We are planning a family (14 & 10 yr olds) trip to Charleston, March 2003. Will be doing aquarium tour, city tour and plantation tour.

Would like to know what to expect weather wise, and would Mt. Pleasant be a good place to stay.

It will probably be mild weather. The Holiday Inn in Mt. Pleasant is very nice.

I don't know about the March weather so I can't help you there.

If you have a car, Mt Pleasant would be a fine place to stay. But if you don't have car, stay downtown in the historic district, which is where you'll be a great deal of the time anyway. I just returned from six days in Charleston, we stayed at the French Quarter Inn. Get the internet rate and you will absolutely love it.

Charleston is the most beautiful place to visit and I go each year.

March should be a lovely time in Charleston. I would recommend staying in the historic area of the city versus Mt. Pleasant. There are so many wonderful B&Bs and small inns, and nice larger hotels as well. The Best Western on King Street is a great deal.

Susan, I been there twice in late MArch-the first warm, sunny beautiful-all the spring flowers were blooming. We went to the Magnolia Plantation/Gardens which was very pretty. The next year at the same time was cold and rainy. Have fun, it is a beautiful city and be sure to walk along Rainbow Row.

I started going to the Charleston area every summer when I was about 11 (...now 36 with a son of my own). As kids we loved Patriot's Point - tours of a sub, aircraft carrier, etc. We went to the Aquarium in 2001 and we all loved it. Another really cool thing we did one year was arrange for a tour of the Marine Resource Center. Very interesting and informative. In March they might have school trips there that you could hook up with. I thin the MRC is a DNR or State facility. Depends on what your kids gravitate to: history, nature, etc. The carraige rides are fun, too. Even if your teens think it's hokey. The ghost walk might pique their interest.

What a wonderful time to go! If you are lucky, the azaleas should be in full bloom! Check out Middleton Place for the flowers.

Azaleas peak 3rd or 4th week of March. Early March can be miserable or nice, end of the month is usually nice.

xx- the azaleas peaked last year in FEBRUARY!!

No way! We used to live near there. I never, ever, heard of azaleas in that area peaking in February. In March, even further south they are just in bud at that point. Sorry, I can't buy that.

xx- I live in Charleston. That's right, Charleston proper. Due to the very warm winter we had last year the azaleas PEAKED IN FEBRUARY!!! Don't care if you've never heard of them peaking that early, they do and they did.

xxx is completely correct... I live in Isle of Palms and last year's azaleas were done blooming at the end of February.

THe weather was weird last year all over the country. I had spring bulbs coming up in Jan in Ohio. You can't really predict the weather, so plan on normal conditions for that area, but definitley go in the spring. Both times we went to Charleston we stayed in Mount Pleasant, which was okay, but next time we'lll stay in the historic district.

Thanks for all the info, Patriots Point will be added to the list, and we'll also check out Best Western in historic Charleston.