First Visit to Charleston

Have always heard that Charleston is a beautiful city to visit. Would like to visit for 3 days in September. Would prefer not to rent a car....is Charleston and it%26#39;s main attractions easy to do without a car?

First Visit to Charleston

If you want to stay right downtown and see what%26#39;s in the old city, you can do it. But , if you want to see the plantations and Patriot%26#39;s Point, beaches, etc... you%26#39;ll either have to pay for a tour like Grayline or rent a car. I think it would be cheaper to rent a car. Best wishes.

First Visit to Charleston

Correction - you can take the water taxi from the Aquarium over to Patriot%26#39;s Point. Wear your good walking shoes!!! LOL.

If you can come in LATE Sept or early Oct - all the better. The Preservation Society has its fall tours of Homes and Gardens. (We have them going on now but they end in mid-April.) You could do everything downtown and never leave. http://preservationsociety.org/ :)

Good Shelling Areas? Dolphin Cruises/Boat Tours?

Are there any good shelling areas around Hilton Head?

We also wanted to go on a dolphin cruise/boat tour. Any recommendations for two adults in their mid 30s?

Thanks for your help!

Good Shelling Areas? Dolphin Cruises/Boat Tours?

SunnyDey: I forgot to add this in my personal email you to. A great dolphin tour is the Commander Zodiac out of South Beach Marina. They are recommended by BBC/Discovery/Nat%26#39;l Geographic. The tour is 1 hr long and we saw tons of dolphins. They TAKE you to where the dolphins are spotted, not a preset course. You sit on the side of the Zodiac, very fun. We have also been on the Stars %26amp; Stripes 65%26#39; sailboat out of Harbourtown. Very cool. It%26#39;s so reasonable for a two hour tour. The dolphins swam alongside us but the dolphins are a plus on that tour, the sailing is the main thing. I would highly recommend both of these as we have taken both tours. We also did the dolphin kayak tour our of South Beach Marina, fun, dolphins may/may not be seen or very close.

That being said, our family is not for the highly guided ';Ladies and gentlemen, on your left you will see the ................'; type tours.

D in Muskoka.

Good Shelling Areas? Dolphin Cruises/Boat Tours?

I would also love to know about the shelling on the island. We are going in May and have 2 girls that want to find shells.

Thanks to anyone that can give any info.

There aren%26#39;t many shells to be found in Hilton Head (IMHO). We did a lot of beachcombing last year and sharks teeth became the treasure finds. We got good at looking for the distinctive ';Y'; shape and found about 20 teeth during our week stay. As for really nice shells, we only found a few on the beach at the southern end of the island and unfortunately, all of the nice ones we found still had live inhabitants so we didn%26#39;t keep them (also found live sand dollars, starfish and even a live horseshoe crab but returned them all to the sea as well). We did not explore the northern section of beach above about the Hilton but we did cover the beach from Harbortown all the way around to the Hilton.

We did a boat trip that was billed as a beach combing trip. It ended up just being our family so that was a nice treat. We spent a lot time looking for and finding lots of dolphins and then we landed on an old oyster shell coverd island and did some beachcombing there. It was not nearly as good as I had hoped for but it was a nice trip overall.

If you are really looking for a decent amount of shells on the beach, HHI is not the place.

Thanks for all of the info!

The dolphin/boat tours sound great. I will definitely look into it. Does the Zodiac tour have any kind of website? I tried googling it, but I could not find it.

SunnyDey: I see what you mean about a website. The local number for them is 843-671-3344. I would phone them, ask for a website if they have one. Otherwise, they can give you prices. They usually have an answering machine if they are out so, leave your number and they will call you.

If you go on Yahoo travel and search it, there are some great reviews there posted. Believe me, it%26#39;s a lot of fun!

If you go to www.hiltonhead360.com it%26#39;s a good site.

For the Stars %26amp; Stripes go to www.vagabondcruise.com and there are discount coupons to print too.

Thank you again!

Myrtle Beach renourishing--beach closed!

OK--I just spoke with the director of the City of Myrtle beach. Not only is my hotel going to be affected, the beach will be CLOSED 2-3 days a week! This renourishing project will be going on all summer--they are starting in Mid April. I think that I am changing my plans of where I will stay this summer!!

Myrtle Beach renourishing--beach closed!

Did this person say specifically when the renourishing project will end (is there a specific date)?

Myrtle Beach renourishing--beach closed!

Do you have a contact name and person to call to see if where we are staying will be affected? When does this project start? I am due to leave here in 8 more sleeps !!!!

