rkkwan's short TR for short Charleston & Savannah trip
Jun 10th, 2008, 09:38 AM
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rkkwan's short TR for short Charleston & Savannah trip
Why?
Found $119 weekend special on continental.com for Memorial Day 2008 from Houston to Columbia, SC (CAE). I passed though Charleston and Savannah some years ago on my way from New England to Florida, but spent very little time in either. My parents had never visited either, or even set foot in SC.
Flights
CO only flies RJs to CAE, and IAH-CAE is flown on the hated CRJ-200 operated by Chautuaqua Airlines. That also means no free upgrade opportunities for my parents. But both 2-hour flights were fine. Choice of ham or turkey sandwiches on the way there (lunch time), and snack pack back (late afternoon). Still free.
Hotels
I know we wanted to spend one night in Charleston, and one in Savannah. Saturday night was expensive at both, in particularly Charleston. Therefore, we went to Savannah first, then Charleston.
For Savannah, couldn't find anything inexpensive in historic downtown, and I eventually got a 2.5* at the airport on Priceline for $77, which turned out to be the Four Points. Total about $92 per room. Not a particularly good deal, but that's the best I could find.
Much better luck for Charleston for Sunday night. Bid 3* on PL and got the Doubletree Guest Suite - Historic Charleston for $70 (or $84 total). Good hotel at the best location. That's about 40% of the best rate one can find. Valet parking is $19/day; we parked at the garage behind the hotel for $14/day.
Car
PL again. They gave me Hertz for $14/day, or $72 total for 3 days. CAE is a very small airport and there aren't many cars to choose from. We were given a 4-cylinder Saturn Vue. It has the worst powertrain of any vehicle I've driven in my life - that's hundreds of vehicles from Ford Festivas to 18-wheelers. This car cannot hold 4th gear on the slightly uphill, like maintaining 75MPH on freeway overpasses in the Low Country. Nobody in his/her right mind will or should buy a 4-cylinder Vue. Fine example of why GM is in its current condition.
Photos
I took my Canon 40D with three lenses. My "regular" 17-55IS and two "new" used prime lenses, the 28/1.8 and 85/1.8. Also the 430 EX flash and Kenko 1.4x Tele-converter. I deliberately shot most using the two prime lens. I absolutely love the 85/1.8, but I am selling my 2.8/1.8.
Photos of the whole trip has been posted here:
rkkwan.zenfolio.com/f285120826
[Trip report to follow.]
Found $119 weekend special on continental.com for Memorial Day 2008 from Houston to Columbia, SC (CAE). I passed though Charleston and Savannah some years ago on my way from New England to Florida, but spent very little time in either. My parents had never visited either, or even set foot in SC.
Flights
CO only flies RJs to CAE, and IAH-CAE is flown on the hated CRJ-200 operated by Chautuaqua Airlines. That also means no free upgrade opportunities for my parents. But both 2-hour flights were fine. Choice of ham or turkey sandwiches on the way there (lunch time), and snack pack back (late afternoon). Still free.
Hotels
I know we wanted to spend one night in Charleston, and one in Savannah. Saturday night was expensive at both, in particularly Charleston. Therefore, we went to Savannah first, then Charleston.
For Savannah, couldn't find anything inexpensive in historic downtown, and I eventually got a 2.5* at the airport on Priceline for $77, which turned out to be the Four Points. Total about $92 per room. Not a particularly good deal, but that's the best I could find.
Much better luck for Charleston for Sunday night. Bid 3* on PL and got the Doubletree Guest Suite - Historic Charleston for $70 (or $84 total). Good hotel at the best location. That's about 40% of the best rate one can find. Valet parking is $19/day; we parked at the garage behind the hotel for $14/day.
Car
PL again. They gave me Hertz for $14/day, or $72 total for 3 days. CAE is a very small airport and there aren't many cars to choose from. We were given a 4-cylinder Saturn Vue. It has the worst powertrain of any vehicle I've driven in my life - that's hundreds of vehicles from Ford Festivas to 18-wheelers. This car cannot hold 4th gear on the slightly uphill, like maintaining 75MPH on freeway overpasses in the Low Country. Nobody in his/her right mind will or should buy a 4-cylinder Vue. Fine example of why GM is in its current condition.
Photos
I took my Canon 40D with three lenses. My "regular" 17-55IS and two "new" used prime lenses, the 28/1.8 and 85/1.8. Also the 430 EX flash and Kenko 1.4x Tele-converter. I deliberately shot most using the two prime lens. I absolutely love the 85/1.8, but I am selling my 2.8/1.8.
Photos of the whole trip has been posted here:
rkkwan.zenfolio.com/f285120826
[Trip report to follow.]
