Charleston Trip Report

Day 1

We flew via Continental Express Jet from Newark to Charleston. It was great since once we landed and got our rental car, we were in Charleston around noon. After a lot of research, I decided to stay at the Harbourview Inn. We eventually found the hotel and were able to check in early. We had a deluxe harbourview room on the third floor #302.

I would definitely recommend this room. The views were beautiful. Once we freshened up we decided to walk around. Being that we were right next to the Vendue Inn, we decided to go up to the Roof Top bar. We enjoyed a light lunch and a couple of beers.

Then we walked down Queen St. to King St. We walked into some shops and made it back to East Bay St.

After a lot of walking, we were pretty tired so we stopped in the Southland Brewery to cool off. We then headed back to the Harbourview Inn for the wine and cheese that they offer in the afternoon (5 - 6 pm). Before dinner at Magnolia’s we walked over to McCrady’s for a cocktail. When we walked in we were overwhelmed with this place. The bar alone was amazing. I hadn’t heard much about this place but it was a place I would definitely like to try for dinner the next time we get the opportunity to visit Charleston. Before we knew it was time to head over to Magnolia’s. My husband ordered the fried green tomatoes for an appetizer and the buttermilk fried chicken for the main entree. I ordered the fried chicken livers and the shrimp sausage and grits for the main entree. Everything we ordered was delicious. I myself was surprised to find out how good chicken livers fried were. After a filling dinner, we went for a walk to Pearls to have a nightcap.

Day 2

For breakfast the Harbourview offers a nice complimentary continental breakfast, however we felt like eggs for breakfast. We walked to Joseph’s and had two great omelets for breakfast. Service was quick and efficient.

After breakfast we walked around and wound up at the Old Exchange building. We wound up going in and walking around. We also joined a small tour group for the dungeon. This was a very interesting building and really enjoyed it. Next we headed back to our hotel to grab our rental car via hotel valet (great plus) and headed to one of the plantations. The first one on my list wa Boone Plantation. I was so glad we chose this plantation. The drive alone makes it worth it. The oak trees with the moss were absolutely beautiful.

We toured the main house, butterfly conservatory and the slave cabins. We didn’t get a chance to do the Gullah tour but heard from other people it was really enjoyable. We drove back to Charleston to grab a quick bite to eat. We stopped in the Crab Shack for a couple of appetizers. It was then time to get ready for Sunset Sail on the Schooner Pride. We enjoyed the sail immensely especially since there were only about 10 people on the boat. The staff was very friendly and informative. The sunset wasn’t quite as impressive as the sails we have done in Key West, but it was still a lot of fun and highly recommend this tour.

After the sail we walked to the Market Pavilion Hotel to check out their roof top bar. Wow is all I can say when you walk in this lobby. Very beautiful. The upstairs area was very crowded but we were able to find a table where enjoyed a few drinks and very satisfying pizza.

Day 3 - Today we wanted to try another place for breakfast. We headed down to Tropical Toast. I wasn’t crazy at the fact that they sat us all the way in the back room right on top of another table when there were plenty of other tables to sit at. Well we just decided to stay there. The food was just okay. I would recommend Joseph’s over Toast. After breakfast we headed over to the Olde Town Carriage Tours.

We had a very informative tour guide and would recommend this outfit to anyone. Our tour actually exceeded the 45 min. time due to the fact there was a fire earlier on King St. and we were detoured a bit. It was nice to see the College of Charleston and that area of town.

After our tour we walked around the market and then headed back to the hotel to grab our car. For the afternoon we decided on Magnolia Plantation. We wound up just doing the garden walk which took us well over an hour. The gardens were just beautiful and a bit buggy and we did see an alligator even though he was a small guy (NOTE: I noticed when we walked through the gardens there were a lot of spider webs that were occupied by their owners, we had to be sure to duck down several times in order to avoid walking right into one of these webs).

For dinner that night I had made reservations at 82 Queen.

We were able to sit outside in the courtyard and it was very romantic. For dinner I ordered the she-crab soup and pesto crusted grouper. My husband had the asparagus salad and filet mignon. Everything we ordered was terrific and the soup lived up to all of the hype. My husband wished he had ordered it.

After dinner we walked around and went to our ghost tour. We booked our tour with Bull Dog Tours and did the Ghost and Dungeon tour (not realizing they would take us right back to the old exchange building). The tour was pleasant but I felt a little disappointed that I picked this particular tour due to the fact we already went to the dungeon. Nevertheless it was interesting (especially the stories of Poogan’s Porch Restaurant).

Day 4 and 5 - Folly Beach

We checked out of the Harbourview and headed to Folly Beach for our last two nights. We booked a room at the Holiday Inn and stayed on the 8th floor. The hotel itself was very accommodating and clean.

We especially enjoyed the pool area bar for a few afternoon drinks.

During the day we would relax near the beach and at night we would have a few drinks around town and grab a meal at the crab shack or snapper jacks.
Great fried green tomatoes!

Day 6

Time to head back home. The flight was a little bumpy but made it back to NJ in an hour and 38 minutes. Can’t beat that vs. a 12 hour drive. All and all I wanted to thank everyone in this forum for all of the help. We definitely can see why Charleston is recommended over and over for a great city to visit. We enjoyed our time and hope to return soon in the near future.

Bridge headed back to Charleston