I’ve been wanting to visit Charleston because I heard it’s a fun city. Flights seemed to be pricey, but caught them at a good time. Would’ve preferred a May visit so it wouldn’t be as hot.
Spend (my half)
Transportation, $388.26
Flight: $223
Airport parking: $25.25
Car rental: $89.56. We really only had it for one day, so this was pricey in hindsight.
Gas: $5.95
Ubers: $32.50
Parking: $12
Lodging, $46.41
Quality Inn Suites North Charleston, $39.41 (1 night)
15 minutes from the airport, but felt farther.
Church Street Inn, $7. Paid for with points (2 nights) and this is the extra fee. Going price is around ~$170 / night.
If I had to pay for lodging, likely would opt for something a tiny bit cheaper, which would be farther from the city center.
Right next to the Charleston City Market and pretty much in the heart of downtown.
Day 0, Wednesday
Travel day and got into Charleston at 12am. It was a pretty empty flight. Probably would’ve preferred to fly in earlier since didn’t get into the hotel closer to 1am. Uber price went from $15 to $25 for a 15 minute drive. The surge.
Total: $12.50 (my half.)
Day 1, Thursday
City day. 20 minute Uber down to the city from closer to the Airport ($12.50 my half). It was early morning around 7:30am, so there was a bit of traffic, but nothing too crazy.
Dropped luggage off at our hotel and walked 20 minutes to Fort Sumter boarding dock. Boarding starts 15 minutes before the 9 am departure. We got there pretty early and it didn’t look like they opened until 8:30a. The inside had typical exhibits, bathroom, and gift shop. There was actually a lot of people in line for the boat. ($39.22)
Fort Sumter: took 30+ minutes to get there - got there around 9:30 and they said we’re departing at 10:50. Got to see / volunteers to raise the flag. It’s pretty big and neat to see. Then it started raining a bit so hunkered down. There are also special exhibits. At the end of it, I think most people were ready to go. There isn’t a TON to see, so it’s a good amount of time there. Of course you could spend a lot of time reading everything. Got back at 11:30a and people were there for the next departure.
Started raining again. Waited a little before heading to lunch at Ted’s Butcherblock. Sandwich shop that also serves as a butcher. Got a sausage sandwich with a side of cole slaw ($14). It’s really a hot dog. It was too much bread for me. Wish the side of cole slaw was bigger.
Charleston City Market. (I didn’t realize how close it was to our hotel until later that night.) Fun vendors and stuff.
Walked King Street passing by all the shops. I was surprised to see how many mainstream stores there were (hello A&F and Gucci!) The street, like a lot of these streets, are very aesthetic.
Checked into hotel. There are stairs to get to the bedroom, which is nice and not nice at the same time.
Pineapple Fountain. Seemed like an iconic spot to take photos. I was surprised to see kids wading in the pool. I was tempted to dip my toes in too. It seemed better in the pictures. I like the area around here because it’s very shaded.
Gibbes Art museum. Read that the first floor is free, but there’s one small gallery. It’s kind of awkward to go in just for that. Would skip unless you’re going to look at everything.
Popped into a random art gallery. There are a few scattered in the city.
Oyster happy hour at Pearlz (4-6pm). $19 for 12. There’s other light bites as well, but didn’t catch my eye. There’s $5 wine and liquor also. It was pretty empty and the happy hour is throughout the restaurant. They were fine, but I wanted some oysters since it seemed like a must do for Charleston.
Rainbow Row houses. The iconic scene of Charleston?? I didn’t know we had gotten to the spot until I saw more people taking photos. Standing on the side of the houses doesn’t do it justice. The other side is better.
Walk down to the Battery. The end is under construction, but there’s a nice park that we relax at.
Passed by Chalmers Street that is fully cobblestone and the Old Slave Mart.
Hank’s Seafood Restaurant. Was playing around with reservation times and had a late one, but decided to go early (5:30p) to see if they had a table. They did! Definitely an older, more mature vibe. It is an early dinner after all also. Complimentary bread for the table (but no refills for us at least). Got shrimp and grits ($33) and there were more shrimp than expected. That’s not saying much though.
Total: $114.85
Day 2, Friday
Miller’s All Day for breakfast. Got there around 9a or 9:30 and no wait. By the time we left at 10, there were people queued up outside. Hot chicken donut ($15). Made with house made donut. It’s sweet and salty / spicy. Heat wasn’t too bad.
Uber to car rental place at the mall ($12.50 for my half). It was confusing, but Avis and Budget are together.
Angel Oak Tree. It wasn’t where I thought it would be. Slight dirt road that was kind of bumpy. A decent amount of people there. It’s gigantic.
