posted by justincredibleWe were going to go to Nashville but there are two Taylor Swift concerts that weekend and lodging prices are insane.
Wife and daughter are going to one of the Tampa shows this weekend. It was $250 for a Holiday Inn Express 10 miles from the stadium.
posted by justincredibleOkay I'm gonna pick your brain now.
What would you say are the top 5 things for a tourist to check out to truly experience Charleston? Any historical tours worth taking?
What are your must visit breweries and restaurants?
If you're a golfer, do you have any course recommendations?
Would you recommend any specific areas to stay in?
What resort are you going to stay at? Francis Marion is in a solid location, walkable (within a mile) to most things downtown, though it might be hot as balls. As for your questions above...
Top things to experience Charleston imo...
Walk from Francis Marion down King (shopping) to Charleston Place and turn up Market Street. That street has a open air market with lots of hand made items, as well as cheap touristy things.
Drive around or park at the battery and walk around the park and see the old houses and Rainbow Row.
A carriage tour, though controversial among locals, is a good way to see a chunk of the city and not be stuck in a van, though you can't pick which area you get to see, it's a lottery system. (If you prefer by van, the visitor center is within walking distance and has many tours to choose from, also has a small local retail shop and tons of brochures and maps).
I would also recommend a trip to a plantation. There are a few in West Ashley (Magnolia and Middleton) and also one in Mt. Pleasant, Boone Hall, which is still a working farm. I've been to the first 2, but not Boone Hall other than to actually buy produce.
For history, I would definitely do Fort Sumter. First shots of the civil war, it is also out in the harbor so you get to take a ferry out there and get on the water. I do like some of this historical walking tours. I would recommend Bulldog Tours, but there are others. Besides daily history walks, they also have a nighttime Ghost and Graveyard tour, as well as a really cool tour about the "Dark Side" of Charleston which gets into pirates, brothels, crime, etc. I have been on both the night ones and enjoyed them.
I agree with Brutus, if you have the time, touring the Yorktown Carrier is pretty cool, and you also get to go onto a small destroyer. They did have the sub too but it got too rusty and expensive to keep for touring.
For outdoors stuff, there are many Kayak rentals, and the one on Shem Creek is cool and almost guaranteed to see dolphins. There are also many inshore fishing charters for 2-3 hours if that is of interest. Shem Creek is also a really cool area with 5 or so restaurants on a decent sized "creek" where boats will dock up 3 wide on each side. Saltwater Cowboys is my favorite, but Red's/ Vickery's/ and Water's Edge are cool too (they all get slammed though).
Breweries and restaurants, too many to say, but I'll try to be brief, and they kind of are dependent on specific areas... Get reservations in as soon as they open up, though many places set aside some for walk ins as well as the bar.
For restaurants downtown, FIG is pretty much the consensus best restaurant in town. Followed by places like Husk, 82 Queen, Magnolia's, SNOB. For raw bar, The Ordinary and Darling Oyster house are good, as well as 167 Raw or Leon's. For seafood, Hanks is good on the Market, and Fleet Landing is also very popular and on the water.
For area specific outings, Sullivan's Island is one of my favorite. It's the more low key beach, closest to downtown, and you can eat at one of my favorite restaurants Obstinate Daughter (with Gelato underneat), or Poes Tavern (Edgar Allen Poe was stationed at the old fort on Sullivans), or if you like BBQ, Home Team is by far my favorite and they have an awesome frozen drink they are known for, The Gamechanger. Longboard is also there, but is pretty new and I have only had small bites there, but it was very good.
For BBQ, there are 3 located up the neck of the Peninsula that are all good. There is another Home Team location here, Lewis BBQ (of Texas fame, brisket), and Rodney Scott which does whole hog bbq.
As for breweries, there are 3 separate areas where you can hit multiple.
Westbrook is one of the commercially available ones and is in Mt. Pleasant, but they also have a lot of one off barrel aged offerings. Within a mile is also Ghost Monkey and Two Blokes.
Coast and Holy City are two other well known ones and are in the Park Circle are. You also have Commonehouse Aleworks is also close, as is Firefly Distillery which has Sweet Tea Vodka and other products.
On the Peninsula but up towards the neck, there are a few more all close. Edmond's Oast Brewing (not the restaurant which is also good and close by) has a lot of sours and other interesting flavor beers as well as the normal ipas. Close by is Tradesman's, Revelry, Brewlab, Fatty's, and Munkle. I have not been to all of them. I think this trolley still runs, but it starts at Palmetto which I would not reccommend. https://charlestondaily.net/charleston-brewery-district-trolley-every-saturday/
I stink at golf. But, anything on Kiawah would be good, but it's very expensive. It looks like almost anything here is over $100 for 18. The municipal course is the cheapest and not bad at all. Patriots Point is popular because it is on the Harbor for a few holes. I've heard good thinks about Stono Ferry (kinda far away) and the course at Wild Dunes. There are also a few country clubs open to the public in Mt. P, Rivertowne/ Dunes West/ and Charleston National, but I couldn't tell you about the quality.
