[Sep 28, 2012] Charleston, SC DO (Charleston, SC)

Some of us native South Carolinians would like to cordially invite you all to visit one of our most beautiful cities. Charleston has something to offer for everyone so be our guests, grab yourself a glass of tea and relax.

A rough idea of our plans:

Friday, September 28th
- Arrive, check in and meet for dinner
- Drinks

Saturday, September 27th
- Lunch
- Afternoon activity
- Dinner (perhaps a dinner cruise)
- Drinks

Sunday, September 28th
- Brunch
- Afternoon activity
- checkout and departures

Our home base will be historic downtown Charleston. Most people should be able to find a hotel chain of their choice represented.

Hilton - Doubletree Historic District, Embassy Suites Historic District, Hampton Inn Historic District (I booked the Doubletree using the MVP rate code and received a substantial discount)
Marriott - Courtyard Charleston Historic District
Priority Club - Holiday Inn Charleston Mills House, Holiday Inn Charleston Historic District

All hotels are within walking distance of each other so it will be easy for most to get/use their preferred points and still be a part of every activity.

Throughout this thread, we will propose and choose our activities and choices for restaurants. I'll update the schedule above as choices and reservations are made.

So please join us, we look forward to meeting you all!

CHS is serviced by the following airlines - AA, DL, CO, US, UA and WN.

Activities:
Low Country Dining – I would like to plan a welcome dinner for Friday evening, lunch and dinner on Saturday and lunch on Sunday. Charleston has amazing food and a lot of choices that could accommodate us as a group. We could even look into a dinner cruise on Saturday evening. Charleston is beautiful from the water.
Tour of downtown Charleston – there are many companies that provide carriage and walking tours of downtown. Charleston is a beautiful city with a long history and this could be a lot of fun for people who have never visited the area before.
Tour of Fort Sumter – this is also a popular tourist activity in Charleston. It includes a boat ride to the Fort which is in the harbor. If we stay downtown, we can walk to the place where the boats set out for the tours
Plantation tour – some people may want to explore some of the beautiful plantations in the area. These would require transportation to the plantation as they are not located inside the city. However, there are many beautiful, historic homes in downtown that offer tours as well.
Golf – some of you may want to spend your Sunday on the course. Charleston has many well known and well regarded courses
Beach – the beaches of Mt. Pleasant, Isle of Palms and Folly Beach are just a short drive away
Winery and Distillery Tour – (this is my favorite) a tour of the Firefly Vodka distillery and the winery on the same property. The facility is located on a beautiful, moss draped island outside of Charleston. Firefly Vodka makes a uniquely southern (and the original) sweet tea vodka using tea from the nations last remaining tea plantation, which is located just down the road. I would arrange transport for this tour.
Other activities – feel free to suggest them! Shopping, fishing, crabbing, biking, ghost tours, the SC aquarium, the list goes on.

I'll be there, and as a fellow Charleston native, I am happy to make further suggestions about Charleston.
Y'all come on down now!

Looking forward to the DO! Thanks for organizing this, Jenn!

I'll be evaluating how many vacation days I have as to if I arrive on Friday or Saturday. I'm already looking forward to it

Sounds good.

I'll probably arrive mid-day Friday and stay through Monday. Already booked at the Doubletree. I want to get there early and stay late so I can help people get to and from their hotels if needed and maybe get in a few victory drinks at the beach on Sunday night.

I think that if very few people have to get rental cars, it will make up for the $200 a night hotel rooms. No parking to pay for, no gas. Once you're in downtown, you really don't need a car. If we do the winery, beach, etc, I'll book us a van.

I can come early and help out. Also, I'll have a car.

Yeah, but some of us are pretty much forced to have a car anyway, just because of where we live

RSVP'd

Please add to the list.

Things may change at the last minute.. Although I'm hoping it won't..

Edit: The only downside is when flying with UA there seems to be no mainline all the way..

