Suggestions for St. Augustine, Savannah, & Charleston
 

We're flying into Jacksonville early evening on October 18, returning home on a noon flight on October 29, and our plan is to visit the above cities. We're two retired educators (ladies) interested in culture, historical sites, gardens, and whatever else might give us insight into and a feel for the areas we'll be visiting. Long story why we won't be doing an open jaw with the air. We'll essentially be doing a loop--JAX-JAX.
We're just getting our itinerary together. We'll be picking up a car at JAX. If any of you have suggestions for an itinerary which would make the best sense, we'd welcome your input. Do we go south directly from JAX to the area around St. Augustine where we would spend two nights? This would give us a day and a morning to take in some of the St. Augustine sites and also the opportunity to meet friends living in Palm Coast for dinner. Or do we go north first and save St. Augustine for last? Our primary interests are Savannah and then Charleston. so we'd like to give emphasis for those cities. Would three nights in Savannah be enough and two in Charleston? If so, we'd have a couple of extra days to play with. What stops would be good on the stretches between the cities? There've been some interesting posts on Beaufort so we're folding that in. What about some of the islands? We're not into the beach scene in and of itself, but if there are houses or gardens or other areas of interest, we'd like to give them some consideration.
We've enjoyed reading posts on lodging and restaurants and city tours in the major cities. As always, these boards are invaluable.
Any thoughts? We like to travel comfortably without pinching pennies, but would prefer that this trip be casual without breaking the bank.

I've been to all three cities you listed, and if you're thorough I'd allocate 3 to 4 days of sightseeing for Charleston, 2 to 3 days for Savannah, and ca. 3 days for St. Augustine. Depends on how much time you have, where else you want to visit, and what you want to do in these cities, of course.

I can't argue with bachslunch's schedule. Where you begin your loop doesn't matter.

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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

Hi, bachslunch--We have 10 days, not counting flying days. Your reply surprised me a little. From my reading in preparation for the trip, it has been my impression that Savannah would merit more time than Charleston. If you have a moment, I would love to kinow what it is about Charleston that especially draws you in, that is, why you would devote more time to it than Savannah.
Regarding where else we'd want to visit--we're pretty much keeping to the three cities listed with less emphasis on St. Augustine than on the other two. We've added St. Augustine mainly because we want to connnect with friends who live in that area. Our question concerns things we might detour to on those long stretches between the cities. I've already mentioned Beaufort, but we're wondering what else, not necessarily for an overnight, but for an interesting stop along the way.

@ Orlando-Vic--Thank you, too, for your reply. I imagine it sounded a bit--stupid, I guess, for lack of a better word--asking about the loop the way I did. You're right. A loop is a loop. What we were trying to figure out is with a 5:30 PM arrival at JAX, would we be better off time wise to go south immediately and spend our fly-in night around St. Augustine (a shorter drive), or do we pick up the car and go directly to either Savannah or Charleston (much longer drives). That travel day will be no use to us in any case when it comes to settling in and enjoying the area. So, unless there are real points of interest to be visited on the longer stretches, maybe we should just head north right away and work our way south, ending up at St. Augustine which would be closer to JAX where we would fly out at noon on our last day.

Please read" Mrs Whaley's Charleston Garden". I am sure it will add to your enjoyment of Charleston! Have a great trip.

cmcfong, Thank You for the recommendation. For me, one of the most delicious facets of a trip is the preparation. Just finishing Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil now and am ready for more. Following your recommendation, I went on Amazon and ordered Mrs. Whaley's book along with Very Charleston by Diana Gessler. Beyond that, though, I've spent part of this morning with you. I was interested in so many of your former posts. Gave special attention, of course, to your Beaufort post as well as Jekyll Island but also wandered into other areas. Especially enjoyed and deeply touched by your post sharing how your mom and dad met and finally your mom's memorial service and the beautiful tribute that was given. Also, as for getting a second dog, please do. We have three rescue dogs and it breaks my heart to think that had we not been there for them, they might have been put down. If you're looking for a companion for Tyrod--he's probably an alpha male and a female would be best because she would not be a threat to his dominance. Good luck with that...and I plan to go back a read more of your posts. I enjoyed keeping company with you this morning.

I am so pleased you found my trip reports helpful. Thank you for taking the time to read them and let me know. I especially appreciate your comments about my mom's memorial service.

I believe after reading "Mrs. Whaley's Garden" you might decide you want to read "Mrs. Whaley Entertains". These are delightful books and offer some wonderful insights into Charleston society.