This is the story: They were going to start at the South end of the beach in March/April, move northward up the coast into North Myrtle and be finsihed in OCTOBER. As of today, the plan is to start work around the middle of April at 2nd Avenue North and work southward to the city limits (about 30 blocks). Then they will move upward to 82nd ave Ave Norht and work southward to 2nd Ave North. They hope to have this part done by the middle of July. The City is going to ask the Army Corp of engineers to start at 2nd Ave. North and move northward after they finish the southern leg. I don%26#39;t know. It just does not sound good to me. The city manager told me that it is noisy and disruptive--I spoke with the hotel. They acknowledged that the beach will be closed--that is more than disruptive.

You can call the City of Myrtle Beach--Tom Leach is the director--I believe--but he does not have all the answers as the said thast the Army Corps of Engineers keep changing locations!

Thanks for the information, it appears as if it will not affect our visit but I do feel for others that were heading that way this summer.

';-beach closed!';

A little alarmist ? Wow - the whole Grand Strand beach is closed ? Gee, that is horrible %26lt;rollseyes%26gt;

Be prepared for a couple hundred yards of closure for a couple days, then they move on.

Will it be an inconvenience ? Probably as you ';might'; have to walk up/down the beach to throw down your towel. Is it a massive shut-down of miles of beach ? Absolutely not.

thanks for the info!

LewisCenter1 are you really seasheller in disguise?

No, I am not seasheller in disquise. But, I go to the beach to have a beachfront room with a panoramic ocean view. If I pay that kind of money, no, I do not want to walk 200 yards down the beach to put my towel down. If others don%26#39;t mind that, that is OK but for those of us that do, I am trying to get info and pass it along. I think that the best bet is to find out where it is, (the dredging) and if you mind bulldozers in your view--maybe you might want to consider somewhere else. My hotel was pretty honest, I think--they ended up stating that the beach would be closed (I meant to clarify behind the hotel that is being dredged). If this matters to you, as it might to some paying upwards of $200 a night, they can change plans. That%26#39;s what this forum is about.....information.

I am so confused! When you say 2nd Avenue North is that the Ocean Boulevard section just south of Sea Mountain Highway? Then moving south to City Limits - where is that and how long will it take to get there? We%26#39;re planning on visiting mid April and this will not change our plans as my partner loves watching big engineering marvels!

Dunes Village May 15/18th.........bike week?

We are so excited to be going to Myrtle beach mid may. Its just myself, my husband and my 2 year old daughter so we will not be partying. We just found out that these dates are during Bike Week. Is it really crazy? Should we reschedule?

Dunes Village May 15/18th.........bike week?

we were down in October during bike week and even though it isn%26#39;t as big as the one in May, it was fine. It seems the bikers aren%26#39;t too interested in going to most of the places you can take kids anyway so more than likely you aren%26#39;t going to have any problems. It was really interesting to see all the bikes too. You will love Dunes Village and it is far enough out of the action, it should be fine.

Dunes Village May 15/18th.........bike week?

Agree with Walker.

ok thanks guys!

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Affordable hotels at/near Charlesotn

My husband and I will be in Charleston to celebrate our 1 year anniversary the weekend of April 18th-20th. We%26#39;re looking for a somewhat affordable (under $200 a night) hotel near Charleston that is decent. We are splurging and having dinner at Peninsual Grill, which is where we ate the night we got engaged, so this is why we%26#39;re hoping to save a litle on a hotel room.

Any help/advice is much appreciated! Thanks!:)

Affordable hotels at/near Charlesotn

Did you get a chance to look at hotels in Mt. Pleasant? It%26#39;s convenient and should give you a decent price break for a nice room.

Affordable hotels at/near Charlesotn

We are looking there, too. The problem seems to be that the hotels that look decent are only a little cheaper than the downtown ones--so we feel like we might as well stay downtown. The ones we are finding that are less expensive we%26#39;re just not sure if they%26#39;ll be decent. There%26#39;s a Sleep Inn that look affordable but we%26#39;re just not fammiliar with that area at all to know if it would be ok. Thank you for your response!!

My wife and visit Charleston 2-3 times per year and we like the Drury Inn and The Vendue Inn. Both are clean and reasonably priced and are located right in the middle of downtown Charleston which is key for us. The Vendue Inn is located in the French Quarter right off East Bay St. near the waterfront park across from the Southend Brewery. I always request a room on the 1st floor because there is a popluar rooftop bar that can be a little noisy for rooms beneath it.

The Penninsula Grill is very good! If you get a chance maybe also try Magnolia%26#39;on East Bay St.

