Anniversary Weekend in Charleston, South Carolina
Sep 4th, 2015, 07:13 AM
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Anniversary Weekend in Charleston, South Carolina
My husband and I will be celebrating our 1st anniversary in Charleston, SC. The B&B's and Inn's in the historic district are all booked and if not, extremely pricey. Although I would love to experience staying at a B&B in the historic district, I would prefer to save a little money on accommodations and use it toward meals and sightseeing. That being said, we are doing a long weekend coming in on a Thursday late and leaving on Sunday late morning. I am looking for recommendations, suggestions and absolute "Must do's" related to the following:
1. Dining in general and then someplace memorable for our anniversary dinner.
2. Sights to see. Appears to be a ton of home tours, but I would like to keep that somewhere between 2 to 4. Plantations would be separate from a home tour.
3. Best parking as we will be staying on the river and not in the historic district. Will probably use the shuttle during the day and leave the car parked in the parking lot/garage.
4. "Must Do's" that you would recommend to get the full experience of Charleston.
Thank you in advance for any information you can provide. BTW...We are visiting later in October.
1. Dining in general and then someplace memorable for our anniversary dinner.
2. Sights to see. Appears to be a ton of home tours, but I would like to keep that somewhere between 2 to 4. Plantations would be separate from a home tour.
3. Best parking as we will be staying on the river and not in the historic district. Will probably use the shuttle during the day and leave the car parked in the parking lot/garage.
4. "Must Do's" that you would recommend to get the full experience of Charleston.
Thank you in advance for any information you can provide. BTW...We are visiting later in October.
Sep 4th, 2015, 07:51 AM
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Hi Kristen,
We were just in Charleston in May and it was lovely. It's a nice romantic place to go for a first anniversary! It sounds like you've already made your accommodation decision but just in case you haven't, here's my TripAdvisor review of the Meeting Street Inn (between the rows of asterisks):
***********************
I'll start with my only negative and it's a small one -- the bathrooms are small and could use updating. Even a brighter paint job would help.
Other than that, I'd have to say this place is stellar! Our room was huge (I paced it off and think it was about 20 by 15 with 12 foot ceilings) and contained a king four poster bed, a huge armoire, a couple of desks, night tables, a loveseat and footstool, two wing-back chairs -- all that furniture and we still had plenty of room plus a big walk-in closet and a private balcony!
The hotel has a beautiful courtyard where we ate breakfasts in the morning and had a wine hour in the evening. The breakfasts were not your standard "hotel scrambled eggs and sausages". Every morning there were several delicious hot dishes, local to the area, warm cinnamon rolls, bread pudding, and a selection of freshly baked muffins (the peach ones were heaven!), baked goods, cereal, fruit, yogourt -- really, every thing you could want. In the evening, there was wine and non-alcoholic drinks served along with cheese and crackers and a delicious and different dip every day.
Best of all, the staff was so friendly and helpful. We lacked for nothing and they went out of their way to give us advice and information and just greet us as though we were guests in their home. An extra plus for us was that they drove us wherever we needed to go when we went out for the evening and I'm sure they would have been more than willing to pick us up later as well, if we'd asked them to.
It's a lovely hotel in a great location, easy walking distance to East Bay and King Streets and I'd highly recommend the Meeting Street Inn to anyone.
*****************************
We had some wonderful meals in Charleston, my favourites being a delicious lunch at the charming Cru Cafe and dinner at The Ordinary, and especially dinner at High Cotton (live jazz, too, on the night we were there).
We toured a couple of houses but I'm sorry, I can't remember which, and did go outside the city to the Magnolia Plantation. The house tour was less than fabulous but we took a long walk around the huge estate into the unplanned gardens and that was the best part. The house does have a very nice gift shop, though.
We also took the tour of Fort Sumter which you get to by boat. It was very interesting and instructive.
If I can think of anything else, I'll post again, but otherwise, I hope you have a wonderful trip!
We were just in Charleston in May and it was lovely. It's a nice romantic place to go for a first anniversary! It sounds like you've already made your accommodation decision but just in case you haven't, here's my TripAdvisor review of the Meeting Street Inn (between the rows of asterisks):
***********************
I'll start with my only negative and it's a small one -- the bathrooms are small and could use updating. Even a brighter paint job would help.
Other than that, I'd have to say this place is stellar! Our room was huge (I paced it off and think it was about 20 by 15 with 12 foot ceilings) and contained a king four poster bed, a huge armoire, a couple of desks, night tables, a loveseat and footstool, two wing-back chairs -- all that furniture and we still had plenty of room plus a big walk-in closet and a private balcony!
The hotel has a beautiful courtyard where we ate breakfasts in the morning and had a wine hour in the evening. The breakfasts were not your standard "hotel scrambled eggs and sausages". Every morning there were several delicious hot dishes, local to the area, warm cinnamon rolls, bread pudding, and a selection of freshly baked muffins (the peach ones were heaven!), baked goods, cereal, fruit, yogourt -- really, every thing you could want. In the evening, there was wine and non-alcoholic drinks served along with cheese and crackers and a delicious and different dip every day.