As for a tour, consider the Gullah tour of Charleston, a different view of that city's extraordinary history. Check for posts from suewoo, she is a resident and has many good suggestions.

Now, about the dogs. I was endorsing the adoption of a second dog by another poster....I have six rescue pups. Five of them are certified therapy dogs. I use their therapy work as a platform for adoption of adult, mixed breed dogs on death row. And I usually add a few shots about spay/neuter, too, while I am at it. These dogs have done more for people than I can ever put into words and I am so grateful their lives were spared. They all live exceptionally well now! Thanks for saving yours.

I look forward to reading your trip report when you return home. Safe travels.

Bo2642, the rationale behind more time in Charleston vs. Savannah has to do with the number of attractions and how long it takes to see what's there. Note that I like full sightseeing days, often done to the exclusion of a sit-down lunch.

I spent two full days in Savannah as follows:

-Day 1. (morning) Savannah History Museum, Telfair Mansion and Museum, Juliet Gordon Low's Birthplace tour, (afternoon) Davenport House tour, Owen-Thomas House tour. Explored the River Street/Factor's Walk area in the evening. All done on foot.

-Day 2. (morning) Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum, Andrew Low House tour, Green-Meldrim House tour, (afternoon) First African Baptist Church tour, Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum, Forsythe Park walk-through. All done on foot.

While walking between the various sights, I also got to see nearly all the squares in the historic area.

Had I had a car, I would have considered spending a third day seeing Old Fort Jackson, Fort Pulaski, and Fort McAlister, all located a short distance away but definitely not within walking distance.

"Garden of Good and Evil" based sights are on some folks's must-see list here, but I had different priorities.

One thing that helps keep things to two days in the historic district is that the Telfair and Ships-of-the-Sea museums are not large. The house and church tours took about an hour. The civil rights and history museums were a little larger.

For Charleston, I did the following:

-Day 1. (morning) Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon, Nathaniel Russell House, Heyward-Washington House, (afternoon) Edmonston-Alston House, walk around The Battery, Gibbes Museum of Art, Old City Market, city bus to and from campus of The Citadel. Otherwise all on foot.

-Day 2. (morning) Drayton Hall, Middleton Place, (afternoon) continued Middleton Place, Magnolia Plantation. Done using shuttle service via Charleston Chauffeur Company.

-Day 3. (morning) South Carolina Aquarium, Ft. Sumter, (afternoon), Aiken-Rhett House, Joseph Manigault House, Charleston Museum. All done on foot except water shuttle to and from Ft. Sumter.

The Charleston Museum is large and can easily take a few hours to experience. The three Ashley River Road plantations definitely take a day. The house tours took about an hour each. The Gibbes Museum is not that large, but has a much better collection than the Telfair.

I did not get to explore some of the other outlying attractions, such as Boone Hall, Cypress Gardens, Charles Towne Landing, the H.L. Hunley Submarine, or Ft. Moultrie.

In short, there were just more things I wanted to see in Charleston.

Do a search under my name to find a detailed trip report I did earlier this year on a St. Augustine visit.

Hope this is helpful.

http://www.lakesidepress.com/Charleston-Savannah/
Charleston or Savannah? Above is a good starting point for info.

@ bachslunch--The time you took to post your Savannah and Charleston itineraries is much appreciated. Also, I just read through your restaurant reviews for St. Augustine. Made me hungry, and it's still several hours before dinner here in California Like you, we generally put in full sightseeing days, and it's especially useful to see how you budgeted your time.
I also just re-read your St. Augustine trip report. I came across it a few days ago when we were just thinking about this trip, but it was more meaningful now that I know we are actually going. I really like that you adressed the "must nots" along with the "musts".

@Savannahoaks--what a great website. Many thanks for this wonderful resource.

@cmcfong--about the dog thing. I was evidently so into your posts that when I came across Janet's, I assumed that you were the original poster rather than she. At any rate, it warmed my heart to learn that you have 6 rescue dogs--and therapy ones at that! And I'm with you on the spay and neuter thing. If more $ were directed to free or very low cost clinics, fewer $ would need to be spent on "taking care" of unwanted pets. IMHO.

Yes, I will write a trip report. Mine usually get so wordy that I don't post, but I'll try to get control of that.