Jun 10th, 2008, 10:09 AM
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May 24, 2008, Saturday
We got to Columbia, SC (CAE) right on-time at around 2pm. Airport has a single small, but very pretty and modern, terminal. Picked up the car from Hertz right outside and headed down I-26 to I-95 to Savannah, GA.
Got to the Four Points at Savannah Airport at 4:40p. It's right off I-95 with another dozen other new hotels. Very impressive. The 4P opened a year ago and is probably the smallest one there. Rooms modern but screams "college dorm" and "cheap".
Rained really hard on our 10-minute drive to Historic Savannah. Fortunately, rain stopped just about that time, and the sky started to clear. Found parking space (free on weekend) on Bay St 3 blocks west of City Hall, and walked down to the riverfront.
Saw a bunch of people ready to board a small boat in front of the Hyatt (which is quite an eye-sore). Found out it goes across the river to the Westin and convention center on Hutchison Island. What a deal! We took it, spent about 20 minutes over there taking pictures and walking around, and came back.
East of the Hyatt, a temporary arts/crafts market was set up along the river for Memorial Day. We browsed a bit but didn't buy anything. We then ate at a small bar/cafe upstairs called "Bayou Cafe". They served simple Louisiana-style food, and it was okay.
After dinner, we walked through a few of the beautiful squares on Savannah. The city seem to come to life in the evening when it's not as hot, and we saw many types of tours - walking, carriage, trolley, tricycle, and even riding on a hearse! We weren't that into Southern history or ghosts or "Midnight in the Garden...", so we just walked around on our own.
After it got a bit dark, we picked up our car and drove around a few more squares. Saw a coffee house called "The Gallery Espresso" at the Chippewa Square and we sat outside drinking coffee in the nice cool weather watching the trolleys/carriages/hearses go by. Nice.
We got to Columbia, SC (CAE) right on-time at around 2pm. Airport has a single small, but very pretty and modern, terminal. Picked up the car from Hertz right outside and headed down I-26 to I-95 to Savannah, GA.
Got to the Four Points at Savannah Airport at 4:40p. It's right off I-95 with another dozen other new hotels. Very impressive. The 4P opened a year ago and is probably the smallest one there. Rooms modern but screams "college dorm" and "cheap".
Rained really hard on our 10-minute drive to Historic Savannah. Fortunately, rain stopped just about that time, and the sky started to clear. Found parking space (free on weekend) on Bay St 3 blocks west of City Hall, and walked down to the riverfront.
Saw a bunch of people ready to board a small boat in front of the Hyatt (which is quite an eye-sore). Found out it goes across the river to the Westin and convention center on Hutchison Island. What a deal! We took it, spent about 20 minutes over there taking pictures and walking around, and came back.
East of the Hyatt, a temporary arts/crafts market was set up along the river for Memorial Day. We browsed a bit but didn't buy anything. We then ate at a small bar/cafe upstairs called "Bayou Cafe". They served simple Louisiana-style food, and it was okay.
After dinner, we walked through a few of the beautiful squares on Savannah. The city seem to come to life in the evening when it's not as hot, and we saw many types of tours - walking, carriage, trolley, tricycle, and even riding on a hearse! We weren't that into Southern history or ghosts or "Midnight in the Garden...", so we just walked around on our own.
After it got a bit dark, we picked up our car and drove around a few more squares. Saw a coffee house called "The Gallery Espresso" at the Chippewa Square and we sat outside drinking coffee in the nice cool weather watching the trolleys/carriages/hearses go by. Nice.
Jun 10th, 2008, 09:26 PM
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May 25, 2008 Sunday
We had breakfast buffet at the Four Points. $8.50 + coffee for $1.50. Then we headed back north into South Carolina. Since we had plenty of time, I decided to make a detour to Hilton Head Island. Basically just to see what it is like. We drove to a quiet street with beach front houses. Very nice. I later found on zillow.com that they are around $3m each.
It was lunch time before getting into Charleston, so we just had a quick bite at Burger King on US17.
We checked into the Doubletree Guest Suites at the corner of N. Market and Church streets, in the heart of Charleston. There's no better location. I saved $5 by using the garage behind the hotel, rather than the valet. Even though we got our rooms cheap, they still gave each of us a warm cookie.
I got a standard king suite on the 4th floor that faces the courtyard. My parents wanted two double beds, and they gave them a bi-level suite on the 2nd floor. [Second time in the last 2.5 years they've gotten a bi-level room; last time is near Sorrento in Italy.] Actually, the DT does have a few smaller non-suite rooms, but gratefully, we got their standard suites.
