Help me plan our Charleston Pre-Cruise Stay!

[WendyVF]

DH, DD (15) and I are booked on the Fantasy sailing 7/24. We'll be driving and it'll be about a 7 hour drive.

 

Hotel - have read the posts and am more confused than ever. Which area is the best for Park and Cruise? Hotels near the airport seem the cheapest. I've read about Hawthorn but the yellow bus transportation is not appealing. Don't mind paying to park at the port if a downtown hotel makes more sense for the rest of our plans.

 

Activities- need suggestions for the day we drive in for the afternoon and evening and the next day. We'd like to see Ft. Sumter and other historical highlights and of course DD loves shopping!

 

Dining- we love seafood and definitely want to try some of the local favorites.

 

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

 

Wendy

[rageous]

Here is some info from the Charleston Area Convention and Visitor Bureau.

 

http://www.charlestoncvb.com/visitors/special_offers/packages_stay.html

 

I would recommend downtown or Mt. Pleasant / Patriots Point.

[Micah Taylor]

DH, DD (15) and I are booked on the Fantasy sailing 7/24. We'll be driving and it'll be about a 7 hour drive.

 

Hotel - have read the posts and am more confused than ever. Which area is the best for Park and Cruise? Hotels near the airport seem the cheapest. I've read about Hawthorn but the yellow bus transportation is not appealing. Don't mind paying to park at the port if a downtown hotel makes more sense for the rest of our plans.

 

Activities- need suggestions for the day we drive in for the afternoon and evening and the next day. We'd like to see Ft. Sumter and other historical highlights and of course DD loves shopping!

 

Dining- we love seafood and definitely want to try some of the local favorites.

 

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

 

Wendy

 

We stayed at the Hampton Inn North Charleston. It was affordable, offered free breakfast, and a short drive from the highway. The shuttles they offered were small (Chevy Suburbans or 15 passenger vans), but they were on time and air conditioned.

 

We spent the day before we left in Charleston walking along Museum Mile. We went to the Charleston Museum, and bought combo tickets to tour the two houses they also own. All three were fun, and worth the price of admission and time spent in them. One is at the far end of Museum Mile, so you can walk or grab a ride. We walked, which proved to be a good way to spend the day.

 

We ate lunch at Hyman's. It is a great seafood place, and impossible to miss. They've got barkers wandering around on weekends, offering bites of appetizers to draw people in.

 

For dinner we went to the Hominy Grill. Good food, featuring creative takes on Southern and American cuisine that include organic, sustainable ingredients. I had the fried green tomato BLT, and would happily drive all the way back there from Massachusetts to have it again. My partner had the shrimp and grits, which she loved.

 

There are lots of things to do in Charleston, and what we did barely scratches the surface. Have fun and good luck!

[Dive Master]

DH, DD (15) and I are booked on the Fantasy sailing 7/24. We'll be driving and it'll be about a 7 hour drive.

 

Hotel - have read the posts and am more confused than ever. Which area is the best for Park and Cruise? Hotels near the airport seem the cheapest. I've read about Hawthorn but the yellow bus transportation is not appealing. Don't mind paying to park at the port if a downtown hotel makes more sense for the rest of our plans.

 

To see the historic district I would suggest a hotel in the Market Area.They are not cheap--plan on $200 per night and up but you can park the car and walk everywhere.There are no cruise and park packages as parking is a premium downtown.You can find park and cruise packages in Mt. Pleasant, West Ashely and near the airport in North Charleston and downtown is not a bad drive.

 

Activities- need suggestions for the day we drive in for the afternoon and evening and the next day. We'd like to see Ft. Sumter and other historical highlights and of course DD loves shopping!

 

Fort Sumter tours leave from the SC Aquarium and Patriots Point--both are worth a visit.A carriage ride gives a good overview of the historic district.Ghost walks are fun in the evening.Shopping is very good in the Market area and on King Street.The museum houses are very interesting. Some of the churches are also open for a small donation.Charleston is agreat walking city and very safe.I love just walking down beautiful Church Street to the Battery and back up East Bay Street. There are churches, theater, museum homes, museums, etc you can explore on the walk.

 

Dining- we love seafood and definitely want to try some of the local favorites.