<b>"What we were trying to figure out is with a 5:30 PM arrival at JAX, would we be better off time wise to go south immediately and spend our fly-in night around St. Augustine (a shorter drive), or do we pick up the car and go directly to either Savannah or Charleston (much longer drives)."</b>

In that case, going to St. Augustine first makes sense. Use Hwy 9A instead of I-95 all the way (until it reconnects with I-95 well south of downtown Jacksonville). You'll go faster without the downtown bottlenecks.


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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

You might want to take a look at my trip report; click on my name to find it. Because there are more plantations outside Charleston to visit than outside Savannah, you may want to devote more time to Charleston.

"plantations to visit outside Charleston etc."

Orlando_Vic--Thanks for the driving tip.

Michael, thank you, too, for the reminder about your trip report. As with bachlunch's, I had read through it when our trip was still just a maybe, and now that our plans are definite a careful re-read is a great help as we firm up the things we'd like to see and do.

I enjoyed your personal take on the Charleston architectual tour guide, and I love that you didn't skimp on your descriptions of the Aiken-Rhett mansion, Middleton Place, and Boone Hall. In planning I've come across a term new to me, Gullah, and would like to learn more. So the Boone presentation you've described seems as if it would do much in that regard.

Also it was fun to look through the Husk menu.

I see that you've endorsed Savannah Rambles. It has also received high marks from other posters, and I'm certain we'll be contacting Dirk Hardison.

As for the Jepson Center for the Arts, you've no doubt saved us precious time.

Many thanks to you and to all for taking time to share experiences and endorsements.

Take Alphonso Brown's Gullah Tour. It's really special.

There's a restaurant in Mt Pleasant called Gullah Cuisine. I'm not usually a fan of buffets, but the lunch buffet there will give you a chance to taste different Gullah treats and the price is right.

suewoo--Many thanks for recommending Alphonso Brown. I've just spent time on the website (gullahtours.com), and I'm excited about taking this tour.

Don't miss sapelo Island. Last sea island of Gullah culture. State tours for $10 (includes ferry ride) are available Wed. and Sat. Tour departs the mainland 8:30am Wed. and 9:00am Sat. you will return on the noon ferry. Private tours with local residents are also available.

Savannah is a wonderful city but the historial section is in pockets not connected like Charleston. As a result Charleston is a more walkable city and seems safer. If I were choosing I would add to day to Charleston rather than Savannah.

Some of the Savannah atractions that I would add would be the SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) gift shop and bookstore. If you like art supplies it is heaven. Since you have a car I would go out to Bon Adventure cemetery to walk.

we enjoyed a walking tour of savannah that centered on the cities squares.fun and informative.
http://www.savannahdan.com/

Thank you all so much for helping us plan our time. So far we have the framework:

Fly into JAX from our home in Los Angeles on Sept. 18. 5:10PM arrival, so by the time we pick up our car, it's essentially a lost day. We're staying at the Courtyard St. Augustine I-95--any recommendations for dinner around there? It'll be an early evening for us, but early the next morning we'll head to St. Augustine for the day. Bachslunch's detailed St. Augustine report is wonderful and will help us set our priorities for the short time we'll have in that city.

Toward evening, we'll go on down to Palm Coast for dinner with our friends who live there. Then back to the Courtyard for the night.

We know that the Courtyard on I-95 is a bit far afield from St. Augustine, but it's not a huge distance fron the airport for our first night, and its location to the north of St. Augustine will give us a jump start as we begin the main part of itinerary--Charleston and Savannah.

We weren't sure at first how we wanted to organize our itinerary, but since we'll be flying out of JAX at noon on our return home, we decided to visit Charleston first--a long driving day, but we can take our time without feeling pressed to make a flight.

We have booked the Mills House for 3 nights--Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (9/20-9/21), checking out on Friday 9/22. We have taken everybody's advice and added our extra day in Charleston rather than Savannah, but the Mills House had no vacancies for Friday and Saturday night, so we took the three nights which were available, and because we want to visit Fort Sumter and two or three plantations, we booked a hotel in Mount Pleasant for Friday and Saturday night, 9/22 and 9/23. We have learned that we can take the ferry to Ft. Sumter from Mt. Pleasant as well as from Charleston proper.

We should have two full days--Friday and Saturday for Ft. Sumter and the plantations.

We could book a morning tour to Ft. Sumter. I'm going off the top of my head right now, but I think the earliest we could book would be a 10:30 departure and a 1 or 1:30 return. That would make for a short plantation visit in the afternoon. If we left the Sumter tour directly, would we have time for, say, Boone Hall? It closes at 5:00, but we would want to explore it without feeling rushed.

