Charleston & Savannah About This Page:

[Chrissi]

In Charleston, you have to try a carriage tour! It's a great way to see the city and get a LOT of history all at once. We went to Charleston last summer to visit with family and they took us on a walking tour of one of the carriage tour routes. We loved the Circular Church, the Homes on the Battery, and the old slave markets in town. The seagrass baskets are beautiful there! And don't forget to hit Rainbow Row, but remember, most of the shops in town are closed on Sundays.

On the coast there's a beach resort called the Isle of Palms . It's a beautiful beach with crystal clear water and great for shell collectors! Beach access is free with a nominal parking fee. There's a restaurant bar and grill on the beach called Coconut Joe's . We loved the gumbo-laya. The website has a link to their address book. Sign into the address book and they'll email you a 15% discount coupon to print out.

Have fun! Maybe we'll see you there next spring! [img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img]

[All Ears]

My Dh and I travelled to Savannah and Charleston back in '98. It was absolutely lovely! We stayed at Disney's resort property on Hilton Head Island -- which was wonderful.
In Hilton Head, there are sooo many lovely shops to browse through. There are also lots of great restuarants to check out. We especially loved an ice cream shop called "Frozen Moos," the outlets, and more! We also enjoyed the "Pirate's Cove" mini-golf course. Too fun! Disney had a private stretch of beach along the ocean with a "beach house" that was a great place to relax at, too.
In Charleston, we visited Ft. Sumter. Dh is pursuing his PhD in History -- so this was a must-see for him. It was interesting, and I definitely loved the boat ride there.
In Savannah, I highly recommend taking one of the tours. This is a great way to see the area. I would also recommend reading the book -- "Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil" by John Berendt before a visit. It is set in Savannah and is a fictional tale about real people from Savannah. You can then see some of the sites you read about. One in particular is a to-die for restaurant called Mrs. Wilke's... [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] Southern cooking at it's best.
Many movies are filmed in this area -- we saw "Forces of Nature" being filmed in Savannah (Sandra Bullock & Ben Affleck). Also, we saw a historical TNN movie being filmed in Charleston. It was very fun to watch them working. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
I could go on and on about all the wonderful things you can see and do. Our trip was one of my all-time favorite vacations ever.
Happy planning!
[img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Michelle

[RobbiD]

Hey everybody! DH & I decided this week that next summer's vacation will be to Charleston & Savannah. I'm not ready to start in-depth planning, but I'm looking for any tips/hints from any Passporters that have been there. We will (of course) be going to the Birthplace of Girl Scouting in Savannah, and DH will be playing some golf. Any words of advice for us and our 7 & 10 year old DD's?

Thanks! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[AKLRULZ]

Bumping up to today's actives - anyone else have any input? [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[HiddenMickey]

In Charleston we usually walk along the roads in the Battery area and peek in peoples yards and admire the architecture. There are a few houses open to the public for a fee (guided) that might be fun to try. The carriage rides are fun, too. Make sure you take time to check out the Market as well.

In Savannah, we've mostly spent time down by the waterfront, shopping and eating. It's just fun to visit an area that is so differernt from where you live and soak up the ambience.

[RobbiD]

Thanks, everybody for the great tips! All Ears, we stayed at Disney's Hilton Head Resort back in 2000; we loved it! I don't think we'll be stopping there this trip; I did find links to Tybee Island and we're looking into that.

[Mypasttimes]

Well this is a subject I know a "little" bit about, having made my home in Charleston for over 23 years. ( we have just this past year moved to South Georgia) Please feel free to email me..and I can give you much heads up as you start your planning. It is extremely humid and usually hot 94+ in the summer..although June is a better gamble for more tolerable weather-.It is NOT a place to visit in August!!!!unless of course your a camel...Others have posted some great tips...I like the plantations as well to visit..How long are you planning on staying? If I can help-LMK
Till next I post,
PEG [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[All Ears]

Robbi,
My brother and his wife were married on the beach on Tybee Island. They absolutely loved it there. We were only there for their wedding/the breakfast reception and to visit the historical fort there. (Again, DH is a History buff...) It is just a short drive from Savannah. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Michelle

[mattjs]

Spent a long weekend in Savannah in June a couple years ago (and got engaged while there [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ).

