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

Yup... That's what I have to deal with....

They also offer TODs. Got one for CLT-MCI. $99

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Alrighty, I've got to get to planning on this thing since it's coming up in a few short months.

Trying to get some restaurants nailed down.

Any thoughts?

I was thinking of a welcome dinner on Friday at Husk. I've heard great things about it and it's walkable for those of us staying downtown and it's good southern food.

http://www.huskrestaurant.com/

For Saturday, maybe a morning tour of the city and then lunch together at restaurant downtown. I was thinking Jestine's or Hominy Grill but both get pretty busy on the weekends and don't take reservations for lunch. If we wanted a guaranteed table, we could do Magnolia's. For dinner Saturday, I would think either a dinner cruise or Fig restaurant would be good. Charleston is beautiful from the water and it's a good way to enjoy the sunset.

For Saturday afternoon activities, I was thinking of putting together maybe 3 things and people can choose which one they want and we can go in small groups, unless everyone gravitates to one activity.

Sunday, we'll pick a good brunch spot. (Any suggestions?)


So, that's just the beginning of my planning, I'm open to suggestions if anyone has restaurants or activities they would like to try. My suggestions would be Patriots Point, a plantation tour or Fort Sumter. Personally, I want to head out to the Firefly distillery but I can do that with anyone who is interested on Sunday if needed (if they are open, I may have to go Friday afternoon)

Another option for Saturday, if we chose the Patriots Point activity, would be lunch somewhere on Shem Creek like Red's Ice House. Watch the boats, have some seafood. That could also be a good Sunday lunch choice as well.


I definitely could use some input though. Being that I'm from SC, I've done all this stuff before and will be fine with any of it. Also, I'm a pretty relaxed person, I'm perfectly happy sitting on a patio overlooking the water, drinking beer. However, you guys probably want to do more than that I'll get a car that will hold 5 and I'll be perfectly happy driving a few people to the meals or activities that are not in downtown.

Brunch Choices: Poogan's Porch, 72 Queen St or High Cotton, 199 East Bay St or Halls Chophouse, 434 King St.
Probably the best thing to do is to choose and then make sure we have reservations since it may be a large party.

There are some great restaurants in Charleston for seafood as well....Fleet Landing, Cypress Low Country Grill, Coast (up North of Calhoun at Meeting... but yum!), and Amen Street Fish and Raw Bar. Maybe one of those would be good for people coming in on Friday night as well.... Pearlz for appetizers.... Kaminski's for late night coffee and dessert!!!

Here are some of the links for the above....

HallsChophouse
Poogans Porch
High Cotton
Kaminskys
Amen Street

Fleet
Coast Bar and Grill
Reds Ice House
Cypress Low Country Grill

There are so many good restaurants in Charleston, and many that I still haven't been to. At the top of our wish list is FIG! We never book reservations far enough in advance to fit our schedule or it's several times been closed for a private event.

I would avoid Jestine's or Hominy Grill for a large group unless they'll commit to a reservation. I much prefer Hominy Grill to Jestine's, but Hominy Grill isn't really walking distance from the Market (about 2 miles). There may also be plenty of regional "locals" there with their personal cars, too, though. (Or maybe we'll all have Hertz rentals for USGS hits.) Another option is to get out of downtown and make the drive out to a restaurant at a beach or perhaps overlooking the marsh along the intracoastal waterway.

Husk would be an excellent choice for dinner. I like any of sc801's Sunday brunch suggestions, but Poogan's Porch might be the most difficult for a group. If I had to pick one, I'd probably choose High Cotton.

To add another dinner option: Anson Restaurant.

Oh my. What to wear? I'm not thinking about bring a jacket for diner.

Sunset should be around 7pm at that time of the year. Are there many companies offering a dinner cruise?

Other than private charters, I think that there's only one company that does this:
http://www.spiritlinecruises.com/dinner_carolina.asp

Thanks for the info.
Looks like boarding would be around 6:30pm, with the sunsetting at 7pm. Seems the cruise is over about 10pm, so that's a couple of hours of floating around in the dark.
Still, the moon should be just about full that weekend, so it is a chance to experience Charleston from a unique perspective.

Does anybody know anything about a possible MOJA Arts festival this year? Does that draw large crowds like Spoleto?

I don't know just how big a festival it is, but it won't draw crowds as big as Spoleto.

I definitely recommend a walking tour of downtown Charleston. The old parts of Charleston deserve to be walked and savored. We could hire a professional guide and or we could create our own tour between a few of us that know Charleston a bit and a guidebook.
If there are folks who long to enjoy the ocean, I'd be happy to take some folks out to Folly Beach for walking, swimming, etc. My family has a condo two blocks from the ocean at Folly Beach. This would probably be best done on Sunday and probably won't work for folks who have to fly/drive back early. It's probably 30-35 minutes from the beach to the airport.
I love Hominy Grill, but I don't know much about other downtown Charleston restaurants.
I do believe that we will have quite a few attendees from SC, GA and NC who will have their own cars.
A visit to one of the Plantations/Gardens would also be great.
Let's keep brainstorming good ideas.