There is a brand new Marriott Courtyard on Hwy 17 N in Mount Pleasant that is probably not showing up on any Internet searches. I don%26#39;t know anyone who has stayed there. It is either nice because it is brand new and nobody%26#39;s been able to mess it up yet or it%26#39;s so new they don%26#39;t have everything functioning well yet. Unfortunately, I don%26#39;t know which, but it might be worth contacting Marriott.

testing

We%26#39;re headed there the same weekend as you. April is prime season for Charleston, so rates will be at their highest, especially on weekends. The only place in town that might be under $200 is the Days Inn Historic. The Andrew Pinckney Inn and King Charles Inn are going for around $259, and I was able to get the Indigo Inn for $229 (but have to pay $10/day for parking). There are also several nice motels right across the bridge in Mt. Pleasant that are sure to be less than $200. Hope you have a great anniversary!

Thank you for all of your replies. The only suggestion I have had a hard time finding is the Drury Inn..I do not see one in teh Charleston area.

But, thank you all again. Govie09--I hope you have a safe trip and a fabulous weekend in Charleston. I hope we have great weather while we%26#39;re there.:)

Keeping my fingers crossed for beautiful weather also, as we plan to be outdoors the whole time we%26#39;re there. Good luck to us!

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First visit- to rent or not to rent, that is the question

After reading these boards, we are now undecided whether to rent a car at the airport or not. At first we decided we would not need one(and we won%26#39;t I suppose for downtown), but if we want to visit plantations or beach, etc. we will. I realize we can rent a car for a day or two, but the fees are much better for the entire 5 days we will be there and looks like parking at Holiday inn Historic is cheap- what to do?

First visit- to rent or not to rent, that is the question

With the savings you might get for a longer rental (like 5 days as opposed to 2 or 3) it might cover your garage parking expenses. Plus you won%26#39;t need transportation to town or back to the airport, which is another savings. Then you%26#39;ve got the added flexibitily of travel - it%26#39;ll free up your time so you can pick the best weather days to do each of your activities. Add all those up and it can make sense to rent.

First visit- to rent or not to rent, that is the question

There are so many things to see in the outlining area of Charleston I would never travel there without a means to see them. The Plantations, Beach area not to mention all the great dining places that are not in the downtown area. Angel Oak alone is worth the price of a car rental to me. We have been visiting the area for the last three years in the spring and fall and have yet to see everything.

rent..definately rent!

Thanks everyone; have arranged for car rental. trip is less than 4 weeks away, but who%26#39;s counting? :)

Pirateland campground

Has anyone camped here and what is your advice? My brother in law and family are camping here--we ae staying in a hotel. Good/ bad? How is it?

Pirateland campground

Hello.......Ohio

My family and I stayed at Pirateland, 2 years ago and loved it. We stayed in a rental trailer and my sister and her family camped close to the beach. The owners keep the area very clean and the pool is hugh, even in July when we were there, it never seemed crowded. They employ a great staff for activities for the kids and they sell wonderful ice cream cones at the ice cream shop. Loved the general store, too. The beach is very wide in this area and nice with large sand dunes. It will change somewhat this summer as the area is in a beach renourishment project. I think, though down on this stretch, which is considered South Beach, they should be finished if you plan on going sometime in the summer.

The only downside is the golf carts that people decorate, who live in the park and parade around every night. Some like this, others don%26#39;t. After a night or two, it can get on your nerves. But it is a great campground as I have stayed in Myrtle Beach Travel Park, Apache and Ocean Lakes........Pirate land ranks no. 1 in my opinion. The Lazy river is wonderful too.

good luck and have a great trip !!!

The seasheller in Cinti...OHIO

Pirateland campground

Hi! We have camp @ Pirateland for 5 or 6 years, when the kids were teenagers (up to age 20) and they love it. I would recommend the following, if camping in ';beach area';.

1. Ask for a site between (roads) Pirateland North and Pirateland South.

2. Do NOT get a site on (roads) Pirateland North or Market Street. These are the busiest, with cars/and golf carts. (Look at Pirateland map).

3. Wherever you are rent a golf cart. Even though this can add $$ to your trip, you will either be walking to the beach or pool. Driving to either, there isn%26#39;t a lot of parking, and think if you are wet, sandy---do you want to get in your vehicle. Besides, they are fun. The first year we went, we tried a few days without one, someone gave us a ride to the pool, and we were sold.

The campground will be crowded, and spots close together, but we didn%26#39;t spend much time @ our site, only to eat and sleep. We did learn after a few years to spend some extra $$ and get one of the few sites that was a pull thru with a shelter.

Also if your friends are camping, warn them some of the sites are very tight to get into, and and depending on where they are at. Most fellow campers will help you (even moving their cars, so you can get in).

At night, around 9:30/10 go up to the beach area, and watch (or drive) your golf cart with the parade of people.

If you have young teenagers, there is a teen dance one night a week. Hope you have fun!