Best of all, the staff was so friendly and helpful. We lacked for nothing and they went out of their way to give us advice and information and just greet us as though we were guests in their home. An extra plus for us was that they drove us wherever we needed to go when we went out for the evening and I'm sure they would have been more than willing to pick us up later as well, if we'd asked them to.
It's a lovely hotel in a great location, easy walking distance to East Bay and King Streets and I'd highly recommend the Meeting Street Inn to anyone.
*****************************
We had some wonderful meals in Charleston, my favourites being a delicious lunch at the charming Cru Cafe and dinner at The Ordinary, and especially dinner at High Cotton (live jazz, too, on the night we were there).
We toured a couple of houses but I'm sorry, I can't remember which, and did go outside the city to the Magnolia Plantation. The house tour was less than fabulous but we took a long walk around the huge estate into the unplanned gardens and that was the best part. The house does have a very nice gift shop, though.
We also took the tour of Fort Sumter which you get to by boat. It was very interesting and instructive.
If I can think of anything else, I'll post again, but otherwise, I hope you have a wonderful trip!
Sep 4th, 2015, 09:16 AM
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Thank you for this wonderful information. I believe Meeting Inn was booked, but I'll check again. I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. It's sounds like you had a great time and I am looking forward to our weekend there.
Sep 4th, 2015, 09:30 AM
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Oh, I forgot about the shuttle. Yes, we did leave our car in a lot near the hotel and took the shuttle or walked everywhere we needed to go. The only time we used the car was to get to Magnolia Plantation.
I don't know how fancy you want to go for your anniversary dinner but High Cotton was very pretty, expecially with those bamboo fans. Here's the website. The pictures (you have to scroll along) look like it's set up for a wedding but at least you can see the place. The little jazz trio was set up in the lounge area on the night we were there, not the main dining room.
I don't know how fancy you want to go for your anniversary dinner but High Cotton was very pretty, expecially with those bamboo fans. Here's the website. The pictures (you have to scroll along) look like it's set up for a wedding but at least you can see the place. The little jazz trio was set up in the lounge area on the night we were there, not the main dining room.
Sep 4th, 2015, 09:32 AM
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We go to Charleston about 4X/year because we have family there. We stay at The Wentworth Mansion, which is likely more than you want to spend.
We have eaten at a number of places.....our favorites are FIG, Magnolia, and MacIntosh. I would choose FIG for an anniversary dinner.
For fun, I love Sullivan's Island and it has a lot of good casual places such as SALT, Poe's and The Obstinate Daughter.
We try to have at least one lunch at Hominy Grill.
Parking is one of the downsides of Charleston.....we typically take Uber or look for a nearby parking garage.
We have eaten at a number of places.....our favorites are FIG, Magnolia, and MacIntosh. I would choose FIG for an anniversary dinner.
For fun, I love Sullivan's Island and it has a lot of good casual places such as SALT, Poe's and The Obstinate Daughter.
We try to have at least one lunch at Hominy Grill.
Parking is one of the downsides of Charleston.....we typically take Uber or look for a nearby parking garage.
Sep 5th, 2015, 03:03 AM
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Kristen, have you searched some of the innumerable threads on Charleston? You will find more answers to questions you haven't even thought of!!
When is this trip? It makes a bit of difference.You might look on groupon for a special (there is one right now) or hotels.com for hotels.
Much to do and much to choose from.
When is this trip? It makes a bit of difference.You might look on groupon for a special (there is one right now) or hotels.com for hotels.
Much to do and much to choose from.
Sep 5th, 2015, 09:26 AM
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Everyone seems to moan about parking in Charleston.
On the many occasions we have visited we have never once failed to find a non charging space on the public roads on The Battery or the residential roads just north.
It's then a short walk to the shopping area through some of the most beautiful housing areas of The States.
On the many occasions we have visited we have never once failed to find a non charging space on the public roads on The Battery or the residential roads just north.
It's then a short walk to the shopping area through some of the most beautiful housing areas of The States.
Sep 5th, 2015, 09:58 AM
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Lots of restaurant ideas here:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...ons-please.cfm
We stayed at The Indigo Inn and really loved it - great location, a parking lot {$12 a day} excellent breakfast and afternoon happy hour.
http://www.indigoinn.com/
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...ons-please.cfm
We stayed at The Indigo Inn and really loved it - great location, a parking lot {$12 a day} excellent breakfast and afternoon happy hour.
http://www.indigoinn.com/
Sep 8th, 2015, 09:41 AM
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Thank you all for your recommendations. We are visiting on a very busy weekend, so unfortunately, will not get to stay in the historic district which is fine. We made reservations at Magnolia's for our anniversary dinner.
