My favorite Charleston restaurant is 82 Queen. It's a little pricey -- lunch is good, too, if you want to save money. Our favorite "new" Charleston restaurant, which was recommended by a poster on the DIS (wish I could remember who), is the Fat Hen. It's located on Maybank Highway pretty much on your way to the tea plantation. We also like Hyman's, Slightly North of Broad, Hominy Grill and the Charleston Crabhouse, to name a few. Can you tell we spend a lot of our time in Charleston eating?

 

[keenercam]

I really appreciate the recommendations. I've made a nice long list, and we will have our Garmin Nuvi and my iphone with us so that we can locate a lot of these sites/restaurants. I think we'll have a few hours mid-day Friday, up until about 2pm on Saturday and until about noon on Sunday to try to squeeze in some of these sites/restaurants.
Thanks for taking time to post!

 

[christineann]

There has been some recent controversy surrounding the carriage tour companies and their treatment of the horses. If you are interested in a carriage tour, pm me, and I will provide you a link to the articles, which indicate which ones treat their horses the best.

The Ft. Sumter tour is great - a boat tour of the harbor and a tour of the fort.

The plantations are great. Magnolia is a natural garden setting, and Middleton has more formal gardens.

One of the best ways to see the city is to walk through the neighborhoods. You will probably meet many of the residents, who are very friendly.

Have a great time!

 

[Figment22]

If you do visit the Charleston Tea Plantation, be sure to stop and visit the Angel Oak, which is the oldest living thing east of the Mississippi River estimated to be 1,500 years old! It's on the road back toward downtown Charleston coming from the Tea Plantation. The oak is HUGE, breathtaking, free and well worth a few minutes stop. You won't be disappointed.

 

[keenercam]

Thank you for all the suggestions, everyone. We loved Charleston and getting in and out of that airport was super easy! We squeezed a lot in, around wedding activities. We lunched at Hominy Grill, did a 90 minute bus tour of Charleston, walked on the Battery, saw Rainbow Row, went to the Farmer's Market on Marion Square, ate at Sticky Fingers, and visited the "flea market" near Market Street. I brought home a beautiful seagrass basket as a souvenir, and I brought regular and cinnamon sugar pralines back for my co-workers.

We definitely want to get back down there, especially to tour a plantation, visit Fort Sumter, tour some of the historic houses, and try more of the fabulous restaurants.

Thanks again!

 

[tar heel]

You chose two good restaurants! We went to Hominy Grill for the first time in May but definitely plan to return. We used to eat at Sticky's every trip, but now that we have one 10 minutes from our house we don't do it in Charleston.

 

[keenercam]

There were so many other places we wanted to try including Charleston Crab House and Hyman's and Cupcake (I am a cupcake freak and really hoped to go there but it didn't open on Sunday until noon and we were there at 11:25 with no time to stop back after 12.)