info for first timers

Hi! My husband and I will be visiting Charleston over Columbus Day weekend and staying in the historic district for our 4 nights there. We plan to rent a car as we don%26#39;t want to feel confined to the city for the entire trip and want to see some of the beaches, islands etc. surrounding the city. Our hotel offers overnight parking but at a pretty high rate. Is there an overnight garage near King St. ? Also, we plan on going to ';A Taste of Charleston'; being held in Mt. Pleasant on the 8th. How far a drive is this from downtown? Lastly, we have already made reservations at Roberts for Friday evening but want to do one more ';special'; dinner. There seem to be so may good places to choose from it%26#39;s hard to make a decision. Atmosphere is just as important to us as the food quality. Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated!

info for first timers

Boy,lots of questions. Here%26#39;s some suggestions/answers:

1)Yes, there are overnight parking garage in Charleston. Sometimes, it is just as cheap to let the hotel park for you. Unsure of the rate. Someone asked this question before. Just type in parking garage in the search part of this forum and you should find some answers.

2)From dowtown the Taste of Charleston is about 12-15 miles. It is about 20 minutes. Not too bad. Bring money to that event.

3) Roberts is a great choice for a very special dinner. Also, try the Woodlands in Summerville. You would enjoy that too.

info for first timers

Parking is a premium anywhere you go. Most of the hotels offer parking anywhere between $10-18 per day. The garages are going to be about the same. I would just park at the hotel, that way you have secure parking and your car is easy to get to when you want to get in and out.

Depending on what time of the day you are wanting to got to Mt. Pleasant it can take somewhere between 10-30 min driving.

For other romantic ';special'; dinner restaurants you can try Cypress, McCradys, Charleston Grill or Peninsula Grill. You can walk over to High Cotton for some after dinner drinks and some nice jazz music to cap off your evening.

Thanks to both of you for your quick responses! I guess we will just park at the hotel; it will certainly be the most convenient and secure. We are very much looking forward to our visit as it has been high on our ';list'; for quite some time. We are both in our late 40%26#39;s and have also heard that there is quite a bit of development going on in some of the smaller coastal towns just north of the city. We have already decided that Florida isn%26#39;t for us when we become retirement age so this will also be somewhat of a scouting mission (albeit a short one). We grew up and live close to the coast now (Ma./NH) so that continues to be a priority. I have NEVER heard anyone say that they didn%26#39;t like visiting the Charleston area; can%26#39;t wait to experience it ourselves!

You might also like to look at Kiawah and Seabrook Islands, south of Charleston, and a very easy drive into the city and to the essential suburban conveniences of the West Ashley area. Although they are not the traditional small, coastal towns you mention, both islands are lovely residential communities with resort amenities.

Both Kiawah and Seabrook are covenanted to protect them from the kind of commercial development that has (in my view) destroyed much of Florida. Kiawah, in particular, has a glorious 12-mile packed sand beach and spectacular marsh and river vistas. Seabrook is smaller than Kiawah, but also very nice.

If you come out to Kiawah, be sure to visit the beautiful Sanctuary Hotel. The Ocean Room at The Sanctuary is great for a special dinner (reservations essential), or just have a drink in the Lobby Bar.

We will definitely check these islands out; they sound beautiful! And you don%26#39;t have to twist my arm anytime to stop by a nice hotel with a restaurant/ bar that looks out at the Atlantic Ocean. I wish our trip were longer than 4 days but it is difficult to get more time off from work that time of the year. I will be taking a vacation next April so who know, we may end up further exploring Charleston and vicinity again.........Anyone out there relocate from the northeast and care to share their experience on living in this wonderful area of the country?

We have lived in Boston, London, and New York. We now live in the NYC metropolitan area. We love all of those cities.

Since our children were babies - for the past 20+ years - we have been vacationing on Kiawah. We now own a second home here, and spend as much time in the Charleston area as we can. We would like to relocate here eventually - maybe on Kiawah, but possibly somewhere else in the lowcountry surrounding Charleston.

Charleston is a remarkable place, at once ';down home'; and urbane. This is a very sophisticated and tolerant place, which was consider by the Brits in colonial days ';the only civilized city '; in North America. Along with that, you get the beaches, rivers, marshes, forests, and gardens.

Have a wonderful visit to the SC lowcountry.

Thank you Kiawahvilla, We are looking forward to it! I have a feeling that this may be the first of many visits to Charleston and surrounding communities....... The GOOD thing about purchasing real estate is that we are used to exorbitant prices; we won%26#39;t be facing ';sticker shock!';