<p>We live only 5 hours from Charleston, SC, but have never been there. We will be passing through this weekend, and will have an afternoon to look around. We will arrive, we hope, around 1:00 p.m. We will meet up with S2 (he is there to sub with the Charleston Symphony) and “do something.” Then we will attend the concert that evening. </p>
<p>I wonder if any CC travelers could offer some suggestions of how best to spend an afternoon in Charleston.</p>
<p>Binx, I am flying out this weekend for a wedding in California or I would be happy to play tour guide. Are you staying downtown? I highly recommend a carriage tour. They are very touristy, but I think they are great. You can pick up most carriage rides downtown in the market area, just ask. You get a good flavor for the city, the tour guides are informative and funny. They usually have two types of tours, the upper or the lower. If you have an option, take the lower around the battery. I personally think the lower tour is better. Another recommendation for downtown; walk down East Bay street, check out all the shops and restaurants and walk to Battery park where the harbor is. After you stroll around Battery Park, walk back up either King Street or Meeting Street. The houses and sights are great! If you are here on Friday and can make the parade at the Citadel at 3:30, that is a great sight as well. The Citadel is very close to downtown If not, even a windshield tour of the Citadel anytime is great. Another really fun thing to do on the weekend is rent a bike at either the Bicycle Shop on Meeting Street or Bike the Bridge Rentals on Concord Street. Then bike over the new Ravenel Bridge into Mt Pleasant or just to the top and back. If you don’t want to bike, drive over the Ravenel Bridge into Mt Pleasant, park, then walk up to the top span. The view is unbeatable. I could go on and on. Have fun and if I can answer any other questions let me know.</p>
<p>Oh, you MUST have shrimp and grits!</p>
<p>Great tips! Thanks. A carriage ride might be a great way to get an overview. I didn’t even realize the Citadel was there - duh. If S2 gets more gigs here, maybe we can plan a longer trip. This time, we’re enroute to DC for Thanksgiving. We’re staying out near the airport, so we can deliver S2 there Sunday morning, so he can go to two more days worth of school before meeting us in DC. (Wish he could just drive up with us.)</p>
<p>My H just asked me if I had any Invisible Friends in Charleston. He didn’t know I had already posted here. He enjoyed the grits and shrimp suggestion - two of my least favorite foods. 
But he loves them both (although he says he’s never had them together!)</p>
<p>Spent a few days there in Oct with husband for seminar he attended. I was basically “on my own” during the days and had a ball. We stayed at Charleston Place so it was convenient for me to walk to all of the shopping. On one of the days, I took a tour which involved history and culinary arts. I loved every minute of it and wished we could have stayed longer or had arrived earlier. To me, it is a lot like New Orleans minus Bourbon Street, and sadly, I must say, that I have no desire to return to New Orleans. I would much rather visit Charleston! (No offense to anyone, I just think it is going to be a long time before New Orleans returns, if it ever does!)</p>
<p>I second Lukester. Start with a carriage ride, then if you have time walk around the Battery and rest of historic district. Definitely consider dining on shrimp and grits–check the guidebooks for several restaurants that are good for Low Country food. S.N.O.B., Hominy Grill (I think that’s the name–it’s a little farther from historic district than the others but very appealing), and others.</p>
<p>Don’t miss the chance to stroll through the City Market. There are hundreds of vendor stalls and the chance to pick up some inexpensive or expensive holiday gifts if that is something you need to accomplish…</p>
<p>If you love old homes - take a home tour. There are some fabulous homes there.</p>
<p>If you like old cemeteries - go to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Members of the Fayssoux, Bee and Stevens families are buried there. The graves of Civil War Generals Barnard E. Bee Jr and his brother-in-law Clement Stevens are there, also. Beautiful cemetery and the neighborhood around it is lovely.</p>
<p>Charleston is a lovely city with much history. Be certain to take a walk along the waterfront - near the Battery. The city also has great restaurants - look for some travel blogs - there will be plenty of recommendations.</p>
<p>DON"T take the boat ride to Ft Sumter. There’s not much to see out there, and you have to wait about an hour or two for the boat to return. It does give you a nice view of the city from the water, but unless you’re a civil war buff don’t bother.</p>
