Things we must do in Charleston, SC

Charles Towne Landing will be good for the kids...alot of room to run
Angel Oak Tree

We drove down last Thanksgiving specifically to see the HL Hunley Civil War era submarine. It's a must do in my book! VERY hands on... you get to try and crawl through a conning tower, try your hand at "turning" the crank to move it through the water and also see the REAL Hunley that they recovered from Charleston Harbor. My 6 year old would go back again this year if we'd let him :) Plus since it was Nov. we got the added bonus of seeing the Christmas light display at James Island CG. I'd do this over a carriage tour of Charleston, especially with kids....

4fromOH wrote:

Terryallan wrote:
IMOP. The most important thing would be showing your children the History. After all, Charleston is where the "War Against Northern Aggression" started. Take them To Boone Hall Plantation, just North of Charleston. A still working plantation. Much to be learned.

Ride the boat out to Fort Sumter. Walk along the battery, and historic Charleston, and see the way rich folks lived back in the day.

Don't just look and guess, or go by what you have heard. Look up places so you will know. Like the "Slave Market". Now pretty much a long Flea Market. Is not the area that slaves were bought, and sold. In fact. Slaves ran the "Slave Market", and got to keep much of the profit. The "Ryan's Mart" was the actual site of slave auctions.

And what is the difference between a Graveyard, and Cemetery. To learn as much as possible. Take a Carriage ride, AND do a Ghost walk. It's fun, and informative.

BTW. Don't be a dumb tourist, and pick up the little balls with sticks in them, you see in the street. Those are thrown out to mark where the horse used the bathroom, so the street washers know where to clean.

Thank you for all of this information! I'm homeschooling my son, so this is a perfect opportunity for a great history lesson! We plan to study up on the Civil War prior to our trip! Like I said, I didn't even know where to start on places to go! Thanks again!

n that case. Boone Hall would be a must see. Not only will your tour guide be wearing traditional "Southern Bell" dress. (You'll see why they were called Southern Bells). But just before the entrance to the house, you will see the slave houses. See first hand how they lived. BTW. The miniseries North, and South with Patrick Swazey was filmed there.

Also at Patriot's Point, there is a Flag Display. It shows the different Southern Flags. IMOP. It is important to know the difference between the Confederate States Flag, and the Battle Flag. As the Battle Flag only had one purpose then. It was to end confusion by the Yankees, on if the Southern boys were surrendering or not. The Confederate Flag is mostly white, and that confused the "Godless Yankee Hoard" So the Red Battle Flag was born

No trip to the Charleston area is complete without a meal at the SeeWee Restaurant on Route 17, Awendaw, SC. The food is fantastic, and the former general store location is a fascinating bit of history with many of the original products still on the shelves. They even have Nehi Grape Soda! :B

4fromOH wrote:

Allworth wrote:
Eat!

Anywhere in particular that we need to eat? Needs to be kid friendly, of course :)

The Wreck in Mount Pleasant. No credit cards, bring cash. Right on Shem Creek where the shrimp boats dock. Very fresh seafood.

4fromOH wrote:

Thank you for all of this information! I'm homeschooling my son, so this is a perfect opportunity for a great history lesson! We plan to study up on the Civil War prior to our trip! Like I said, I didn't even know where to start on places to go! Thanks again!

Charleston is a great place for Colonial and Civil War History.
The Hunley Submarine was a unique and interesting part of Charleston History: Hunley

We spent spring break there this past April with our 2 DD's, aged 8 and 5. They really, really enjoyed the park at JICP and we had to go daily. We stayed for at least an hour, usually longer. We rode bikes around on the trails and went out into the large field behind the campground, where the little one learned to ride her bike without training wheels.

We took the dogs to the dog park and had a blast playing with them.

We went to downtown and walked the historic district and stopped when we saw something that interested us. We enjoyed a beautiful carriage ride.

Be sure and take beach gear - it may be pretty enough to go to Folly Beach. Even if it's not warm enough to get in the water, it should be warm enough to play in the sand, build sand castles, fly kites, etc.

We did have some good seafood at a couple of restaurants and we bought some fresh seafood and made our own seafood meals.

We were there for 6 days and had plenty to do, so I am sure your 4 days will be busy.

Ok Get a dog in Mt Pleasant at Jack's Cosmic Dogs and eat a meal at California Dreaming. The city market is neat to visit as is a Rickshaw tour.

I didn't go to Ft Sumter, but I did go to other forts we could drive too. They are all great history and great photo ops.

Patriots Point was amazing. I LOVE going on this WW2 ships and seeing what they were like. I went 2 years ago and would go back again! Its a good place to go on a rainy day if you get a rainy day there.

I didn't do a carriage ride, but they looked like a lot of fun.

I would bring bikes and trailers for the kiddos, because it is a very bike friendly town. The wife and I enjoyed it immensely!

Monza Pizza in South Carolina was AMAZING pizza. Not very "kid friendly", but you can get pizza to go. I am a pizza guy, and this was some of the best I've ever had! I can't think of any other food places that jumped out at me. We went to Monza twice in a week.

Enjoy the trip, its really a beautiful city. Bay St is beautiful. The southern end has gorgeous houses, we enjoyed riding our bike down the street and looking at the houses and looking out onto the harbor. Folly Beach will probably be too cold to enjoy, but its still a pretty little beach town to drive/bike through. Even just wandering around the outskirts of town and enjoying low country SC and the little shops is a fun way to spend a day. I'd encourage you to spend more time out and about while in Charleston than "relaxing at the campground" =)!

Okay, I think I have it narrowed down to the top 3! Let me know what you think!

1. Ft. Sumter- take the ferry to the island and do the tour
2. Patriots Point- The sub and the Fighting Lady being priority
3. Carriage Tour of Charleston

Any time we have left will probably be spent relaxing at the campground :)

Other than that, I just need to know if there's a specific place we need to eat while in town :)

Thanks again to everyone for their tips/suggestions/advice!!! We really appreciate it!!!