The next day (Saturday) we would like to visit Drayton Hall (we're interested in its history) and either Magnolia Plantation or Middleton Place. We, of course, would like to do everything, but if we have to choose between Magnolia and Middleton, do any of you have any feelings?

On Sunday, we would head down to Savannah.

But getting back to our first three days in Charleston--we're working on what we'd like to see and do.

And wouldn't you know, someone is at my door, and I wish I could keep writing but I can't right now.

Bottomline, thanks again for the suggestions which have come forth, and anything else you can think of would be appreciated.

I need to put this aside right now, but when I can get back to it later tonight, I'd like to run some things by anyone out there who's still reading this.

Such a nice time to visit! I'm live in Mt Pleasant. Where are you staying?

I would say pick Middleton over Magnolia. There's a lot to see there. I love the gardens at Magnolia but they won't have the appeal they have in the spring The gaters might still be awake at Middleton.

Have you researched restaurants in Charleston? The most important part, IMHO, of course is picking out where to eat! If you tell me what you like I can make some recs in both Charleston and Mt. P.

Back again.

First, a thank you to soowoo for your input.

In Mt. P we're staying at the Best Western Patriot's Point. OK ratings for cleanliness, the location is good for what we want, and the price is certainly right. At $246.32 including tax for the two nights, you can't go wrong if you're willing to sacrifice atmosphere for basic lodging. When I was first researching lodging, the Old Village Post House did not have their only twin room available. A king was, but....my travel partner and I are good friends, but, hey, we want our own beds. Just checked the Post House website again before writing this, and I see that the twin is now available for $163 a night but not including taxes, so I think we'll just stick with the Best Western and use our savings for plantation admissions or dinner.

Regarding restaurants, when I first started researching, Gullah Cuisine caught my eye. It's recommended in several guidebooks as an authentic experience. And it was also recommended by you, soowoo. The truth is, though, that so many of the reviews lately on Trip Advisor are negative that we're wondering. Have you been there recently? If so, and you still recommend, perhaps all the negative reviews...well, we know that people are most motivated to write when they have an issue. If, though, service is slipping or if negative attitudes on the part of the servers prevail, are there any other restaurants that you might recommend where we could taste Gullah food?

As for other restaurants in either Mt. P and Charleston proper, we're open to suggestions. We're traveling as casual tourists for this trip. Won't be bringing clothing with us to allow us to truly "gussie up", so that will probably dictate our options. Not that we'll be grubby, but I can't see that we'll be burdening ourselves with heels and such. It won't be that kind of trip for us. We're mainly interested in seeing the houses, the squares, gardens, and a cemetary or two, visiting plantations, going to Ft. Sumter, taking walking tours, or a trolly or a carriage tour--the kinds of things that will give us a feel for both Charleston and Savannah, the culture and the history. That having been said, we do love good food experiences. Whatever good restaurants you might recommend which would let us in in casual clothing, would be welcome. Simple establishments or otherwise as long as they're not chains. Hopefully something out there will fit the bill and have a little local character as well. We're open to all kinds of food. Certainly we'd like to have something representative of the area. Seafood not a problem. Barbeque. Anything. And I would really like to try she crab soup. That's a priority for me.

When we're in the city, we'd like to use our car as little as possible, so restaurant recommendations within walking distance of the Mills House would be especially helpful.
Also, is there any longterm parking near the hotel which doesn't cost $20 a night?

In putting our plans together for our three days in Charleston proper, following the suggestion of soowoo once again, we contacted Alfonso Brown re the Gullah tour, or at least we made a reservation on the website. Got an auto generated response saying that they would be contacting us regarding the day and time.

Regarding walking tours for Charleston,savannahdan.com has been recommended. And I think Michael had an architectural tour that commented on. I'll go back to his trip report. Any thoughts about specific walking tours which would give us a good overview of the historical district and serve as a foundation before we visit some specific houses? We're interested in quality here, and don't mind paying more for someone whose presentations are interesting and accurate. And, of course, a bit of humor doesn't hurt.

Bachslunch, thank you for your Charleston and Savannah report as well as the St. Augustine one. We've still got lots of activities to settle on, and your itinerary is helpful. We do not want to be overscheduled, though, because it's been our experience that some of the true joys of traveling come about unexpectedly as one wanders here and there through interesting areas. We'd also like a little shopping experience--probably mostly window shopping--at the Old City Market. We'd love to take a look at some of the sweetgrass basketry.

