Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report weekend in Charleston

We spent a long weekend in Charleston in early November 2019. The weather was lovely- a little chilly in the morning (45-50) and very pleasant during the rest of the day and evening. We took lyft rides everywhere. The lyft fare from the airport to the historic district was about $25 plus tip, and the drive took about 30 minutes.

We stayed a wonderful B & B-Two Meeting Street Inn. The home is very pretty (if you like old houses)-chandeliers, hard wood on the floor and ceiling downstairs, gigantic staircase, nice big porch for breakfast, drinks or late afternoon tea. Close to the water in the historic district.

On the first night we went to High Cotton for dinner. This is on East Bay Street. My partner and I each had she-crab soup, and I had some scallops and she had asparagus and crab "Oscar style". WE both liked our meals. The restaurant had a live band in the bar- a keyboard player and a singer.

Saturday, the next day-to get our bearings- we took a walking tour with Ed Grimball. He is a very good guide-has done it very 20+ years. It was quite reasonably priced-$22 per person. Charleston -at least the historic part-is a great walking city. Much to see. Lots of gardens and interesting houses to look at. The "Normal" Charleston house in the historic district is turned 90 degrees from the street-so even if there is not much lot frontage the lots are deep so the house can be quite long and many have patios on the second and third floors.

We then went to the Mills House Wyndham and had lunch in their very attractive outdoor courtyard. My partner ordered a winner- the Fried scallop po-boy.

We then continued walking up King Street. Many shops/upscale shops. We got to the College of Charleston and started to run into a lot of college students..

Charleston was having a wedding frenzy the weekend we were there. When we were finishing our meal at the Mills House, they were closing the restaurant for a reception. a number of the big churches in the historic district had at least one wedding. Our inn was across from a big park at the battery and there were a number of weddings there.

After we had afternoon tea at our inn, we decided we didn't need any more food that night.

On Sunday morning, my partner decided she wanted to go to Middleton Place, a former plantation that has elaborate gardens, among other things. Tours are less available on sunday, so we decided to try to get a lyft ride. This worked out- about a 30- minute ride to the plantation. It has in intriguing history. Very capable owners who owned it in the late 18th and 19th centuries. The garden was designed by a French landscaper who was familiar with the work of Le Notre. The plantation is on a river, which provided some wonderful vistas. The main buildings were destroyed by Union troops in 1865. One building has been repaired and is available for tours. There also are some demonstrations of various trades the would have been practiced in the 19th century, such as wool spinning and blacksmithing. There are some cute animals,such as a number of sheep, some draft horses and a few "cashmere goats." But the gardens are the high point. We ate a very good late lunch there- I had pulled pork and my partner had stuffed quail. Then we were able to get a lyft ride back.

We went back to the inn for tea and had another early evening.

The next morning, after breakfast, we went to the airport and went back to Houston.