More Highlights from Charleston

Although Charleston is a relatively small city, there's much to do, and we managed to squeeze quite a few activities into our short trip. Highlights included...

Seeing dolphins play in the water while we took the ferry out to Fort Sumter (the Ravenel Bridge is in the background)...

Visiting Fort Sumter, which is the spot where the Civil War began...

Driving to Sullivan's Island for a walk along the ocean and to see what might be one of the least attractive lighthouses...

It was chilly, but these pups didn't mind.

..and catching glimpse of beach houses that might be on my list of "dream vacation home."

Strolling around Mount Pleasant, which included seeing some attractive homes - and this sign:

Ambling around the center of Charleston, including Waterfront Park and its iconic fountain....

...and the many beautiful historic buildings, as well as the city market. 

We were also tempted to stop by Jeni's Ice Cream a second time, as there were too many flavors we'd left untested...

Getting out to John's Island to discover a tea plantation and learn more about tea (turns out neither of us knew all that much!) and sample lots of hot and iced tea...

Tea fields and their all important drainage system

The plantation's mascot had a broken leg, so I signed the cast.

Other tea plantations are rather far away...

And while on John's Island, pay homage to the impressive Angel Oak Tree, which is at least 400 years old, and over 66 feet tall, and essentially impossible to capture in a photograph...

 

Wherever we went, we stopped to appreciate any blooming camelias...

One tip - if you visit Charleston and rent a car upon arriving at the airport, I suggest renting from one of the larger companies that have their rental counters and vehicles on airport grounds. The walk from the gate to the counters is no more than 4 minutes, and the cars are located right outside the door - definitely made picking up the car and dropping it off quick and simple.

Overall, Charleston is an incredibly charming city, and I am grateful I had the chance to visit!

Long Weekend in Charleston, South Carolina

A federal holiday, and a $112 round-trip fare. A city I've never visited, and a travel buddy able to come along. These four factors combined to create a fun and necessary winter excursion to Charleston, South Carolina. It is a beautiful historic city, and fortunately also offered a brief respite from winter weather.

When I told people that I was going to Charleston due to a $112 flight, every single person's reaction was, "Round trip?!" Yes, thanks to the lull in travel in January and February, a number of airlines were having tempting sales, and this fare was found on JetBlue, one of the better (read: more comfortable and customer service oriented) airlines. Travel itself was smooth and without incident, and I wish JetBlue flew to more destinations, as their planes are quite comfortable for us tall folk.

On our first afternoon we wandered the gardens and mini zoo at Magnolia Plantation...

 

I can recommend all of the restaurants at which we ate, which were: Old Village Post House for Sunday brunch; Home Team and Swig & Swine (get the beans and brisket side dish!) for barbeque; Hom for burgers. Sweet treats included Jeni's Ice Cream (amazing - worth price and the wait in line!) and a pecan praline from a shop whose name escapes me.

More photos and info to follow in the next post!