Best Vacation Spot in SC?
- Thread starter segroene
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Second this. We vacation here yearly with my family. It is very peaceful and beautiful. My wife would prefer better shopping than Beaufort but all of the other stuff outweighs that. My daughter, wife and I spend the day on the beach swimming, flying kites and crabbing. We hunt sand dollars and sea shells. In the evening, we fish from our dock. We go to the marina to see what all the fisherman bring in. We have wave runners, so of course, we do that a few times. We go to Gay's Seafood and get shrimp fresh from the boats and enjoy Frogmore stew at least once during the week. My daughter loves the Hunting Island Lighthouse. If you don't like golf carts, it isn't your place though.. Seems that is a preferred method of travel (I remember when there were very few on the island except on the course itself). Oh and my cell phone doesn't get good reception at all, so I really dig it
Charleston is easily one of the best cities in the Country to visit for a quick beach vacation. Small enough to avoid insanity, great shopping, some of the best restaurants in this part of the country, multiple nice beaches within a short drive- history meets culture with a bit of party mixed in!
Hotter than a Swedish sauna in July in the city. Would be better to stay at one of the beaches nearby and make a day trip or two into the city. Sullivans Island or Island of Palms are at the beach but close to the city (25-30 min). Avoid Myrtle Beach unless you want to play golf.
Fripp is nice, but the guy who said it is LESS expensive?? Whhhhuuuuuuttt?Second this. We vacation here yearly with my family. It is very peaceful and beautiful. My wife would prefer better shopping than Beaufort but all of the other stuff outweighs that. My daughter, wife and I spend the day on the beach swimming, flying kites and crabbing. We hunt sand dollars and sea shells. In the evening, we fish from our dock. We go to the marina to see what all the fisherman bring in. We have wave runners, so of course, we do that a few times. We go to Gay's Seafood and get shrimp fresh from the boats and enjoy Frogmore stew at least once during the week. My daughter loves the Hunting Island Lighthouse. If you don't like golf carts, it isn't your place though.. Seems that is a preferred method of travel (I remember when there were very few on the island except on the course itself). Oh and my cell phone doesn't get good reception at all, so I really dig it
Funny you mention Gay Seafood- my parent's house is straight across the marsh from there! We have had the house about... 30 years and they retired there about 10 years ago. If you drive past the Shrimp Shack (about the ONLY dining within miles of that are save for JCT... But who needs more? The best Shrimp Burger in the WORLD) and look left across the marsh, you will see a big brown house sticking up out of the trees- that is my parent's home (nope I am not worried about their privacy, good luck finding it!). My point is that Beaufort is SOOOO laid back I would not recommend it for anyone listing SHOPPING and eating out as their priorities- Charleston is a far better option for anyone looking to do that. Beaufort has a few nice little local shops along the waterfront, but you have to drive almost to Savannah to find some outlets if you really want to do some shopping... And the restaurants are.... Just OK and much more limited than Charleston. Mostly you find places like Plums which rely more on quaint atmosphere and deep fried fresh seafood than they do on actually being a GOOD RESTAURANT...
Beaufort/ Lady's Island/ Bluffton/ Hardor Island offer rest and relaxation with Fripp putting a heavy premium price tag at the top of those options. Fripp is an Entertainment Company that bought an Island and over charges for everything! I worked there one summer and got to see it from the inside... Massive regime fees for home owners on the Island allow for them to have the ability to use the stores and restaurants and pay the outrageously over-priced amenities! It is nice, it has a few beaches, but there are super limited options for dining, shopping and anything resembling excitement (unless you get to know the gypsies who work the restaurants! Man, that summer I worked there was one of the wildest I lived through!).
Not bashing Fripp or the area my parent's live- I personally would not rather visit anywhere more! I enjoy visiting my parent's home and relaxing on the beach or having an Oyster roast in their back yard with a bonfire and some beers... Just saying that is ME, and shopping is about the last thing I care about when I go somewhere! If this guy wants good restaurants, there is not a city in the SE US with better restaurants than Charleston right now! Maaaaaayyybe New Orleans. MAYBE... But it is closer than you'd think! There are a slew of award winning chefs crawling all over Charkeston and 4* restaurants popping up in every nook and cranny!
I have never understood why any self respecting Sand Lapper would recommend that an out of stater should go to Myrtle Beach for any reason at any time (except to play golf I suppose). That is the most NON- SC place in this state. Since about 1980 is has more and more de-evolved into a plastic city mess of polluted beaches and sky rise condos right up to the SAND! It is like someone teleported a couple miles of New Jersey down here....
Woah woah woah! You leave Allendale out of this! I grew up there! Yep, that was me- The ONLY white dude in the whole town of... At least 200 people!Assuming a 30 minute drive from HHI to Hardeeville (US 278 @ I-95), no way it's a 1-hour drive from Hardeeville to Charleston.
Actually, I've never driven from HHI directly to Charleston, but I have driven all parts of your described route.
Rather than Orangeburg, we can suggest Allendale to Segroene (the op)
Damn... I know too much about this state! Time to freaking move I think...
I get all in a huff whenever people mention Allendale.. Had to be the worst possible town to grow up in within the boarders of the USA. SC has long been around DEAD LAST in the nation in Education, right? Allendale has the distinction of being the very first school district in thei great state to have to be taken over by state Government because it was in such a shambles! They still to this day pay teacher 50%+ more to teach there because it is a "high needs" area.. IOW an education DISASTER befell that town and it has never recovered! So, the worst (by FAR) school district in this state has to out it solidly in the running for worst schools in AMERICA, right?
