Myrtle Beach/Charleston

[TimeforMe]

We'll be leaving soon for a week at Myrtle Beach at our friends' timeshare. We thought it'd be nice to take a ride to Charleston for the day and visit some historical sites. Anyone have any suggestions? Definitely Fort Sumter is on the list. I'm thinking the drive is about 1 1/2 hrs. from Myrtle. Does this sound right?

Any other suggestions for Myrtle Beach are welcome as well. TIA!

 

[HOGFAN]

myrtle beach: Broadway at the Beach-fabulous outdoor shopping complex. skip Ripley Haunted Adventure-scarred the s*** out of the kids.

Charleston: aquarium was very nice.
market street: great shopping but closes rather early

have fun

 

[Bojangles]

MB - Ripley's Aquarium is worth the money. If you are going to be there a while, ask about the annual pass. Crabby Mike's seafood buffet is the best one.

 

[Distriv]

Brookgreen Gardens, it is about a half hour south of MB. It is a very nice place to walk around. If you are into golfing there are plenty of great courses (Both regular and mini-golf).

 

[ilovepcot]

Charleston is my very favorite city in all the world! Beautiful and unique! If you don't know much about Charleston, take the carriage tour. Not only is it fun, it's very informative. This info helped DH and I decide what to see and do on our first visit. If you're lucky, you may see the chief of police on rollerskates! Wish I could come along with you!

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Myrtle Beach and Charleston, two of my favorite close places. (4 hours and 5 hours away)

Myrtle Beach also has several outlet malls-don't know if they have a Disney Outlet, but lots of good stores. Can't remember the names of them, one is on hwy 17 (opened about 2 years ago-maybe a Tangers), and the other is on the main hwy that goes right into MB (hwy 5?-sorry-maybe called Barefoot Outlet Mall-they have a Saks on 5th which is great!!) More shopping in Barefoot Landing, with beaucoups of restaurants and shops.

Charleston has the slave market, the Battery, Rainbow Row (both with breathtaking houses) and not far away is the Yorktown Aircraft Carrier, which you can tour. I did a google search for the name of the aircraft carrier and found this link with a little tour info. Antique shopping on King Steet is great! And expensive!!

http://www.charlestonplace.com/web/ocha/ocha_c2b7_maritime.jsp

I was not impressed with Charleston's aquarium. At the time it was all regional fish-so no pretty colors, and rather boring. That was a few years ago, I think they were going to add some things.

An hour and 1/2 sounds about right for the distance between the two cities. Have a great time!!

Have a great time!!

 

[Bojangles]

Originally posted by hrh_disney_queen


Myrtle Beach also has several outlet malls-don't know if they have a Disney Outlet, but lots of good stores.

They had a great Disney outlet but it is now closed.

 

[Laz]

About 3/4 of the way to Charleston is Boone Hall Plantation. It is an excellent place to see what a real plantation of the south was like. They still have the old slave quarters. and much of the outside was used in movies like Gone With the Wind, North and South, etc. The drive to the house is breathtaking! You drive under a canopy of oaks draped in moss with a view of the house in front of you! Take your camera.

Make sure you grab the coupon books in the hotel lobby! You can get great deals on everything from dinners to shows

Boone Hall Plantation

 

[tar heel]

I would recommend doing a table service restaurant in Myrtle Beach rather than a buffet. The Sea Captain's House is fantastic, although you'll probably have a wait.

Myrtle Beach and Charleston are REALLY different from each other. MB may be even more commercial than Orlando and Charleston has managed to keep its traditional Southern historical flavor for the most part, although it has gotten a bit heavy on shopping the past few years.

Are you traveling with children? There are truly wonderful restaurants in Charleston, but a lot of them are a bit adult oriented.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Originally posted by Bojangles
They had a great Disney outlet but it is now closed.

Another one bites the dust..

