Charleston, SC Honeymoon...Questions

[Cherish]

Dave and I are spending our honeymoon in Charleston, SC. We’ve only been on a couple of vacations together but our approach to enjoying our vacation is to find out – What is this city/ area known for? And what attractions, tours, restaurants, etc. will be the best to increase our enjoyment, and help us experience what this city/ area is all about.

Last year we went to Door County, WI. We were told this area was known for lighthouses, awesome state parks, ship building, fish boils, and cherries. So, we visited two lighthouses, spent several hours hiking through a state park, snuck in the back door (at night…without authorization ) of a ship building warehouse and watched the night crew work on a ship, went to a fish boil (delicious!), picked cherries at a cherry orchard, and had cherry wine, cherry muffins, and cherry pie.

Does anybody know…

What is Charleston known for?

What are the Must See attractions, places, restaurants, etc. to experience what Charleston is known for?

Dave and I both love history so we’ve already talked about going to Patriots Point one day and Fort Sumter another day.

We’ve read a little about the Spoleto Festival which will be going on while we are there. Is it mostly street musicians and art displayed on the streets, with a few larger performances in the events centers, or am I misunderstanding the whole thing? What’s the best way to experience this festival?

Okay, last question…we’ve decided not to rent a car because everything we have read says parking is a pain. Good decision or bad decision?

[neebelung]

Oh I love Charleston... beautiful city.

My two "must sees" would be the aqaurium..... if you've ever been to the Tennesee aquarium, it's set up in the same manner... it shows the different types of aquatic life throughout South Carolina... very interesting, but not huge... only takes a few hours.

As for food, you've GOT to go to Hyman's Seafood. It's a "locals" kinda joint. Great oysters, shrimp-n-grits (sounds weird, but it's good), crabmeat stuffed baked potato, and if you enjoy cocktails, their Bloody Mary's are seriously legendary.

[Heather]

Mike and I take the opposite approach when traveling to a new place. We tend to avoid what a city is most known for in the travel brochures, and we talk to as many locals as we can. You'll find the best restaurants and things to do, by doing that in my opinion.

As an example, we went to the Bahamas for our honeymoon and found you get the best conch by going under this bridge from Paradise Island to Nassau and finding the local fisherman at sunrise. They have these tiny little huts set up where they clean all of the conch and fish, and you can't get anything fresher at any restaurant.

My only exception would be getting BBQ in Kansas City.