Need some Charleston help
 

My mom and I will be in Charleston in late March. We will have a car for one day and were planning to use it for a day trip. We were thinking of heading out and visiting Drayton Hall and Middleton Place. Do you have any suggestions as to which we should see first and about how long to spend at each one? Any lunch suggestions?

I was also thinking that it might be fun to do some sort of boat trip/tour on the marsh. Do you have any idea where we could do that? (We are not intersted in kayaking on our own.) It would be great if we could fit in on our Plantation Day.

Thanks for your help.

See Middleton Place, take the Ft. Sumter boat tour.

Thanks GoTravel. I'm an admirer of your work here!

The Ft. Sumpter tour is not going to work for us a for a number of reasons. What I was hoping for was a short 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hour)guided small boat trip around the marshes/swamp with some cypress trees, grass, some birds etc. Am I in my fantasy world again or is this available somewhere?

We love Magnolia Gardens at least as much as Middleton Place. Drayton and Middleton and Magnolia are all within 15 min or so of each other. Depending on how much walking and "gardening" you can take, I think it'd be a real shame to miss Magnolia while you're "right there." Doesn't matter which you do first (take them in order or reverse order from Charleston-- they're all on the same road). I think about 2 hrs at each is a good amt of time to allow. Could definitely spend more, but I think 2 hrs will give you a good feel for those wonderful places. Some of those places have restaurants or food service-- can't remember which ones, but their websites will tell you.
You're heading to one of our favorite areas of the entire country!

You can take the path throgh the azaleas from Middleton Plantation to the Middleton Inn, IMO the best piece of modern architecture in all of SC.

Bohicket Marina is between Kiawah and Seabrook Islands. They offer serveral different "cruising" options. I am not sure how early the season starts but they are worth contacting. It would take you about 40 minutes to drive there from town.

I would stick with Drayton Hall and Middleton Place, because they represent two of the oldest and most authentic homes on the Ashley River. Drayton Hall is the oldest house and Middleton Place has the oldest planned gardens.
I would visit Drayton Hall first. It is my absolute favorite house tour in the Charleston area and if you are a history buff, you don't want to miss it. It is the only plantation house on the Ashley River that wasn't burned during the Civil War. The Drayton family continued to own the house until the 1970's, so the guides know quite a bit about the history of the house, which makes the tours fascinating. After a house tour at Drayton Hall, I would then head over to Middleton Place. I would eat lunch at the Inn at Middleton Place and then spend part of the afternoon touring the grounds. The azaleas should be in bloom at that time of year, so the gardens will be gorgeous.

I will also be visiting at that time. Is Boone Hall Farms worth a visit?

When we visited Boone Hall a few years ago, the family lived there and only the ground floor and the garden were available to visitors. The tree-lined drive is beautiful, but the grounds are small and it would be last on my list of Charleston places to tour.

How about Cypress Gardens? They give guided boat tours through the swamps and cypress trees.

You can take a boat ride through the swamps at Magnolia Gardens. They will tell you about the wildlife and the way rice plantations worked. It lasts somewhere around an hour. You will see gators, probably turtles, and lots of birds. There is also a swamp walk at Magnolia, where you will see lots of the same types of animals. Both are good. As to plantations, I think you are right to go with Middleton and Dayton. I prefer to visit Middleton first because I like to arrive early before crowds. There isn't quite as much to see at Drayton, other than the great house tour, so that allows you to budget the time at Drayton according to how long you spent at Middleton. Do plan on having lunch at Middleton; the restaurant is very nice.