sharon7752002

Last week, we drove into Charleston Thursday AM. We parked at our hotel (Holiday Inn- Historic District) and walked down to Jestine’s Kitchen for lunch. It was ok- I had catfish with a tomato and pepper relish and DH had sausage gumbo. We had fried green tomatoes also which were good. The food overall was not impressive. We then walked up to the Visitor’s Center, saw the Charleston movie (very good) and got tickets to a carriage ride. We walked downtown, bargained for a sweetgrass basket and waited a bit for the carriage ride. The ride was excellent- we had a route on the battery, which was great. After the ride, we walked around for awhile and then back to the hotel to relax.

We walked to dinner at the Penninsula Grille. This was the most fabulous meal I’ve ever had (except for my wedding night in Maui). We started with an appetizer of seafood tart and cocktails. The mint julep was the best! My entre was a special of tile-fish with a butter blue crab sauce. Again, the best fish I’ve ever had. DH had venison that was equally mouthwatering. We also had a lovely half bottle of Napa wine that topped off the experience. We were too stuffed for dessert, so we got a piece of their award winning coconut cake ‘to go’ for later. We walked around on the water for awhile, returned to the hotel to taste the cake. Oh My Gosh- the cake was melt in your mouth yummo. What we couldn’t finish that night we enjoyed the next morning.

The next AM we had muffins in our hotel room and met with the hotel consierge Kevin McQuade. Kevin was so thrilled to give us his top picks for our last day in Charleston. From his color-coded personalized maps to dinner menus- he was such an excellent host. He hooked us up with a lovely walking tour and made dinner reservations as well. We quickly moved on to the walking tour with Ed Grimbel from 9:30-11:30. This was beautiful, entertaining, and educational. We walked on Church St and the battery and a bunch of other places. The stories and history were so wonderful. So glad we did this- such a great way to learn about the city.

Lunch was at Poogan’s Porch on Queen St. Excellent food, very quaint and historic. I had a po-boy and DH had shrimp, grits and gravy. Also tried the she crab soup. All was great.

After lunch we hit the spooky cemetery that Kevin had mentioned and several beautiful churches. We walked around the south of broad historic district and the battery, in awe of the historic homes. We hit the rooftop bar at the Market Pavilion Hotel and mainly just walked the rest of the day. We had planned on Hanks for a seafood dinner, but we became quite tired and ended up heading back to Myrtle Beach for dinner.

Such a short trip- but we’ll be back. You’ve got to visit this beautiful city.

Millie64

Thanks for a great trip report. Next time I'm in Charleston will have to try these restaurants. Love the place.

SusanEva

Enjoyed hearing about your trip.

If you do make it back, try to eat at Hank's. We had great oysters from their raw bar. Their roast grouper with spinach and mushroom risotto and basalmic brown butter was the best meal I had on our visit.

Don't you love the smell of the sweetgrass baskets?

LoveItaly

Hi sharon, I was in Charleston with a friend from here on Fodor's last April. What a beautiful city and so much good food!! I had never been to Charleston before, what a delightful visit. Wish I lived closer to it. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

MiMary

Sharon7752002, What carriage company did you use in Charleston?

Randa

Where is the cemetery?

sharon7752002

I haven't checked here in awhile. We just took the carriage company 'next in line' when we got tickets at the visitor center. Don't recall the name- I heard they all were equally good.

The spooky cemetary is between 163 King St and 161 1/2 King St. Walk through arch of trees to the cemetary. It's next to St. John's Lutheran Church Graveyard.