And, cmfong, I'm in the middle of Mrs. Whaley's Gardening book. Love it.

I am in possession of several guidebooks, one of the most helpful of which being the Moon Guide, but Fodor forum input is and has always been invaluable to us when planning. We appreciate the time you've all taken to help us come up with a quality experience.

We've made some progress on Charleston. Are just starting to think about Savannah. If you can bear with me, I'll be asking for help there, too. But that's for later.

In St. Augustine, the Courtyard on I-95 is nowhere near the historic district and there are not a lot of good restaurants to choose from. It is near the outlets, that's all.

To go into town, take SR 16 (your hotel is on it) East to US 1 and then one more block to San Marco Ave., South on San Marco Ave to the historic district. There, I like the following restaurants:

Old City House http://www.oldcityhouse.com
The Raintree http://www.raintreerestaurant.com
Creekside Dinery http://www.creeksidedinery.com
Le Pavillion http://www.lepav.com

Honorable mention: O'Steens
(Perhaps the best shrimp in town. ZERO ambiance, no reservations, reasonable prices) Just across the Bridge of Lyons.

You'll notice that I did not mention the Columbia restaurant. IMO, their food is good, but not as good as any of the other restaurants I have mentioned.


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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

Hi, Orlando--
I guess we could change our Courtyard reservation for something in town. We booked through their website and we have until the day before without incurring charges. Our thought in booking there was that it's clean and comfortable and it wouldn't take us too long to get there from the airport. We could settle in there for an early night after our flight which arrives around 5:30. Because our flight from LAX is so early in the morning, we would have had little sleep. We're basically considering that first night as a lost touring night. But we'll be eager to get an early start for St. Augustine the next morning for a full day there.

Thank you for the restaurant recommendations. We'll be in town for lunch, but for dinner we'll be driving down to Palm Coast to have dinner with friends. At any rate, it'll be nice to know where in town to break for lunch.

But....because you're bringing it up, let us think about taking the extra time after our flight to drive on down to St. Augustine and book something there.

I am so glad you are enjoying it. I thought you might!

For Lunch in St. Augustine:

Café Alcazar (25 Granada St, Saint Augustine, FL 32084-4387) is a true hidden gem…and is definitely off the main tourist path. It is a small restaurant located in what was once the deep end of the world's largest indoor swimming pool, now the Lightener Museum building. The food is quite good (I love their curried chicken salad.) and the atmosphere is absolutely unique and very conducive to conversation. They don't take reservations and only serve lunch (Except dinner one night/month). If you have trouble finding them, you can phone them at 904-824-7813. Check out their Trip Advisor reviews: http://tinyurl.com/5qlvrq


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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

Vic, I think the Alcazar has closed. It was a favorite of mine as well. Sweet guitar and champagne while you ate, loved it.

There is a current review on Trip Advisor, and their website is still up. Looks inviting.

For cmcfong--

NY Times obit (in part):

Emily Whaley, Charleston Gardener and Writer, Dies at 87

By ROBERT McG. THOMAS Jr
Published: June 19, 1998
Emily Whaley, a South Carolina woman with a green thumb and such an eye for color that she helped show flowering Charleston there was bloom beyond azaleas and camellias and turned her backyard into one of the nation's most acclaimed private gardens, died on Monday at her summer home in Flat Rock, N.C. She was 87 and had become something of celebrity since the publication of a memoir, ''Mrs. Whaley and her Charleston Garden,'' last year.

Her family said the cause was a stroke.

No one would mistake Mrs. Whaley's garden for, say, Longwood Gardens, but as home gardens go, the one she maintained for more than 50 years on a 30-foot by 100-foot plot behind her narrow 1754 white clapboard house at 58 Church Street, a block from the harbor in Charleston's historic district, has been a perennial eye-popper.

Among other things it has been featured in books by Rosemary Vaerey and other garden writers and has been a fixture on the Historic Charleston Foundation's annual garden tours.

--------------------------------------------------------------

I googled her because I couldn't imagine she'd still be alive. I'm surprised, however, that she passed so soon after giving her interview(s) which was/were the basis for the book.
How wonderful, though, that she still lives through her words.

cmcfong,
Café Alcazar did close, but reopened under new management :)
new phone #: 904-825-9948
http://www.thecafealcazar.com

_____________________________________________
Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

I got to see Mrs. Whaley's garden. She had passed by the time I got there, but it's just like she described. I took her daughter a Noisette I'd rooted for her.

Vic, that is great news. I love that place.

