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.

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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

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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