After resting for a little bit, we headed out to look for Palmetto Carriage. Their ticket office is one block from the DT, and their barn where we got on is just one block behind. In fact, there are like 6-7 companies and they're all around that area because each carriage has to get one of the 20 medallions right in front of our hotel to get started on the tours.
I read many threads about carriage tours here on Fodors, and everybody recommended Palmetto. No one explained why, but I followed anyways. All companies charge around $20, though I did print an online coupon for $2 off each person. The one huge visible difference between Palmetto and others is that they use a pair of mules compared to one horse for all others.
Anyways, because it was a busy holiday with lots of tourists, our carriage had to wait for about 20 minutes to get a medallion to start the 1-hour tour. Our "mule driver" was Mark R. Jones, who have written several books on Charleston. He also leads walking pub tours at night. I don't know about the other guides, but Mark's simply fabulous. You may want to ask for his tours specifically.
After the tour, we walked out to the Waterfront Park, which we could see the USS Yorktown (CV-10) at Patriot's Point across the harbor, and Fort Sumter further out.
Dinner was at Hank's, which is adjacent to the Doubletree, and is in fact associated with the hotel. Seafood there was excellent and the price pretty reasonable. As a result, it was super popular. I made an online reservations through opentable.com for 6:30p (other time was 8:45p; and when I tried to get a different reservations, all was left was 5:45p), we still had to wait until 6:50p to get a table. Cost for three including drinks, desert and coffee was $150.
After dinner, we went walking around the old town again to burn off some of the dessert.
We had breakfast buffet at the Four Points. $8.50 + coffee for $1.50. Then we headed back north into South Carolina. Since we had plenty of time, I decided to make a detour to Hilton Head Island. Basically just to see what it is like. We drove to a quiet street with beach front houses. Very nice. I later found on zillow.com that they are around $3m each.
It was lunch time before getting into Charleston, so we just had a quick bite at Burger King on US17.
We checked into the Doubletree Guest Suites at the corner of N. Market and Church streets, in the heart of Charleston. There's no better location. I saved $5 by using the garage behind the hotel, rather than the valet. Even though we got our rooms cheap, they still gave each of us a warm cookie.
I got a standard king suite on the 4th floor that faces the courtyard. My parents wanted two double beds, and they gave them a bi-level suite on the 2nd floor. [Second time in the last 2.5 years they've gotten a bi-level room; last time is near Sorrento in Italy.] Actually, the DT does have a few smaller non-suite rooms, but gratefully, we got their standard suites.
After resting for a little bit, we headed out to look for Palmetto Carriage. Their ticket office is one block from the DT, and their barn where we got on is just one block behind. In fact, there are like 6-7 companies and they're all around that area because each carriage has to get one of the 20 medallions right in front of our hotel to get started on the tours.
I read many threads about carriage tours here on Fodors, and everybody recommended Palmetto. No one explained why, but I followed anyways. All companies charge around $20, though I did print an online coupon for $2 off each person. The one huge visible difference between Palmetto and others is that they use a pair of mules compared to one horse for all others.
Anyways, because it was a busy holiday with lots of tourists, our carriage had to wait for about 20 minutes to get a medallion to start the 1-hour tour. Our "mule driver" was Mark R. Jones, who have written several books on Charleston. He also leads walking pub tours at night. I don't know about the other guides, but Mark's simply fabulous. You may want to ask for his tours specifically.
After the tour, we walked out to the Waterfront Park, which we could see the USS Yorktown (CV-10) at Patriot's Point across the harbor, and Fort Sumter further out.
Dinner was at Hank's, which is adjacent to the Doubletree, and is in fact associated with the hotel. Seafood there was excellent and the price pretty reasonable. As a result, it was super popular. I made an online reservations through opentable.com for 6:30p (other time was 8:45p; and when I tried to get a different reservations, all was left was 5:45p), we still had to wait until 6:50p to get a table. Cost for three including drinks, desert and coffee was $150.
After dinner, we went walking around the old town again to burn off some of the dessert.
Jun 11th, 2008, 02:04 AM
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rkkwan:
Interesting to see that Continental is able to serve food on a 2 hour flight when others have stopped on much longer trips.
Can you explain a bit more what a bi-level suite is - other than the two double beds.
Your report is full of details and much appreciated. I have started to view your photos, love the flowers.
Thank you for sharing.
Sandy
Interesting to see that Continental is able to serve food on a 2 hour flight when others have stopped on much longer trips.
Can you explain a bit more what a bi-level suite is - other than the two double beds.
Your report is full of details and much appreciated. I have started to view your photos, love the flowers.
Thank you for sharing.
Sandy
Jun 11th, 2008, 04:09 AM
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SandyBrit:
On one side of the 2nd floor, the Doubletree has bi-level rooms. You walk into the sitting area with a sofa-bed, TV, coffee maker, fridge and microwave (no stove top). You walk up the stairs to the beds and bathrooms. You get tall windows that illuminate the whole room.
