marysidney

Long-planned trip with friends to rental house in Edisto Beach for a week, next week; my husband slashed his achilles tendon, and the wound isn't healing. No swimming, not beach nor pool; stairs very difficult, especially coming down (no weight, not even a touch, allowed on bad foot). Apart from drinking a lot of beer, what can we do? I know it's going to be hot, and most of the group will want to be on the beach (there are a couple of ten-year-olds in the group, and a couple of teenagers). Any suggestions for things I can drive him to, to see and do; scenic drives; stuff that we can actually do with others in the group? We like history and gardens, nature and so forth, but most of that sort of thing requires walking a lot. I suppose we can eat--restaurants with a view? And a breeze? How miserably hot will it be? Please help.

Dayenu

Best wishes to all of you! Especially your husband. Maybe he will need a folding chair - so he can walk up to some point where he will more or less comfortably wait for others to finish their hiking/sightseeing while being outside?

Something like this:
http://www.portablefoldingchairs.com...hair-p-73.html

rascat

We will be moving to the Charleston area soon, and have been exploring the area over the last couple of months. My father has very limited mobility, so I kept that in mind for any future visits he may make as we looked around. My overall impression is that he will have some difficulty. With the city's age, and the need to "build up" in the low county, he will face many obstacles-but it won't be impossible.

Have you considered renting a wheelchair? We've done that in many places for my dad, and it makes things much easier for him. He doesn't use it all the time, but it works better than crutches for longer hauls, and he has more energy to do things.

We saw many companies that do tours of the historical areas by van. You could do this as a group, and the a/c will make it more comfortable (temps last week were in the mid 90s with humidity around 80%). There are also companies that do harbour tours in Charleston-another group tour possibility.

Lots of gardens in the area. We haven't had the chance to visit them yet. Hopefully some of the Charleston regulars will give you some advice on that.

We visited a few areas that made nice drives: Sullivans Island and McClellanville.

Sullivans Island is accessible by bridge from Mt. Pleasant. The island has a nice old-time beach town vibe. There are also restaurants with outdoor decks that are nice in the evening. Parking can be difficult, so you might want to drop hubby off and then find a parking place. The island also has Fort Moultrie, but I can't tell you if DH would have a hard time getting around there or not.

McClellanville is north of Charleston. It would definitely be a drive to get there from Edisto Beach. McClellanville isn't touristy, just a little village that seems like part of another century. No shops or restaurants, but if you like old houses, there are several! Follow the signs off of Hwy. 17 to get there. There are also some access areas nearby that will allow you to see the Intercoastal Waterway and marshes without getting out of the car (can't think of the names right now).

My thoughts are that you could head out to McClellanville in the morning, find water access area for a picnic lunch, then head back via Sullivans Island to see that area. Have dinner on the island, or drive into Mt. Pleasant and the Shem Creek area to have dinner on the water. We ate at the Vickery. Nice water views, food was good, and they have an elevator to get to the deck area.

With some advance planning, I think you can have a nice trip. Hope things work out for you!

marysidney

Thank you both; those are some good suggestions, and I will print them out. You remind me that I do have a three-legged hiking stool somewhere, and I will hunt it down. A wheelchair might work well, too, as long as there aren't lots of stairs--sometimes a wheelchair is almost more difficult than crutches, especially when you're dealing with historical buildings, but it's a good thought for gardens, etc.

I appreciate your advice, and good wishes!

OurGreatEscape

Want a "road trip"? Head up to the John's Island area. On your way, you could go to Wadmalaw Island to the Charleston Tea Plantation (it really is cool...I took my hubby a couple of years ago. He had to admit how neat the place was).

A little farther down the road is Irvin-House Winery, home to muscadine wine and now Firefly Vodka (they are also making a bourbon and a rum but that may be done out of state).

Back to John's Island you could visit the Angel Oak Tree. It is massive. A proposed development nearby has lots of people wondering if the tree will survive as many years as it already has (yeah, it is supposed to be 1500 years old...I think it's really a couple of hundred years old:-}).

Oops before I forget...another option is to head to Rockville. You can buy shrimp fresh off the boat(sorry, this is still on my to-do list but friends tell me it's fun).

Out on Seabrook Island is Bohicket Marina. Certain nights of the week a sunset cruise goes out.

Rich

We were there earlier this month. I had AH surgery last year and am still walking with a cane. We used the Pedicab/Richshaw taxi to get around.

