Charleston,
South Carolina
Thanksgiving Weekend, November 2004 |
| It’s
a 2 hour flight going south, and 1½ going north to New York. At
US Airways at Laguardia airport, use the shuttle entrance to get a better
shot at carry-on luggage because they are more lenient with shuttle passengers.
Taxi ride into town is $25 and half an hour. A few hours walk around is
all you need, but we did it several times and enjoyed it each time. Wentworth
Mansion remains a very nice place to stay; rooms feature working fire places
and we had a sun room annex. In fact, there was a small fire in our hotel
early Saturday morning; someone left their ottoman chair too close to the
fire place. I even liked their pillows! Bring your own slippers. Its restaurant,
Circa 1886, was excellent on the starters and main (had great vege soups)
but its deserts were not so great. Planters Inn is a Relais Chateaux property
in dead center; the Wentworth requires a 10 minute walk into town. Charleston
Place hotel is a zoo in the center of town and worth avoiding but its restaurant
Charleston Grill is good and has good deserts. Another charming place
is Two Meeting Street Inn, but you need to book it far in advance, and
it is also a walk away from center of town. Original Charleston walking
tours is on Broad Street near Meeting Street and has good walking tours.
We took the City Tour and the Historical Homes tour; the homes tour is
a good buy because the tickets alone cost as much as the tour. Old-South
gives 1 hour carriage tours with horse and buggy in the historical district;
their tour guides seem to be well qualified. These tours go all the time;
pick them up along Market Street in city center. In the historical district,
there are less than 100 people below age 18; it is for adults only and
very pretty but pricey to live. Shopping is interesting, as there are a
good number of independent stores in Charleston besides the usual chain
stores. Late Saturday night we went on a Jailhouse Ghost Tour to an abandoned
jail; with the hail and lightning overhead it was quite spooky. Sunday
featured a 90 minute visit to Middleton Plantation with pretty home and
gardens; it is a 30 minute ride from city center. Take along a Travel Scrabble
for use in airports and on Saturdays. We certainly used it when our returning
flight was delayed for 2 hours due to air traffic control delays over New
York.
Click here to see
photos of Charleston. |
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