Charleston SC what to do?

Second Magnolia Plantation & Gardens amazing place worth a half day especially if you have kids or like great gardens and history.

Thank you all for the advice! Can always count on y'all for some incite!

We spent half a day or more touring Magnolia Plantation & Gardens near Charleston when we visited. We also enjoyed the Charleston Tea Plantation tour.

I regret not seeing the Hunley while there. Fort Sumter was well worth the time too. And if you like minor league baseball the A league Charleston Riverdogs were so enjoyable we went 2 nights in a row.

Hope you have a fun trip.

Cross the river into Mt Pleasant and visit Shem Creek. Nothing spectacular, but the food in that area is great. Shem Creek Inn, Red's Ice House, Shem Creek Bar and Grill. We try to eat at these places a few time we visit that area. We stay in the KOA just off 17 north in Mt Pleasant. Really nice folks that work there, and we usually avoid KOAs. We do not go there in the summer as the prices go up for the same sites we get in the spring and late fall.

If you are in striking range of Charleston, you have to stop and see the Hunley. It isn't cheap, but they have expenses.

Matt

I would suggest you wander around downtown Charleston in the Historic District. There is the City Market and French Quarter area. Lots of museum's in that area as well. James Island has some nice beaches and restaurants. Isle of Palms has nice beaches too.

Page's Okra Grill in Mount Pleasant (by Patriots Point) is DELICIOUS!
D'Allesssandro's Pizza is good.
Mondo's Italian is nearby James Island County Park and is delicious Italian food.

Take a walk or bike ride down East Battery to see some GORGEOUS Antebellum style homes.

A horse carriage tour of the city looks fun, we haven't done it yet though.

Be sure and go to Fort Moultrie, which is the headquarters of the National Park. Lots to see, including the movie. Fort Moultrie dates far back before Fort Sumter, and played a much bigger part in the defense of this county. I will not go into the reasons why Sumter gets a lot more coverage. If you can find a private boat to Sumter, you can get a lot more time to explore and enjoy the Fort. The expensive boat trip only gives you one hour, and they is lots more to see than that hour will cover.
Go see the Angle tree, and visit some of the plantations. Spend time on the beach. Go see the Fire Museum. The charleston museum, and the aquarium is aolmost as good as the one at Gatlinberg. A trip into downtown Charleston is a real experience.

Be good to know your timeline here's a link to Festivals in Charleston SC, http://www.sciway.net/calendar/may.html you may want to check out, http://www.charlestoncvb.com/plan-your-trip/tours-attractions~204/ Enjoy your trip.

When we were there, we stumbled across a partial underground flea market that was mostly new merchandise and actually had little shops set up in the entrance and it was huge. It was in "old Charleston". This was several years ago and I dont know where it was. We parked at the visitors center and just started walking around - when it rained we ducked into a little restaurant to stay dry and had the best shrimp EVER. Maybe you can search online and find things like this. The city should also have a tourism site with information.