It's a romantic, fun spot with great old homes and good food. Loved the place we stayed -- The Gastonian Inn. Very nice, great location, recommend it highly.

Had great dinners at:
Olde Pink House -- romantic, top notch food, with a great, comfortable after dinnner piano bar downstairs.

Lady & Sons -- heavy Southern cooking. this place was comfort food perfection. They've got a great cookbook too.

We plan to get down there again sometime soon.

[ 10-02-2002, 04:54 PM: Message edited by: mattjs ]

[maggieworkman]

We saw the "This Old House" Savannah house when we were there. But I enjoyed watching them build it on the Saturday PBS show, so it meant something to me to actually see it in person. It may not thrill everybody.

Another thing to do is read, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" which is set in Savannah. Then you can see the different places. They talk about the book on the tour I went on (a trolley tour).

Maggie

[greystone98]

Robbi, my DH and I honeymooned in Charleston and Kiawah Island 13 years ago and absolutely fell in love with this beautiful city. We've never visited Savannah but it's definitely on a short list of places we'd like to go.

Charleston is rich with history and I'm a history buff so this was perfect. My DH and I also love antiques and spent many hours shopping in the area. There are also several bed and breakfast inns scattered throughout the historic district and the one we stayed in is called the John Rutledge House Inn.

For a bit of history on the house and original owner... John Rutledge was one of the signers of the Constitution and built the house in 1763 for his bride. The main house has several suites and a ballroom that serves as both a mini-museum as well as a gathering place for its guests in the afternoons when they place wine and sherry out. The house also has two restored carriage houses that include additional rooms. The rooms are elegant and the service includes nightly turn down service with chocolates and breakfast delivered to your room each morning with flowers and the morning paper. The house is located on Broad Street, in the middle of the historic district, and within walking distance to many shops and restaurants.

I know I'm rambling but I just can't say enough about this lovely city, from the carriage and plantation tours already mentioned to the absolutely fabulous food found everywhere. In fact, after we'd left to go on to Kiawah Island, which is a resort itself, we found ourselves really missing Charleston and wishing we'd spent the entire stay there.

I hope this helps a little. You're sure to have a wonderful trip in either location. Please come back and share your trip so some of us can relive the experience.

Debbi

[RobbiD]

I was looking forward to going, but all your comments have gotten me quite happy that we made the decision to visit Charleston and Savannah. I'll really start picking your brains in the Spring! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] Thanks so much for all the great info.

[CU Tigger]

My family lives in Charleston and it is quite a beautiful city rich in culture and history. Since you are planning a summer trip, it might be a good idea to plan for the last week in May or the first in June when Charleston hosts the Spoleto Festival. The city has constant entertainment, opera, ballet, plays, choral performances in the local churches, as well as art exhibitions and more informal activities. Of course, there is quite an influx of tourists during that time and rooms are hard to come by (and I would think a little more expensive).

Regardless of when you go, you will enjoy Charleston. They have some outstanding restaurants, Magnolias, SNOB (Slightly North of Broad), a place out on Sullivan's Island called "Sullivan's" The list is endless.

Savannah is beautiful as well, very similar in fact to Charleston.

Have a great time!

[Shell_of_the_South]

My DD's girl scout troup visited Savannah spring break of this year. We actually stayed in Hilton Head, which was about an 75 minute drive from Savannah. Unfortunately we didn't have much time in Savannah, we took a walking tour to several of the squares and we toured Juliette Gordon Low's home (founder of GS). It had just reopened that week after an extensive renovation, so it is a great time to see it. Savannah has many nighttime ghost tours that I would love to do someday. River Street has some neat little shops. But, the only eating we did was a Blimpie!

If you get a chance to go to Hilton Head, there is a terrific children's performer that does a shows every night at the lighthouse in Sea Pines. His name is Greg Russell and he is hilarious. He picks kids from the audience to come up and sing or talk or whatever. And the kids are so funny and he really knows how to agg them on! If you have kids you should really try to see him. There's no charge to see him, but you do pay a small fee to get in Sea Pines.

I hope you have a great trip and fill us in on all your plans!

[HiddenMickey]

You must have taken a round-about way between HHI and Savannah. I shouldn't be more than an hour (and I recall it being less than that). -HiddenMickey