<p>DO take the carriage ride. Charleston has tons of history and the horse-drawn carriage rides will explain it to you. They can’t all go down to the Battery, though (the beautiful historic area next to Charleston Harbor), and last time I was there the tour guide couldn’t tell you which of 3 routes you would be taking until he was ready to depart with a carriage full of guests. Then they pulled a route at random from the 3 choices. Somehow I always end up touring Ansonville, but it’s still interesting. If your tour doesn’t go to the Battery, take a drive down there yourself and walk around. </p>
<p>Charleston has a well-marked Visitors Center with shuttles that go to the Market area, where the tours leave from, or just head to the Market yourself.</p>
<p>We always stay at the Charleston Place Hotel when visiting and it’s a great location for walking and exploring the city. One of my favorite things to do in Charleston is to visit the Gibbes Museum of Art, a wonderful small museum with a great collection and a very nice museum store. The market is always fun, and, of course, walking around looking at the beautiful architecture. It’s a very nice small city to explore, especially if it’s not the middle of summer!</p>
<p>Yeah, problem is, I love old homes, cemeteries, tours, markets, history, architecture, etc … and we’re only there for an afternoon! According to the Internet, the market is only open till 2:00, and we might not even get there til close to 1. I hope we can make it. My MO for touring cities in Europe was to always head first for the Tourist Info kiosk - get a good walking map, some nice suggestions, and sometimes a tour in English! And I always buy a tour book. So my goal this time is to head for the market, then the tourist center, then maybe a carriage ride. I would like to go around the historic area - maybe the tourist center can help me find a tour that is more definite.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help. I’m really looking forward to this. I get to see a bit of the town, and my S2 at the same time! Once we leave Saturday, I’ll probably be off line most of the week, so Happy Thanksgiving everyone. </p>
<p>And then we come home for a few days, and then leave for Germany for till mid-December. (Business for H, visiting friends for me.) But I might be able to sign on from there once or twice.</p>
<p>Thanks for the tips!</p>
<p>Binx, Have fun and do let us know where you went and what you saw. My own personal two cents, the market isn’t all that great. Just a bunch of vendors pushing trinkets. It’s what’s all around the market that’s really fun.</p>
<p>Lukester, have to agree although I thought it was better than N.O. market. A tour or just wandering around the shops near the market might be better. OP, Can I sneak into your suitcase? I would love to return to Charleston! You will want to plan another trip there, I am sure!!</p>
<p>S2 called tonight to tell us he got us 2 comp tickets. Only problem is, we already bought tickets via ticketmaster! Didn’t know they were going to comp him. So, anybody wanna come?</p>
<p>Enjoy the performance and the time with the kids.</p>
<p>Checking in from the hotel. Charleston is great. We ended up with only a few hours. Wasted some time at the world’s slowest sandwich shop, and a confusing encounter with competing tourist bureaus. Carriage tours would be a gamble as to what area we would see, and the bus tour would use up too much time, and we were tired of riding in a vehicle anyway. So we drove to the battery, walked up past the Rainbow Row and some amazing houses, past the slave market, and on to the Market. Bought myself a basket carved out of cypress. Got some info to read from the tourist information center (the real one, after the false start at the co-op “welcome center”) with which to plan our next trip in more detail.</p>
<p>Charleston reminds us a lot of Savannah. The concert was great - was well attended. Orchestra was very good. Afterwards, I overheard two ladies talking, and one said, “We are so fortunate to have an orchestra of this quality here, and to think we almost lost it.” It’s a pretty young orchestra (in terms of members) - doesn’t pay real well, so players tend to use it to start their careers, then move on. It was fun to be at our kid’s first “real” professional orchestra gig! They seemed to like him; encouraged him to audition in April. I just hope they’ll invite him back to sub again, so I have a reason to come back.</p>
<p>Hi binx! Check out this thread <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/400089-what-do-charleston-sc.html?highlight=Charleston[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/400089-what-do-charleston-sc.html?highlight=Charleston</a>
Lots of great tips!</p>
<p>I am glad you enjoyed Charleston. Fortunately for me D2 attends the College of Charleston so I now have a lot of “excuses” for visiting…</p>