I went to see it as well, Sue. She really was a treasure.

Our family just got back from 3 days in Charleston. We had planned on going to Fort Sumter but the heat was so oppressive - I think it was about 105 degrees (or higher)- so we went to Fort Moultrie instead. That fort is really neat, it was used from the Revolutionary War up until WWII, and each era is recreated in the fort. It is on Sullivan's Island which is reached through Mt. Pleasant. We also visited the Yorktown at Patriot's Point. Since you are staying in Mt. Pleasant you might want to check out the visitor center/park/pier that is under the bridge connecting Mt. Pleasant to Charleston. Beautiful area and on Friday night they were showing a movie in the park. You also mentioned sweetgrass baskets, in Mt. Pleasant a section of Hwy. 17 is named after the basket makers as they sell their baskets in little booths all along the road. We picked Boone Hall plantation to go to, we knew it would be too hot to appreciate the gardens at the other plantations. Boone Hall has several original brick slave cabins to tour and present a very interesting Gullah show. The driveway is lined with huge oak trees that were planted in the 1700's, great photo-op. Have a great time!

my wife and I recently took this walking tour in Charleston and we were very happy with it.
onthemarkettours.com
if your group likes oysters this is a unique experience
bowensislandrestaurant.com
we had breakfast at this restaurant twice for breakfast.it was mostly locals you can view their menu at this site.
varietystorerestaurant.com
between charleston and savannah there is this church right near the highway which is definatly worth a stop in sheldon
http://www.flickr.com/photos/onasill/4748908122/
locals could tell you more but it seemed to me that people in charleston gave a very low priority to touring fort sumter

Locals here don't go to Ft Sumter because we've been already, but many tourists want to go because of the history. It's always cooler out on the water. This heat is dangerous and not to be minimized, but it will be much nicer in October.

I agree. Sheldon Church Ruins are beautiful. And Bowen's is a great experience. The oysters should be in by the end of October.

ksullivan--you and my daughter and family were on the same schedule. They, too, just returned from Georgia last week, but instead of being in Charleston, they divided their time between Atlanta and Macon where my sil's family lives. She said the heat was unbelievable.

My friend Jeri and I have scheduled for October because that's our window of opportunity, and we've done so knowing that the weather will not be ideal. Continued heat? Hurricanes? We've decided to take our chances. We've survived before. Last year in October, we were in Egypt and Jordan where the heat was in triple digits, though there was no humidity problem, and the year before that, also in October, I think, we were in Kuala Lumpur and the Malaysian part of Borneo where there was not only heat but also, in Mulu, a monsoon such as they had not seen in 16 years.

We wish that we might have been able to put our trip off until spring, but as has been mentioned, this is the time available for us to go.

I'm interested in taking a look at those sweetgrass baskets and am glad to know about the little booths along the highway. I appreciate the heads up on that.



ksullivan, paulhelmick, and soowoo--We're holding good thoughts that the weather won't be too much a problem for the Ft. Sumter visit. But whatever it is, this is the one site that Jeri has specified as really important for her to see. Makes sense. Though retired now, she was for many years chairman of the social science department at the high school where we both taught, and US history is one of the subjects that fell into her area of expertise. So with Ft. Sumter, it's that first shot of the Civil War thing....

soowoo--I tried to find info on whether Mrs. Whaley's garden is available for visits, but it seems that it is open to the public only once a year during a special garden or historical society event. Do you know anything about this? How wonderful to be able to see it after having spent so many hours getting to know her and her garden through the pages of her book.

Paulhelmick and soowoo--we will certainly be looking into your restaurant and tour recommendations. Will have some time later tonight. I did look at the flickr link for the church. It's beautiful. A definite stop. We plan to take a whole day driving from Charleston to Savannah and are looking for interesting stops along the way. Any other recommendations are more than welcome.

Sometimes Mrs. Whaley's garden and home are included in the Charleston Preservation Society tours.
http://www.preservationsociety.org/

Her daughter lives there now. You can walk past it but you can't really see the garden from the street. Gardens won't be as stunning as they are in spring, but there are MANY lovely ones in the HD.

Have you though about stopping in Beaufort on your way to Savannah? Hunting Island State Park, out past Beaufort is another favorite of mine.

Yes. Beaufort is in our plan. Will check out Hunting Island State Park. Thanks.

There are 2 things I love about Hunting island, in this order:

It's one of the few islands left with no development, and

The Marines in training from Parris Island go there in packs to hang out. Hoorah, and Semper Fi :D