 

You can eat reasonable or spend a forune on downtown dining.Money is tight for us so we stay with the places we know are good quality. We` always eat at Hyman's---fantastic seafood. We like 82 Queen,Olde Towne

(fantastic greek seafood and steaks on KIng Street) The Bucaneer,and T Bonz for steaks.Kaminski's has great deserts.

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

 

Wendy

 

 

I hope this helps.We visit Charleston a few times a year for long weekends.These are some of our favorites.Charleston is a wonderful city to explore.Have a great cruise.

[All4fun&fun4all]

I am a third generation Charlestonian and will be glad to offer any help. I know of a few people on my cruise on Saturday who are staying in Mt. Pleasant and I have checked out the hotels for them. Rodeway Inn seems pretty nice although exterior access if that sort of thing bothers you. The management was friendly. They dont arrange for a shuttle however so you would need to get a cab from the location but the area is safe to leave your car. Also, the hotel is at the base of the Ravenel bridge and the park is right down the street. Lovely park and great view of the ship!

[Gaynors]

We stayed at the Residence Inn - Ripley Point. The hotel was very nice, good breakfast and the location was good. Not much right around the hotel but just a quick drive over the bridge and your right in downtown. They had a shuttle to and from the port and parking was included for our 12 day cruise.

 

I would definitely stay their again.

[wdblake]

Be sure to visit the downtown market. Lots of little shops and eateries. I would go to Henry's to experience a roof top cocktail.

http://henryshousecharleston.com/

 

Kaminski's has decadent desserts that are delish.

http://www.kaminskys.com/locations/

 

T-Bonz has an inexpensive appetizer called Tommy Texas Cheese Fries which are extremely addictive.

http://www.tbonz.com/

 

Try to see rainbow row, the battery, and take a carriage ride (they are informative tours).

If you are looking for more high end shopping King street offers upscale trendy stores.

There are also a number of beautful old churches with interesting old graveyards.

Fort Sumter is ok but is a rather long boat ride with a tour of an empty fort at the end. I would only recommed it if you are really into civil war history.

I would not recommed the Hominy Grill, it is expensive and overrated.

 

You could try for Justine's Kitchen but there will be a line, there always is.

http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/best-fried-chicken-meat-and-3-veggies-and-sweet-tea/Content?oid=1108783

 

Hymans is about the best place for seafood downtown.

http://www.hymanseafood.com/

 

G&M is very good, here is their website..

http://www.fastandfrench.org/G&M/G&M_index.html

[WendyVF]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. They are helping.

 

We definitely want to do the market, carriage ride and a ghost tour. There is a particular cemetary we want to see as I have an ancestor buried there but I need to doublecheck on the name. Are there any tour operators that are better than others or ones to avoid?

 

I think we will stay downtown the first night (for convenience) and then change to a Park & Cruise hotel for the last night. I've got enough points for a free night at either of the Holiday Inns, Hampton Inn, Doubletree Suites or Embassy Suites. Any idea which would be best for the things we plan to do. They all look nice and have good review on Trip Advisor. We're up for parking at the port and staying both nights downtown, I just haven't seen enough recent reviews to let me know if they have gotten the kinks worked out.

 

Thanks again!

[SimoneT]

We're staying downtown the night before our cruise. I love seafood, especially oysters and will be trying out Pearlz. Anyone ever been? I researched different places on line and this one appealed to me the most.

[KCcruisin07]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. They are helping.

 

We definitely want to do the market, carriage ride and a ghost tour. There is a particular cemetary we want to see as I have an ancestor buried there but I need to doublecheck on the name. Are there any tour operators that are better than others or ones to avoid?

 

I think we will stay downtown the first night (for convenience) and then change to a Park & Cruise hotel for the last night. I've got enough points for a free night at either of the Holiday Inns, Hampton Inn, Doubletree Suites or Embassy Suites. Any idea which would be best for the things we plan to do. They all look nice and have good review on Trip Advisor. We're up for parking at the port and staying both nights downtown, I just haven't seen enough recent reviews to let me know if they have gotten the kinks worked out.

 

Thanks again!