Where to stay... your wife's pick is a solid area to be in. I would have recommended downtown 1st, and then for more budget options, there are a good amount right over the bridge in Mount Pleasant. There aren't too many areas I would recommend unless you could find a decent Airbnb on IOP or Sullivans. The other beach is Folly, but it is far away and I haven't been there in years. If y'all do want to go to a beach, get there early bc parking fills up quick.
Ok that was a lot, and I'm sure I missed a bunch. So feel free to ask anything about specific restaurants or things to do.
tl;dr
Here are the resorts she looked at:
Tides Folly Beach: https://www.tidesfollybeach.com/stay/
Wild Dunes: https://www.hyatt.com/destination-by-hyatt/wilddunes-charleston-island-resort
I think Tides Folly is quite a bit cheaper in that we can do 4 nights there for the same as 3 at Wild Dunes.
The Wild Dunes links course looks sick but $199 for a morning tee time. I can get something after 4 for $109 but assume the weather would be much worse then.
Thanks for all of the info, I am going to start checking out some of these places online to see if we'd like them. I will definitely be getting oysters, probably multiple times.
For outdoors stuff, there are many Kayak rentals, and the one on Shem Creek is cool and almost guaranteed to see dolphins. There are also many inshore fishing charters for 2-3 hours if that is of interest. Shem Creek is also a really cool area with 5 or so restaurants on a decent sized "creek" where boats will dock up 3 wide on each side. Saltwater Cowboys is my favorite, but Red's/ Vickery's/ and Water's Edge are cool too (they all get slammed though).
Alright, we're definitely doing this. Would you recommend the kayak tour or just renting and going off on our own?
posted by justincredibleHere are the resorts she looked at:
Tides Folly Beach: https://www.tidesfollybeach.com/stay/
Wild Dunes: https://www.hyatt.com/destination-by-hyatt/wilddunes-charleston-island-resort
I think Tides Folly is quite a bit cheaper in that we can do 4 nights there for the same as 3 at Wild Dunes.
The Wild Dunes links course looks sick but $199 for a morning tee time. I can get something after 4 for $109 but assume the weather would be much worse then.
Thanks for all of the info, I am going to start checking out some of these places online to see if we'd like them. I will definitely be getting oysters, probably multiple times.
Those 2 areas are going to be totally different. Wild Dunes is going to be a "real" resort where everything is self contained for the most part, and definitely going to be more expensive to stay and eat/drink. It is really nice though. IOP is close and has a cool beach front concert venue that has been around for 50 years, and a few eating options. Sullivans is a little further south.
The tides at folly beach is more just a beachfront hotel, but you have a whole small town there with many different restaurants and dive bars, a little corner store, and a cool chill vibe (lots of small beach cottages, less commercial).
I went to Fairbanks, AK for spring break this year. Was cold, but fantastic. We drove to get a glimpse of Denali (didn't see her), took the trek north to the Arctic Circle sign, did some hot springs, saw the Northern Lights. Was a fantastic time. It has given me the itch to seek adventure and see new things. Relaxation is great and necessary, but I will be working in 1-2 adventures every year. I wish I would have reached this point in my life sooner, where money towards trips is much better spent than the stupid crap I've bought over the last 20 years. (I'll post AK pics as soon as this stupid site is fixed...)
But if your images are huge in size then they aren't going to upload and I'm not fixing that for the 10s of photos that get uploaded every year. Resize them to under 1MB and upload and you shouldn't have an issue.
Did you post them to imgur first and then try posting them here?
BTW, Alaska is definitely on my list.
posted by justincredibleBTW, Alaska is definitely on my list.
Go. Put it on the top of your list. It should be the next place. Give yourself lots of time. It is 2 completely different places in the winter and summer. I will be going back in the summer, of an extended period of time, and seeing as much as I possibly can. If you want to relax, do NOT go to Alaska. Go there with the intent of never stopping, and seeing everything that you can.
posted by justincredibleDid you post them to imgur first and then try posting them here?
I've tried everything.
posted by justincredibleDid you post them to imgur first and then try posting them here?
Does the https on my images cause an issue?
posted by ernest_t_bassDoes the https on my images cause an issue?
No, it's taking all of your links and combining them into one big link that obviously doesn't exist.
Weird.
I fixed them for you.
Going to California: Napa, Redwoods, SF and Monterey. May drive down the coast to Santa Barbara.
posted by Dr Winston O'BoogieWith an aching in your heart?Going to California:
posted by justincredibleI fixed them for you.
Obliged
posted by ernest_t_bass
With an aching in your heart?
Somebody told me there’s a girl out there with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair.