I love it when the joke is on me. I always said I'd never attend one of those DOs; but there could hardly be a more tempting place to hold one than Charleston. The people of Charleston are possibly the most gracious and well mannered folks in the entire country. I always look like a complete clod when I'm visiting there.
So first a word of warning about hotels there. Charleston is a beloved destination in America, and the tourism professionals know how to keep the rooms sold! So I tell everybody to be sure they have a room BEFORE they head off to Charleston.
Normally, I'd skip Friday and just show up on Saturday. However, I have been wanting to visit Brookgreen Gardens. So, I might talk myself into stopping there first before heading to Charleston for Friday dinner.
There is so much (really too much) to see and do around Charleston. However, I would like to again visit the USS Yorktown; as well as Folly Beach. Do the young people still surf on the north end of Folly Beach?
And it was during September, wasn't it?

The Yorktown! Another fun activity possibility!


And yes, the kids still surf at Folly.

2soonold, glad to hear you may come. I also thought of Brookgreen gardens as a side trip. It is a very special place (more than an hour away, however) Maybe I'll compile a list of possible side trips for those who can come early or stay late. And yes, folks still surf at the Washout on Folly Beach, as well as other places on Folly.

I'd like to attend this! I was born in charleston. i will add it to my calendar and mark myself as a maybe.

I will be an auntie in September so will also be on baby watch too

The one time I visited Charleston without a room reservation, I wound up staying on the outskirts of the city, paying way over $100 for what appeared to be a converted closet with a rollaway bed.
Charleston has 4 hotels listed with HistoricHotels of America. A quick look at the hotels listed above suggested that I would like stay somewhere other than the DoubleTree, but within reasonable walking distance.
Is it safe to walk around Charleston after dark?
And is there a suitable public parking garage for those who may decide to stay away from the downtown area?

Oh goodie, another Charleston native!

Yes, Charleston is generally safe. Especially walking on the main streets downtown. There will be plenty of others out walking if the weather is good.I wouldn't go walking around North Charleston by myself at night, but I've always felt fine downtown.

There are many public parking garages downtown.

Yes, it's safe to walk around Charleston after dark. that doesn't mean there aren't some areas you should be careful in, but downtown should be fine.
There are a number of parking garages downtown.

Haven't been back in years! Great city.

I have been looking at some of the tourism videos of Folly Beach, and I could understand how some might want to stay somewhere other than downtown. Hence my question about decent public parking in Charleston.
The DoubleTree looks quite lovely, but Charleston has many nice hotels to offer.
I am afraid that if I were to stay at Folly Beach; I would pretty much just park my butt in the sand and miss the DO!
Folly Beach looks like it might have been renourished since the last time I saw it.
Is it still possible, or was it ever possible, to walk out to Morris Island Lighthouse at low tide; or is that just an urban legend?
Did the Washout exist before HUGO?

Folly was last renourished in 2005, so it actually has eroded quite a bit since then. The County Park was utterly devastated by erosion last year when Hurricane Irene passed offshore. At this point, it is not known when the County Park will reopen (not in 2012). The rest of Folly is in reasonably good shape.
No, you can not walk out to Morris Island at low tide. But the Lighthouse has been stabilized and has a good chance of surviving for some more decades.
I'm pretty sure the Washout has been the surfing place since before Hugo.
Folly does have a nice hotel which was renovated recently.

So, when would be a good time to book a room with an eye toward getting a good deal?

I'm not so sure, to tell you the truth. I already booked mine, used the MVP Hilton rate. It's fully refundable so I'll check here and there and cancel and rebook if the price goes down.

I'm not so familiar with the MPV, because I wasn't planning to use it this year. It's a good thing that it is fully refundable.
Like many people, I tend to be "set it and forget it"; which means I'm probably going to forget about rebooking if the price goes down.
I've been looking at hotels in Charleston and I had forgotten just how many good ones there are. But my experience suggests that I wouldn't want to head off to Charleston without a reservation. And this being Milepoint, I'd like to think that I could turn up some kind of a deal.

You should be able to find something, especially if you don't stay in the heart of downtown. Those of us who want to be right in the center are going to pay a little more. If you don't mind driving into the city for meals and possible activities, you can certainly find much lower prices out by the airport and in other points north or south of the city.