You may want to add Brookgreen Gardens to your visit to the Georgetown area.

I've seen the rest of your planned itinerary but if you plan to go the Asheville cut up I-26 stop at the BMW factory/museum in Spartanburg and visit in downtown Greenville in-route to Asheville.

Most of your visit is to Charleston area which is spot on. Agree with Palmetto about Brookgreen. Agree with you about Myrtle.
Outside of Charleston the BEST seafood on the coast is near Brookgreen in Murrell's Inlet. Not necessarily fine dining (available) but good food, cute places. Have lunch at Bubba Love's for example--or Russell's.

Thanks palmettoprincess and Gretchen

I looked into Brookgreen gardens and it looks amazing! Its on the list now.

Do you guys recommend any other small towns? Like i said i want to get to Congaree NP is there anything/anywhere you recommend to see around Columbia?

Or do you think i should just get up real early and do the 2hr drive from Charleston and day trip to the park?

What about places like Pawleys island. I am not interested in golfing, is it worth checking out for history and nature?

The thing about Pawleys is that the island is the city limits and not the town on Highway 17.

If you are visiting Brookgreen, stop at Perrones Deli and make a picnic basket. Also go across the street from Brookgreen and don't miss Huntington Beach State Park and Atalya Castle.

Stay at one of the B&Bs on the (The Pelican, Sea View Inn)and head to Pawleys Island Tavern that night for live music. Sit out under the massive live oaks and take in the beautiful spring evening.

The next day stop in McClellanville at SeeWee for lunch. It may be some of the best seafood you ever eat.

I did a very extensive Charleston Trip Report under my previous screen name of GoTravel. It covers a lot of Charleston hotels.

I've missed you Go. Good to see you back.

We have just returned from two weeks on Edisto Island. We had the trip of a lifetime, been to far more exotic places but none as interesting, friendly with great food and laid back living.

We loved

http://www.sciway.net/sc-photos/charleston-county/botany-bay.html

http://www.fleetlanding.net/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotos-g54135-d527399-St_Helena_s_Episcopal_Church-Beaufort_South_Carolina.html

http://www.draytonhall.org/

We would have loved make it to Georgetown and McClellanville but ran out of time.

The cultural centres on St Helena were extremely interesting but made us feel uneasy as British visitors, not the best period of our history.

There are cycles to hire and good cycle routes on Edisto.

We have stayed or passed through most of the sea islands over 3 visits and each has a very different and definite feel. There is a balance between nature and development of each and each has its place in the market ie high/low.

If you don't like Myrtle Beach, as we don't, Sullivans Island or Edisto or good choices in addition to those mentioned above.

Good to see you back GoT, it has settled down a little over the past year. The lounge is pretty boring and I just try to focus on travel posts. Can't remember exactly in which area you live but we have SC generally to thank for the best two weeks of our life.

To better explain Pawley's Island, it IS the town on the mainland also. Brookgreen is only a few miles up the road.
However, go across the causeway to the beach/island and turn right and look at the historic district of it. This is where the rice planters from the Charleston plantations came in the summer to escape the malarial mosquitoes of their area.
A day trip to Columbia is not really a great idea.
Not sure where Perrone's Deli is.
I think it could be more fun to eat at Creek Ratz or Bubba Love's in Murrell's Inlet--eat outside with a view of the inlet/water.
On the way to charleston, do not be tempted to speed on Route 17--first piece of advice. And a 20 minute trip up and down the streets of Georgetown is very worthwhile--Revolutionary War town.
See Wee is fun fun fun. Do try to hit it for at least a snack. Watch for it on the west side of the road--it's an old grocery/filling station, and you can blow past it easily. It is ON Route 17, not in the town of McClellanville.
If you don't stay at a B&B in Pawley's (as suggested above), the Litchfield Inn is a hotel directly on the ocean and a good overnight stop. Litchfield is "Pawley's Island"--about 3 miles up the road from the PI causeway.
Saying you are foodies, if you want to try some fine dining in Pawley's, you might want to make reservations at the Chive Blossom--very good food.

Gretchen, I was just pointing out that the mainland is not the city limits of Pawleys Island. It is unicorporated.

Thanks for the warm wishes guys!

You have some great recommendations. I would add a stop on the way to Charleston at Cape Romain. If you have time, take the ferry across to Bull Island. There is nothing there, but the beach is beautiful and the ferry guide will tell you about the area. After that stop at Seewee for lunch. If you like big birds, stop at the Center for Birds of Prey.