Charleston Tea Garden. Only American tea plantation. Free tea! I liked the peach tea the best probably. Free factory tour, which is just automated screens. No one was working. Hopped on the trolley tour which starts at the half hour ($19.98. It is $18 if you decide day of, but $16 if you book ahead of time. + fees of course).
It was informative, but I wish they let us out to look at the plants some more. It was hot though. We did get out at the greenhouse though. It lasted about an hour?
Melvin’s BBQ. It was founded in 1930. Surprisingly it had a very commercial feel with a drive thru. I opted to skip since I was still full from breakfast. My partner got the brisket plate with 2 sides. The cole slaw was too sweet and didn’t like the collard greens. Brisket seemed ok, but have had better.
Publix stop! Just to browse really…
Folly Beach. It’s 20 minutes from the city, so pretty accessible. Parked at 4 W beach parking. I thought it was going to be a parking garage, but it’s a lot with like 6 spots and 3 parallel parking spots that are hard to get into. Also getting out of the lot, you need to reverse out. Luckily, it wasn’t that busy and we snagged a spot!! $1 / half hour for parking ($2 for my half of 2 hours.) The other lots were $20 closer in. There was one for $10 just getting into the main downtown area.
3W entrance is where the changing rooms, showers, and bathrooms are. It’s a bit of a trek from 4W. But 3W was waaaay busier and crazier. There is a resort and a much bigger parking lot there.
Apparently the Folly Beach County Park was already full around 3 pm.
Glass Onion for dinner. Lowkey restaurant. Literally the only place that didn’t charge a 2-3% credit card fee!! Pimento cheese sandwich + side of grits ($11.50). Made me chuckle when the server said it’s only cheese and bread. The trout was too blackened for my liking.
Pitt Street Bridge. I was iffy on this since it was on the other side of where we’re staying, but finished dinner early. Free street parking. It’s a nice walk along the marsh and you can see the Cooper River Bridge (the sun was shining very brightly off the water before sunset though). Glad we made the stop.
Tried Shem Creek boardwalk. There’s only a FEW free parking spots and didn’t feel like paying (don’t know how much), so left.
Total: $66.97
Day 3, Saturday
Farmer’s Market. At the end of King Street. A decent amount of shops and vendors.
McLeod Plantation ($20). There’s a lot in the area and it can be hard choosing, but chose for its history. The 1 hour ish tours are 30 minutes on the hour and pretty educational. Self guided is an option too.
Hannibal’s Kitchen (kind of in the city) for soul food. Fried pork chop sandwich ($7). It’s decent. I didn’t need to add any condiments. Parking is a bit of a pain, but there’s free parking a little over by the bridge.
Charles Pinckney Historical Site (free). Didn’t see this mentioned anywhere of places to visit and I understand why. It’s more of a lowkey space. There’s not a lot of historical sites besides the main house (visitor center) with all of the exhibits. Visitor center is only open Fri-Sun. Informative, but I would say skip if no time.
Fort Palmetto Park. Trying to find the fort, but ended up walking around this nice neighborhood loop. There are some instructions on Google for the fort; article looks outdated.
Cookout. Randomly thought of it (first time I had it was in North Carolina, so I figured they might have it here). Peanut butter fudge milkshake ($3.99).
Finished the day pretty early and got to the airport lounge pretty early. It’s a pretty small airport and a pretty empty lounge too.
Total: $33.67
Total spend: $662.66
Reflection
2-3% credit card fees are the norm in Charleston. 3% was more common than not. This was a shock to me coming from Dallas.
Contemplated going to 2 plantations, but thought that might be a bit too much. Was considering Magnolia and that one is $35, but I think it’s much bigger. I was interested in seeing the swamp.
When you land at the airport and try to call an Uber, it will likely be surging since everybody is calling it around the same time from flights.
If the budget allows, stay close downtown near King Street. It is nice to be able to walk to places, but hotels are definitely pricier down there. Parking was about $1 per half hour from the garage I saw, so not too bad.
Might go back to check out another plantation, but not in a big rush.
I wanted to go in May when the weather is milder, but it didn’t work. Luckily it was overcast / cooler the first 2 days. The last day it was definitely hot, but it also reached one of the highs for the season at 97. I felt Dallas was worse because at least in Charleston, there was a breeze coming in from the ocean. I didn’t think it was thaaat humid.
It was busy but wouldn’t say it was that crazy.
Overall recommend for a fun girls trip and couples trip! Lean more towards a couples trip, but definitely prevalent for bachelorettes.
