So the girlfriend and I are going down the week before memorial day weekend to house/dog sit. Whilst both of us have been there before we are looking for fun things to do outside of normal tourist attractions, we will be staying at Daniel island if that helps at all.
Thanks for any input!
Jacks cosmic dog /thread
There's the Angel Oak on Johns Island, the usual litany of downtown sights. The Old Market is a tourist trap but fun, a good friend sells T shirts down there. If you see a musclebound type who looks a bit like a pirate peddling shirts, tell him 'Big Air' Smith says hi. If he looks confused (very possible) say 'uh, I meant to say the middle Smith brother'. 
Poogan's Porch is a very good oddball but expensive restaurant. Avoid the Shem Creek eateries, they are for the most part just tourist traps. The one exception is the Wreck of the Richard and Charlene, do NOT confuse this with The Shipwreck! If you go to RC, don't dress up. You are there for the food, not to show off. Further north, the Seewee Restaurant is pretty darn good. Good ol' Southern soul food, sticks to your ribs and jacks your cholesterol out of sight.
If you like history, Fort Sumter and the Yorktown are both good half day or so trips. Motorsports, there ain't a helluva lot unfortunately. The nearest tracks are Roebling Road outside Savannah and Carolina Motorsports Park outside of Kershaw, ~2.5 hours either way.
Curmudgeon wrote: There's the Angel Oak on Johns Island, the usual litany of downtown sights. The Old Market is a tourist trap but fun, a good friend sells T shirts down there. If you see a musclebound type who looks a bit like a pirate peddling shirts, tell him 'Big Air' Smith says hi. If he looks confused (very possible) say 'uh, I meant to say the middle Smith brother'.
Poogan's Porch for brunch wasn't that hard on the wallet and I thought it was darn tasty. Might be the best bisquit I've ever had! We went for brunch. I had Chicken and Waffles, she had Eggs Benedict. Both excellent and a ton of food. Really you could split one of them to save a buck because it's so much food but then you're missing out on trying 2 things.
When you get in/need a late night meal I would recommend Butcher and Bee. It's BYOB and quite yummy as well.
Other than eating/2nd Sunday we just strolled around. Keep an eye out for small walkways/back alleys...some of them have a lot of charm.
You're going the 16th? The weekend before is 2nd Sunday which is fun.
There's also the CSS Hunley, Fort Moultrie, the aquarium, and supposedly a civil war museum somehwere, although they were too ashamed to list it in brochures a few years ago. You know, act like it never happened.
In reply to Enyar:
Yep, leaving that Thursday though so not quite a full week.
I don't think she has walked rainbow road or been around the SNOB area so that will be easy, but from there and a visit to a local beach that's not stupid busy (cough... isle of palms ...cough) we will have to check some of these areas!
Lots of good info here:
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/learn-me-charleston-sc-vacation/31662/page1/
Also: Charleston Beer Exchange if you're a beer snob.
Also: For future reference, we really like staying at Edisto/Edingsville.
God do I love Edisto. That's where our family used to vacation in the 60s. It hasn't changed much by design.
Toast! Is a pretty decent restaurant in the downtown area. We usually stop there for lunch every trip.
In reply to Cooper_Tired:
I know when I went down in October my sister took me there for dinner and yes it is very good, heard breakfast there is unreal, and going by on a Sunday mid morning definitely proved it was quite successful.
JtspellS wrote: In reply to Cooper_Tired: I know when I went down in October my sister took me there for dinner and yes it is very good, heard breakfast there is unreal, and going by on a Sunday mid morning definitely proved it was quite successful.
Never had their dinner, but I can vouch the breakfast is great.
Prices are pretty reasonable and the staff was very kind to my daughters. Very laid back atmosphere
Lowcountry Ghost Walk is fun and a good amount of history while walking Charleston after dark. Try 39 Rue de Jean for dinner - great meal.
spitfirebill wrote: There's also the CSS Hunley, Fort Moultrie, the aquarium, and supposedly a civil war museum somehwere, although they were too ashamed to list it in brochures a few years ago. You know, act like it never happened.
See, I had the opposite experience in Charleston. As far as I could tell "The War of Northern Aggression" ended about three days before I got there.
Second the recommendation for the aircraft carrier tour. Even if you aren't a huge history buff, its pretty impressive.
If you do the alley wandering, it's very interesting. Just be EXTREMELY careful after dark, there are people who do not have your best interests at heart in some of them; locals know where not to go but you won't. In fact, you'll miss a lot of detail at night, I'd say do it daytime for that reason too.
If you get down to Edisto, the Old Post office restaurant is supposed to be pretty good.
In reply to Curmudgeon:
Well we live in Baltimore so we have a real good idea of how to judge areas lol, though you are right there is so much to see in the city most of everything will be seen during the day.
My grandpa has a house on Edisto. I've not been there in 15+ years, but I remember it as being nice.
When we go we always stay on Seabrook island and commute into the city when we want
All the plantation tours we've done have been fun. Magnolia has the most to see / do with the train, boat and swamp tours. Drayton Hall is neat because it's mostly original.
If you like light houses, the Morris Island light house is on Folley beach and it's pretty easy to get to
Oh, if you do Magnolia Gardens the 'Spanish mission' is actually a movie set left from when 'The Patriot' was shot there.
Something funky to do but if you are lucky you can catch the Giant Guppy plane landing at the Boeing plant in Summerville just northwest of Charleston.
You can drive by the plant and seen them on the apron, along with all the 787s that are being finished up.
You'll need to log in to post.
