My family will be in Charleston from April 17-21. It's our first time there and we're hoping to spend one day in the city of Charleston, one day at Patriot's Point Naval Museum and the boat trip to Fort Sumter, one day each at Magnolia, Middleton, and Boone Hall plantations. Will there still be enough flowers blooming at this time to make three garden days worthwhile or is it significantly past peak? Looking at the weather, we may have a rain day or two; in that case we could substitute the aquarium for one of the plantations. We have a two+ year old and three month old with us, so we're trying to plan ahead a bit. Any suggestions on the itinerary are appreciated.

Your itinerary looks pretty good, but I don't think I would devote three days to plantations (1 day each). You can do most of the interesting stuff at the plantations in about half a day. Middleton Place and Magnolia are just a couple of miles apart and you could easily do them both in one day. I would add in more downtown time, instead.

Your kids will love the aquarium!

Boone Hall isn't very big and is closer to the city. It won't take too much of your time.

One of my favorite things to do in Charleston was to just stroll through the streets near the Battery ... a much better way to appreciate the architecture, gardens, flavor of the city. We also found a couple of old church cemeteries that we wandered through ... the markers told wonderful stories ...

I did both Middleton & Magnolia Plantations in one day. Boone Hall takes much less time, as noted above. No one can say how the flowers will be for your visit for sure, though I feel comfortable saying you will be well past peak THIS YEAR, as the azaleas are blazing in North Carolina right night, and our peak comes AFTER Charleston. Things will still be pretty but not nearly what they were in March. I second the suggestion for time to just walk through the Battery ... beautiful. Keep in mind ... anytime is a good time to visit Charleston (well, maybe not July-August!)

Middleton and Magnolia will fill up one day. It's up to you, but I would skip the houses. They are quite nice, but an old house with old furniture is pretty much like any other old house. Wonderful to see, but if time is important, I think the grounds are much more important.

There should still be enough flowers in bloom that you will be able to get a good idea of what it much look like when everything is covered in shades of pink, white and rose.

If you only do one plantation, which is best- Magnolia or Middleton?

Take a carriage ride through downtown.

I like Middleton Plantation better than Magnolia. If you go there, do eat lunch in their restaurant--it's great!

When my wife and I were in Charleston the other year, we stayed with a friend who recommended Middleton over Magnolia - for whatever reason. We liked it. BTW, on your way to either plantation from downtown, stop by Timbo's (http://preview.tinyurl.com/yuark2) for some boiled peanuts (if you've never had them).