Not real fast, but the "driver" gives you a bit of a tour about where you are and a card to call anytime you need to be picked up. It looked like all the hotels and restruants had the number also.

birgator

It's going to be miserably hot, count on it. Realfeel about 105-110.

Not much to do at Edisto, except for the beach, possibly fishing from the three legged stool. The beach can be difficult to get on -- some steep slopes off the dunes.

In Charleston, since you can drive him around, could he go on a bus tour? The Gullah tour (do a search) doesn't involve getting in and out, and is interesting. And how about a carriage ride? (Recommend mornings).

A day trip to Savannah to check out the architecture could be done from a car, and I suspect he could do a trolley tour as well. Beaufort is another option, Hunting Island, a boat trip through the Intercoastal and there are carriage rides there too. Historic homes make a great driving tour at the north end of Beaufort (The Point).

Nothing is going to be particularly cool for dining or sipping with ocean breezes. I'd say Sunset Grill in Edisto for an ocean view, but you have to walk up steps and it's indoors. It's at the Marina, go for lunch. Their fried oyster salad is the only thing I ever order.

Shem Creek restaurants either have a view/deck with mediocre food, or good food with no deck.

Good luck -- I'm sure it will work out just fine.

suewoo

Hi everybody-sorry I've been slack! I'm working at Ft Stewart now and have no time for fun.

I like all the suggestions, although I have to tell you gardens are not pretty this time of year and touring them in this heat is no fun. Have you thought about taking a kayak trip? Call Ralph Eckert. He does trips through Botany Bay down there. I haven't been on that one, but I HAVE been on a trip with him and he can accommodate you, bad foot and all. It's a great way to see the lowcountry!

litespeedchick

Brings back memories! I went to Charleston and Isle of Palms while on crutches several years ago. Luckily , i was allowed on the beach and in the water.

I think the kayak idea is a good one. A carraige tour in Charleston would be fun as well. I'm not sure if this is his first experience on crutches, but if he's in decent phyisical shape and has been well-instructed on proper use of crutches, there's no reason he can't enjoy historical sites and gardens. Walking on crutches is not that hard... your friends just have to be willing to slow down a little. Stairs aren't hard if you understand the "crutches always down" rule. Ask you if you don't undertand what I mean.

GoTravel

He's going to get his foot wet in a kayak.

You are really kind of screwed because there are a ton of stairs involved in these beach houses.

I'm sure you are either here or back by now.

He will be the most comfortable sitting on the beach or in the house. Our heat indices (how hot it really feels) are up to 120+ degrees.

As for touring downtown, you will definitely need a wheelchair. Charleston sidewalks are slate, brick, cobblestone, etc, no even pavement.

Just let him drink lots of beer and he'll be fine!

GoTravel

Forgot to add that I agree that the gardens are miserable this time of year. I'd skip that.

marysidney

Thanks, everyone. I wanted to report on our trip: yes, it was very hot, but we did enjoy ourselves. In Edisto we rented a beach wheelchair; the first day he tried to just sit on the beach, but it is really hot, even under a tent, when you can't go in the water to cool off, so on subsequent days we went for a walk in the cooler mornings on the beach. We ended up going to Charleston for two days: we went for a carriage tour, which was very interesting, and good for limited mobility. We wanted to take an evening boat trip, but we ran out of steam. Instead, he sat at a bar while we wandered a little around the market. Another day we went to Middleton Plantation, where part of the group including my husband took a carriage ride, with mixed reviews (some couldn't hear the driver, and they mostly went around the place rather than in the interesting parts. And it was, sadly, very hot--this carriage, unlike the one in Charleston, had no roof). The rest of us took the house tour, which did have stairs, but was quite interesting, and short enough to be good for non-history buffs, and followed it up with the garden tour. As a couple of people pointed out, the gardens are not much right now, and even the tour guide seemed pretty fed up--"there's the mount, but we're not going there, it's too hot." Later, we went to the aquarium, which everyone in the group enjoyed. They had wheelchairs to borrow, and great exhibits (I speak as a dedicated zoo and aquarium goer), and it was Air Conditioned. We had dinner at SNOB restaurant, very good, locally sourced, and some good vegetarian options.

Another day we went to Beaufort, which was quite pretty, although we didn't have a lot of time there--we went on the harbor cruise, the highlight of which was seeing lots of dolphins.

Next time we'll try to get a little further afield, but it was a good, restful vacation, and we certainly needed it!

Rich

Did you do the pedicab?

rascat

Thanks for letting us know how things turned out. Hope your husband is crutch-free soon!