Anyone have any great suggestions on where to stay in downtown Charleston, where to shop and the best places to dine. We love seafood, steak and trying different foods. We would like to see the plantations. Any suggestions on which ones? We would like to stay in a hotel and a b&b, ones that have old charm. Please help. Our trip is coming up soon in September. Thank you.

Kelly-try doing a search on Charleston-you'll be surprised by how much info is out there, especially if your trip is coming up soon. Charleston is beautiful-hope you enjoy your trip !!

You're in for a treat, Kelly!

My first suggestion would be that you consider staying on the ocean at Isle of Palms or Sullivan's Island. On Isle of Palms at least, you can get a small condo for about the same price as a hotel and have the luxury of watching the sunrise over the ocean on my favorite beach anywhere. For information on this, do a search for Island Realty/Isle of Palms/Charleston (without the slashes, of course.)

As for shopping, Charleston was booming last time I was there in the Spring. King Street is loaded with specialty shops and antiques and The Market is full of people and souvenirs mixed with the "good stuff."

For dining, East Bay Street has exploded with new restaurants, many of which are world class. Old favorites off E.Bay include 82 Queen, Poogan's Porch (do lunch, dinner isn't really worth it for a tourist haunt), Garibaldi (right in the Market) and the seafood restaurants on Shem Creek in Mt. Pleasant (on your way from Isle of Palms to Charleston.)

Incidentally, Isle of Palms is only about 15 or 20 BEAUTIFUL minutes away from the heart of Charleston.

Definitely park your car (assuming you have one) and walk aimlessly south of Broad St. to the Battery at ANY time of day or night.

If you do decide to stay in town, you might check out the Meeting Street Inn (I think it's called) at number 1 Meeting St. right on the Battery.

Also, the Mills House Hotel is lovely with a spectacular Sunday brunch in the Barbados Room.

(Can you tell I LOVE Charleston?)

Plantations? Magnolia for the grounds, Drayton Hall for the architecture, Middleton Place for both. Boone Hall is great for its "movie set" exterior, but last time I visited, the interior was rather shabby and reconstituted.

If you let me know (by e-mail) when you are visiting, I can give you more details and suggestions.

Have a great trip!

kathy,

daniel is correct when he says you are in for a treat. i will however give some another view to some of the things he said.

#1-Isle of Palms is 15 to 20 minutes away from the historic area. Not a bad drive but I don't think I would necessarily call it beautiful. I would probably call it ordinary for a surburban area. I like Isle of Palms and a big plus in it's favor is that it is this close to Charleston. If you want to stay at the beach then great, stay at the Isle of Palms. I have done this before. But if your not necessarily itching to see the ocean and are really only interested in the historic area, stay downtown. It is a great walking around town.

#2-my opinion on one of the restaurants--Poogan's Porch---it has been there a long time. I've only been once because the one time I went it was a BIG disappointment. Maybe I should give it another chance, but why bother when there are so many others I already know are good---and there are also always new ones to try. One of my favorites not mentioned here is North of Broad.

I always get confused about Meeting Street Inn. I believe this is the one that is only about a block away from the Market. It is very nice. I have stayed here before and it is a great location and a very nice inn. There is another B&B across the street from the Battery that looks wonderful. I've never stayed there because you have to make reservations months in advance. Also, I believe it is very expensive. It is very highly rated however and I would love to try it one day.

As for the plantations Magnolia, Drayton and Middleton are all on the same road---the road itself is beautiful. It is lined with live oaks that are dripping with spanish moss. My favorite of these is Magnolia because of it's gardens. The house is not that special. It's not your standard plantation home. Don't go there for the house. In addition to the garden surrounding the house there is a swamp garden that is pretty fascinating.

Middleton is very manicured. The main house I believe is not even standing. So again, don't go there for the house.

Never been to Drayton, so I don't know.

Boone Hall looks like Gone With The Wind. When I was there last, someone actually lived in the house and they opened it up at certain times for tours. This house was used in the miniseries North and South I think. It is in a completely different area of the city from the others.

Charleston also has a new aquarium. Haven't been, but I've been told it's pretty nice.

You can get alot of info on the internet about Charleston.

here's a vote for poogan's porch, as a lunch stop. i had just about the best shrimp po-boy (sandwich) there, ever! it was a huge amount of shrimp, for a deent price. their she-crab soup (a staple on almost any charleston menu, it seems) also looked good.

there have been many many posts/ suggestions on charleston over the past few months. def do a search and you'll find tons of recent recommendations.

Kelly,

As you can surmise by now - we are all Charleston fans! I live on Isle of Palms, and Sept. is usually a bit quieter here--tourism slows down a lot after Labor Day. But, staying downtown definitely has its plusses (my son is fortunate enough to live downtown).

An excellent site to check out for Charleston info is:
http://www.charleston.net

Click on the tab about Tourist Info and print it out. Has all the details of the plantations, boat tours, trollies, etc.-including schedules and costs.

Restaurants: Carolina's (downtown) is only open evenings, but is highly rated with tourists and locals, alike. My favorite restaurant is at the end of Isle of Palms (Breach Inlet) and is The Boat House (there's also one downtown (IOP one is better) reservations strongly recommended). Beautiful water views and, I think, the best seafood in town (843-886-8000). You can sit up on the top deck, have a drink, and watch the beautiful sunset over the water. AND, if you're lucky, get to see the local black labrador retriever jump off his owner's boat and chase the dolphins who come out to play with him most evenings!

The other mentioned restaurant is actually SLIGHTLY North of Broad and Boone Hall Plantation is in Mt. Pleasant (the town between Charleston and Isle of Palms).

Wherever you decide to stay and whatever your agenda, you're sure to have a great time (as long as the hurricane season stays calm!).

E-mail me directly if I can be of any help.

Carol

You can see my travelogue on Charleston (lots of photos) at sites.netscape.net/tarbadger. Sorry for the slow load time of the site. I am currently moving it all to oneeyed.homestead.com, and the Charleston part should be online there by the end of the week.

We've stayed at the Elliott House which is right next to 82 Queen restaurant and in easy walking distance of everything. We really liked it although our room the first time was really small and I wouldn't want to stay in it again. Unless you really want to be at the water, stay downtown as someone else suggested. It's so much better not having to worry about driving home from dinner. The restaurants are great. We enjoyed both Poogan's Porch and 82 Queen for lunch. Had fabulous fish at Slightly North of Broad. Excellent dinners at Carolina's and Magnolia's. Can't remember the others right now, but I don't remember having a bad meal in Charleston. Definitely take one or more carriage rides--they cover three different areas of the city and are great fun.

About a dozen years ago, we stayed at the Sword Gate Inn - a B&B. Great location, charm & hospitality. Free use of bicycles for guests. Outstanding cheese grits with breakfast. I assume they are still operating at the same standard.

you are going to fall in love with charleston. we did - and have been back every year for the last several years. Definitely you have got to try 'blossoms' for lunch or dinner (or both). we have stayed several times at charleston place and loved it. last trip we stayed at a small inn right up the street from the fountain. unfortunately i can't think of the name but i think if you went to the charleston website you could find it. absolutely heaven...there is so much to see and do in charleston, you will want to do it all. wear comfortable shoes and just walk! p.s. do a carriage ride. email me if you have trouble finding the name of the inn. i can research further.