One thing is that these rooms faces north, looking at the building behind the hotel (part of it is the garage), so, no view whatsoever. My room faces south with better view - courtyard and St. Philip.
On one side of the 2nd floor, the Doubletree has bi-level rooms. You walk into the sitting area with a sofa-bed, TV, coffee maker, fridge and microwave (no stove top). You walk up the stairs to the beds and bathrooms. You get tall windows that illuminate the whole room.
One thing is that these rooms faces north, looking at the building behind the hotel (part of it is the garage), so, no view whatsoever. My room faces south with better view - courtyard and St. Philip.
Jun 12th, 2008, 04:56 PM
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May 26, 2008 Monday - Memorial Day
I wanted to visit one of the plantations in the Charleston area, and I picked Middleton Place based on recommendation here. I have to say I didn't expect the admission to be this high, $25, with no discount for senior or anything, but well...
We were still full from dinner, so we skipped the breakfast at the Doubletree. On our way to Middleton, we found another Burger King, so that's our breakfast. [Yes, two BKs in one trip!
]
We got there just before 10, which was perfect, as their first hour-long "Introduction" tour was to start then. Now, maybe it's due to the high admissions, or maybe because it's not flowering season, but this place is nice and quiet, with few visitors. Despite being on a major holiday. To me, that's really worth the high ticket prices!!! Very enjoyable during the tour and walking around (for about 2 hours) by ourselves afterwards. You can see it from my pictures.
We were done around 1pm, and ate at the very nice restaurant there. They have a set-price lunch for $16.95 with many choices. Nothing too fancy, but all low-country cuisine.
After lunch, we headed back on I-26 to get back to Columbia. Traffic between I-95 and I-77 was very heavy, as that stretch of I-26 has become a major artery between the inner Mid-Atlantic and Florida. We were still a little early for our flight, so we drove into downtown Columbia to take a look at the State House. It was around 4pm on Memorial Day, and Columbia was totally dead with no one around.
No problem with our flight back to Houston. In fact, we were about 10 minutes early.
---
So, it was a short and inexpensive, but very leisurely and enjoyable trip for me and my parents. We all love Charleston a lot. It's really one of the more walkable and charming cities in all of US - no wonder we were told it's the #2 location wedding place in the US, only after Las Vegas. But Savannah is nice too.
Again, photos have been posted. They are at:
rkkwan.zenfolio.com/f285120826
I wanted to visit one of the plantations in the Charleston area, and I picked Middleton Place based on recommendation here. I have to say I didn't expect the admission to be this high, $25, with no discount for senior or anything, but well...
We were still full from dinner, so we skipped the breakfast at the Doubletree. On our way to Middleton, we found another Burger King, so that's our breakfast. [Yes, two BKs in one trip!
]We got there just before 10, which was perfect, as their first hour-long "Introduction" tour was to start then. Now, maybe it's due to the high admissions, or maybe because it's not flowering season, but this place is nice and quiet, with few visitors. Despite being on a major holiday. To me, that's really worth the high ticket prices!!! Very enjoyable during the tour and walking around (for about 2 hours) by ourselves afterwards. You can see it from my pictures.
We were done around 1pm, and ate at the very nice restaurant there. They have a set-price lunch for $16.95 with many choices. Nothing too fancy, but all low-country cuisine.
After lunch, we headed back on I-26 to get back to Columbia. Traffic between I-95 and I-77 was very heavy, as that stretch of I-26 has become a major artery between the inner Mid-Atlantic and Florida. We were still a little early for our flight, so we drove into downtown Columbia to take a look at the State House. It was around 4pm on Memorial Day, and Columbia was totally dead with no one around.
No problem with our flight back to Houston. In fact, we were about 10 minutes early.
---
So, it was a short and inexpensive, but very leisurely and enjoyable trip for me and my parents. We all love Charleston a lot. It's really one of the more walkable and charming cities in all of US - no wonder we were told it's the #2 location wedding place in the US, only after Las Vegas. But Savannah is nice too.
Again, photos have been posted. They are at:
rkkwan.zenfolio.com/f285120826
Jun 13th, 2008, 10:48 AM
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No, it wasn't that hot and humid. Charleston got a decent breeze from the ocean. And there are enough shady areas in the gardens. We were very comfortable walking around there.
Problem with the pictures is that we went mid-day and sun is high. Not the best times for pictures with worse contrast than if we went early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
Problem with the pictures is that we went mid-day and sun is high. Not the best times for pictures with worse contrast than if we went early in the morning or late in the afternoon.