 

We stayed at the Mt. Pleasant Holiday Inn, so I am not familiar with the hotels in the downtown area. This is an older hotel, but staff were great, and they had a nice breakfast buffet. I don't know if they have a shuttle to the port. It was convenient to downtown and to other attractions in the Mt. Pleasant area. Specifically we liked dining on Shem Creek overlooking the water. We ate at the Water's Edge, which had a beautiful view. (If you eat on Shem Creek, check on the time when the shrimp boats are returning. They didn't go out because of rain.)

Also in Mt. Pleasant there was a nice shopping area with Chico's, Talbot's, and a number of other popular stores.

Another favorite of ours was SNOB (Slightly North of Broadway) for lunch. That should be close to your tour. Since rain eliminated our plans for a carriage tour, we parked at the Visitor Center and chose a tour there. We took a Talk of the Town tour, which unfortunately put me to sleep, but we did go past Rainbow Row and a number of other popular attractions.

We also went to Market Street and there we found River Street Pralines, which was a big hit. They have samples of pralines fresh from the oven, which are extremely good.

Anyway for others if you are leaving from Charleston, try to allow 2 or 3 extra days. As mentioned we had problems with rain, but there is so much to see and do there (and lots of good Southern cooking).

[rrraydon]

We stayed at the Hampton Inn North Charleston. It was affordable, offered free breakfast, and a short drive from the highway. The shuttles they offered were small (Chevy Suburbans or 15 passenger vans), but they were on time and air conditioned.

 

We spent the day before we left in Charleston walking along Museum Mile. We went to the Charleston Museum, and bought combo tickets to tour the two houses they also own. All three were fun, and worth the price of admission and time spent in them. One is at the far end of Museum Mile, so you can walk or grab a ride. We walked, which proved to be a good way to spend the day.

 

We ate lunch at Hyman's. It is a great seafood place, and impossible to miss. They've got barkers wandering around on weekends, offering bites of appetizers to draw people in.

 

For dinner we went to the Hominy Grill. Good food, featuring creative takes on Southern and American cuisine that include organic, sustainable ingredients. I had the fried green tomato BLT, and would happily drive all the way back there from Massachusetts to have it again. My partner had the shrimp and grits, which she loved.

 

There are lots of things to do in Charleston, and what we did barely scratches the surface. Have fun and good luck!

 

 

Do you remember what the nightly rate was?

[carib123]

As a South Carolinia who loves Charleston here is some input/ As far as hotels ther are plenty around the Airport but that is 15 miles from downtown. Mt Pleasant is a good choice as it is just over the bridge from Charleston. Downtown, if you want to spens a little more I would recommend The Mills House on Meeting St, which is just 2 blocks from the Market. Very historical and convenient

 

As far as restaurants many have said Hymans, Jestines, etc. One nice casual place in Tommy Condons on Church T for casual dining. As far as seafood I would say The Wreck of the Richard and Charlene, (Known by locals as simply The Wreck)/ Locals frequent there for good seafood, no pretense, very simple. It is on Shem Creek in the Old part of Mt Pleasant. It has a sand parking lot and no sign announcing itself. Here is the website..http://wreckrc.com/

 

You definitely need to go to the Market, take a carriage ride, visit The Battery and White Point Gardens , where The War of Northern Aggression began and shots were fired at Fort Sumter. Forts Sumter and Moultrie are worth a visit if you have time.

 

Have a great time in a great city

[tccauley]

DH, DD (15) and I are booked on the Fantasy sailing 7/24. We'll be driving and it'll be about a 7 hour drive.

 

Hotel - have read the posts and am more confused than ever. Which area is the best for Park and Cruise? Hotels near the airport seem the cheapest. I've read about Hawthorn but the yellow bus transportation is not appealing. Don't mind paying to park at the port if a downtown hotel makes more sense for the rest of our plans.

 

Activities- need suggestions for the day we drive in for the afternoon and evening and the next day. We'd like to see Ft. Sumter and other historical highlights and of course DD loves shopping!

 

Dining- we love seafood and definitely want to try some of the local favorites.

 

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

 

Wendy

Hi there,

 

Wanted to let you know that I stayed at the Hawthorn on 6/15 and we did not have to ride the big yellow bus. They have a hotel shuttle that holds 8-10 people.