Road-trip to Charleston and Myrtle Beach

Day 1

On our first morning of the road trip we woke up early to start our 6 hour drive from Florida to Charleston, South Carolina. Our first planned stop was to visit the Angel Oak, which is about 30 minutes outside of Charleston. This is thought to be one of the oldest things in the United States! The branches reach out in every direction, and is really a must-see if you are near Charleston.

After a visit at the massive Angel Oak, it was time to explore Historic Charleston. We parked at our hotel in downtown, and were able to walk to everything that we wanted to visit. Here are the places that you can easily walk to in the downtown area:

• 235 King Street – a Historic Street with beautiful buildings and shops
• Charleston City Market – an indoor market with vendors selling crafts, food, jewelry, spices, art, and so much more!
• Waterfront Park- Pineapple Fountain
• St. Philips Episcopal Church
• St. Michael’s Episcopal Church
• Old City Jail
• Old Slave Mart
• Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon
• Rainbow Row is a famous street with thirteen colorful historic houses and is the longest cluster of Georgian row houses in the United States. A nice walking route to take starting from Battery, with a return on Church.

After a long day of seeing this beautiful city we prepared for what would become our favorite Ghost Tour. Still to this day we discuss the interesting facts we learned during this tour: The Death and Depravity Ghost Tour . We selected the 10:00pm, adults only, tour despite it being nearly past my bedtime; I am so happy we chose this one. We learned all about the dismal history of the settling of Charles’ Town (today known as Charleston), including the Slave Trade, Blackbeard and other Pirate Stories, and how a countless number of prisoners died in front of the Old Exchange. If you can muster up the energy (and in our case endure the freezing weather) definitely go on this tour!

Day 2

The next day we visited Fort Sumter National Monument & Liberty Square before making our way to Myrtle Beach. On our route we stopped in Historic Georgetown which is about halfway between Charleston and Myrtle Beach. We visited the Harborwalk Marina, popped in Antique Shops and a delicious bakery for warm treats.

Day 3

On the third day we visited Brookgreen Gardens which is open daily from 9:30am – 5pm. Regular garden admission tickets ($16) are good for seven consecutive days and include admission to the gardens, Native Wildlife Zoo, the Lowcountry Center and Trail, and the Enchanted Storybook Forest. We spent almost an entire day exploring the expansive grounds.

Other things to do in the area include The Murrells Inlet MarshWalk and Atalya Castle for some hiking and sightseeing.

Day 4

On the fourth day we spent the morning at Myrtle Beach Board Walk where we spent our time walking on the beach, playing arcade games and eating at Peaches Corner.

Later we visited a small local museum, Horry County Museum and Farm, to learn about the area, pet some animals, and prepare for some wine tastings. We went to La Belle Amie Vineyard which was a short drive away; this is a small tasting room on a nice vineyard. That night we went to the much larger and more commercial Duplin Winery back in Myrtle Beach. Needless to say South Carolina does not make the most tasty wines (duh!) but these were enjoyable places to visit nonetheless.

Things to Eat: Charleston

• Kaminsky’s Dessert Café is open late and a perfect way to prepare for the Ghost Tour. Do yourself a favor and get a piece of the huge, moist, decadent chocolate cake that is something that dreams are made of… made even better when accompanied by an Irish Coffee. This place does fill up quickly and there is often a line out the door, be sure to plan accordingly.
• Slightly North of Broad
• Prohibition
• Edmund’s Oast
• Queen Street Grocery
• Normandy Farm Artisan Bakery

Things to Eat: Myrtle Beach

• Peaches Corner is located at the boardwalk and has rather poor yelp reviews and rating but was established in the 1930s. They serve traditional boardwalk food; we got hot dogs and a chocolate malt which ended up being pretty tasty.
• Aspen Grille is located on the waterfront
• Captain Benjamin’s Calabash Buffet is a seafood buffet which is not really my cup of tea, but has fantastic reviews. We always talk about this buffet experience, because there was a couple sitting near us with a pile of crab legs piled above their heads, it was hilarious.

Where to Stay:

Days Inn Historic District in Charleston was in the literal perfect location, right across the street from the City Market. It may not be a nicest and most upscale accommodation, but the location makes up for the lack of amenities and upgrades- plus we never spend much time in the hotel anyway! Everything we wanted to visit in Historic Downtown Charleston was within a 10-minute walk, which was perfect.

We stayed in my parents timeshare, Bluegreen Vacations in Myrtle Beach (gorgeous accommodations and fun activities, 15-40 minutes from most of the attractions), as our Christmas present this year: the best presents involve travel, in my opinion!

What is your favorite thing to do on a roundtrip? We love to explore random stops, eat local goods, and usually get lost a time or two.