It's obvious to me now that I won't really know if I can get this time off until 2 weeks before the meetup.
That means that my first hotel reservation will have to be fully refundable.
I was interested in the comment that Spoleto seemed "calm" this year. Consumer confidence was notably low this past May (which is presenting a big problem for some of us). I would guess that this will continue somewhat till after the elections. I am not an expert on hotel prices in Charleston, but it does seem to me that in the last 2 weeks or so the room prices may have been moderating a bit.

So often in life, one puts one's money down and one takes one's chances. Our meetup dates are for the last weekend in September, and I believe that was around the time period that Hugo passed through Charleston. I encourage everyone to prudently keep their plans as fully flexible as possible.

I'll drive. If National has their One, Two, Free promotion; I'll be likely in something nice off the Executive Aisle, Otherwise, I'll be in an econo. Haven't yet figured out if it is worth it to me to use an extra vacation day, pick up the car after noon on Thursday, and head out. But whatever, I'm planning to leave Charleston Monday morning for my return trip.

I prefer the drive from Charleston to Atlanta via Savannah over the drive from Charleston to Atlanta via Columbia.

Despite my unscientific observations of less traffic than I expected, ticket sales were pretty good, from what I understand.

Perhaps the same amount of flexibility should apply to any travel scheduled far in advance through ATL, MIA, MCO, MSY, CLT, etc. or the entire southeast US for that time of year.

Hugo hit on Sept 22, 1989.

Frankly, the end of September is often one of the most pleasant times of the year as the weather cools.

Neither of which is the most direct route.

To my mind, it would seem that that first dinner would be the most important. It should be comfortable(not as loud as ChuckECheese), and hopefully able to accomodate the group; whatever size that might turn out to be.
Balance and flexibility.
Husk is ok with me; but just mainly as a decent place to meet the group. I've been to their website and haven't really noticed much on the menu that I'd be particularly interested in. But that is ok. It wouldn't be first time, by a long shot, where for social reasons I went to dinner at a nice restaurant and picked over my food.

After that important first dinner, however, I reserve my right to be a grumpy old man and eat only what and where I please.

I am a landlubber. So in the beginning I was not interested in a dinner cruise. Eating food on a vessel bobbing on water had very limited appeal for me.
Then I checked out the Spiritline Cruises website; as well as TripAdvisor. I found people generally seemed to enjoy the experience. And when I reframed it as an experience rather than a dining option, I began to find it a much more appealing possibility.

Holy Moly, Batman; we're in the Holy City!
One thing that I would definitely like to do if I am able to make this trip is to attend services in one of the historic churches of Charleston.
The official visitors guide lists 19 historic houses of worship, and mentions that the area is historically known for its religious tolerance.

I have found the official visitors guide to be not only interesting reading; but also helpful in letting me get a grip on what I would like to see and do with my too limited time in Charleston.
On my last visit I wasted time when I obliviously drove past Angel Oak several times.
My official visitors guide has a map with the location of parking garages noted on it; which could save me some time.
I'm sure one of first stops I make will be the Charleston visitors center. They suggest asking at the desk for one of the public restroom guides. That, too, could save some time while touring this "walkable" city.

I just noticed a listing for Firefly Distillery in the official visitors guide which notes that guest are welcomed Wed-Sat 11am-5pm.

While trying to keep my own enthusiasm for all the area has to offer in check, I am trying to keep my focus on the peninsula for this trip. There is so much to see and do in the "walkable" city. And being a tourist, I don't really know how much time I will spend on each activity.
I'd like to walk along The Battery and see White Point Gardens; but I don't know how much time I would want to spend doing that.
I'd like to see the Old City Market; but really can't tell how much time I would spend there.
I'd like to walk through the King Street Antiques District. The time it would take to do that could depend on how many interesting things there were to see.
I am planning on leaving Monday, and hope to be at the brunch on Sunday(if I can get there after church service). Some people may leave on Sunday. I'm guessing that what I do on Sunday afternoon and evening will depend largely on what I did the day before.

Went out and bought my first bottle of sweet tea vodka this week. The price seemed reasonable enough.
Had my first two ounces straight.
Had my next two ounces "Southern Fly", like it says on the label.
Now I'm thinking about just dumping it into a cold glass of iced tea. (105 in Atlanta yesterday)
How you drinking it?

I prefer mine mixed with lemonade. An alcoholic Arnold Palmer.

Mixed with sweet tea is easy and tasty as well.