 

[*Flower*]

I like just wandering around downtown and the Battery.... it really relaxes me, and there's an open air breakfast buffet that we frequent (Restaurant.com has GCs) and have a great breakfast for about $5 plus tip!

Have a great trip.....

We'll be going up to Myrtle Beach this weekend to do some shopping and HR.

 

[christineann]

I would recommend the Ripley's Aquarium in MB over our aquarium here in Charleston - the general concensus here is that it's way over priced (about $14 per adult). Charleston is a great city to walk around, and I think your decision to go to Fort Sumter is the best. You get a boat tour of the harbor and the fort. Patriot's Point is also very good. Hope you have a great time!

Brookgreen Gardens is beautiful, and across the highway is Atalaya, the home of the sculptor, in Huntington Beach, which is a wonderful beach.

 

[TimeforMe]

Originally posted by HOGFAN
myrtle beach: Broadway at the Beach-fabulous outdoor shopping complex. skip Ripley Haunted Adventure-scarred the s*** out of the kids.

My kids are 14 and 16--is it just not worth it or scary? DS loves scary stuff.

 

[TimeforMe]

Originally posted by tar heel
I would recommend doing a table service restaurant in Myrtle Beach rather than a buffet. The Sea Captain's House is fantastic, although you'll probably have a wait.

Are you traveling with children? There are truly wonderful restaurants in Charleston, but a lot of them are a bit adult oriented.

The Sea Capt'n's house sounds great. And please do tell about the other restaurants in Charleston. My kids are teenagers and love to dine out almost as much as we do!
Thanks, everyone, for all your replies and suggestions. I will print this out and take it with us. I am soooooooooo looking forward to this trip--we need it bad!

Ilovepcot: Sorry, I'm coming from the opposite direction from where you live But I'll tell you all about it.

 

[soccerchick]

It has been several years since I've been to Charleston, but when DB was in college there, he always wanted to eat at a restaurant called California Dreaming. It was right on the water --beautiful and delicious.

In Myrtle Beach, there are two outlets for shopping out Rt. 501. the closest one used to be called Waccamaw; not sure of the name now. The other one is a few miles west. I'd look up some of the outlet chains like Chelsea and Premium since I think it is one of those. They have Timberland, Gap, Eddie Bauer, etc. at that one. We used to go to MB for July 4 and the close one always had an awesome tent sale. They used to have Carters, Adidas, Umbro, Nautica, etc. It's been 2 years since I've been there.

Another nice stop is the Hammock Shops, near Brookgreen Gardens another poster mentioned.

 

[christineann]

California Dreaming is a great restaurant right on the harbor - they serve a very good variety of food including steak, seafood, chicken, sandwiches, great salads, etc. Hyman's Seafood in town is very very highly rated by Southern Living and is reasonably priced. Wild Wings is a very good casual restaurant.

 

[LJC1861]

Two of my favorite restaurants in Charleston are Jestine's and Hyman's. They are both on Meeting St. with Jestine's being a bit north of the Slave Market and Hyman's being almost directly across from it.

Jestine's features some of the best traditional southern cooking I have ever had. Their fried chicken is amazing! Prices are incredibly affordable. Go early as they do not accept reservations and this restaurant is popular with the locals.

Hymans is both a wonderful seafood restaurant as well as a deli. Both are great with the seafood choices being my favorite. Again, no reservations and reasonable prices.

If you like Afternoon Tea, the Charleston Place Hotel does a great job with traditional as well as unusual choices. It is a nice quiet respite fromt he heat of the day.


Enjoy!

Linda

 

[DrCavin]

You can check out http://www.funbeaches.com Has lots of info on MB area..

 

[tar heel]

I'll chime in on Hyman's, too. It is great and the cheapest place in Charleston to get really good seafood. Go early (like 5) or be prepared to wait.

 

[LJC1861]

Sunday, just before most churches get out is a great time to hit most of the popular Charleston restaurants. Miss it by a few minutes though and lines are out the door!

Linda