I still remember the pictures in the paper of our teachers protesting the State taking over (because they were in computer and knew they would all be fired). One sign summed it all up well, reading simply: "we ain't need no Governe,NT intervention"! Probably thinking it was sarcasm, right? Pfffttt... You never lived in Allendale!
My brother- a ROCKET SCIENTIST, literally, today- asked his 6th grade math teacher to help him learn pre-algebra so he could prepare to take the PSAT early, and the MATH TEACHER told him no because he wasn't good at algebra! Yes, you heard it right, a MATH TEACHER who did not know how to do MATH. Par for the course... Soon after this incident, my brother asked my Mom one day if she would sneak into his class after dropping him off and give the teacher his homework for him so his friends would not see him turn it in BECAUSE WE GOT PICKED ON IF WE ACTUALLY DID OUR WORK! The next year my parent moved us to Barnwell schools... 17 miles away... They were better but hardly the Harvard of the South!
The MAYOR of Allendale- a tiny city of about 2,000 people where "mayor" is a part time job with a salary of around $24,000- angrily asked his assistant one day a few weeks after being elected "when is ____ (the previous mayor who was quite wealthy) going to move our of the Mayorial mansion so I can move in". IT WAS THE GUY'S HOUSE! You don't get a freaking MANSION as one of the perks for getting a PART TIME JOB running some Podunk berg into the GROUND!
That same mayor was told multiple times we needed to demolish some old building lining Main Street and he held out and held out saying the State would give him funding to renovate them because they were historical landmarks... Until.... Wait for it... They COLLAPSED INTO THE STREET! Blocking two lanes of traffic! Since the city had no money p. Al they could afford was to have a dozier push the rubble back to block only ONE lane of traffic... For YEARS it was like this!
I could go on if anyone wishes to get more history on this fine city... Just thought I'd chime in with a few A-Town tid bits!
Shopping and dining? On Edisto? WHERE? The only shopping can be done at the ONE grocery store in town! (They close around 6:00PM so go early!), and the last time I visited there were two dining options! One fast food place, like a Dairy Queen or something and the "Pavillion"? This is what we recommend for shopping a dining? I prefer laid back, but the only thing Edisto is good for is Teenagers finding a place so deserted they can drink without being arrested. That and finding sharks teeth!
Love Edisto for all the prom week memories, but I could name a dozen beaches in this state For someone to visit before going there... JMHO/ no offense!
One Hailuva book there my man; but agree 100% with your statement regarding The Shrimp Shack (hey, I'm a SC native and I frikkin' LOVE shrimp on a cheeseburger, and a grilled cheese sammich) and Myrtle being a southern Jersey shore!!
I lived in Georgetown for six years while growing up. I remember a place on Pawley's Island called the Pelican Inn. It typified the stylish shabbiness of the place.
Agree. Nothing about Fripp is cheap and there isn't great shopping or food really close by. We don't eat out when there. We plan our meals and take food, minus what we get at Gay's.. Everything I listed above activity wise is essentially free to do. We don't do the golf (I play but not well enough or enough to care to play on a course that requires I sell stock to afford it)..
MB is trying their best to be Atlantic City for sure.. If you like douchebags, teenagers acting like morons and crowded everything, then it's your place. Lol
Maybe I missed it but nobody mentioned Folly Beach. Small beachfront rental houses from $300/night up on VRBO. During the week the beach is not crowded at all. 25 minutes to downtown Charleston. I've spent Memorial Day week there the last 4 years.
Pawleys Island to me is the best vacation spot in SC. Quiet, great food, and of course the beach. Need to see James W. Smith Real Estate for the best rates on rentals. He is a huge Gamecock fan and sets up vacations for most of the coaches.
The Piggly Wiggly and that's it on Edisto!!! Still Love Edisto though!!!
Charleston is by far the best tourist destination. Mt. Pleasant is probably a good place to stay as a midway point between Charleston and the Isle of Palms. Traffic patterns are pretty predictable going to the Isle of Palms, traffic jams usually occur going to the Isle of Palms between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. and leaving the Isle of Palms between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm. There are parking lots in the "business district" and at least for the time being, parking is allowed on the sides of Palm Blvd. which runs the length of the island. There is very little rip-rap on the
beach (almost exclusively at the Wild Dunes area on the very end of the island). There are a lot of good restaurant options that are off the beaten path in Mt. Pleasant; Graze, Southerly, Long Point Grill, Bricco Bracco and Sermet's on Daniel Island come to mind. If dining in Charleston there are more good restaurants than you can imagine. Far more options than any of these other destinations mentioned on here.
beach (almost exclusively at the Wild Dunes area on the very end of the island). There are a lot of good restaurant options that are off the beaten path in Mt. Pleasant; Graze, Southerly, Long Point Grill, Bricco Bracco and Sermet's on Daniel Island come to mind. If dining in Charleston there are more good restaurants than you can imagine. Far more options than any of these other destinations mentioned on here.
Actually, Edisto is growing as more and more tourists find out about how laid back it is. There are several pretty decent restaurants now (Old Post Office, and Whaleys are my favorites). And believe it or not the grocery store is 24 hours during the summer months. I agree there isn't much to do in Edisto, which is probably why my wife and I love it so much. Beach, booze, relaxation, pretty good seafood, and a great little resort golf course is all we need!
Sorry for the bad news, but the PW is gone. Purchased by BiLo. It's still pretty much the same though.
Yep, U R correct sir; just goes to show ya how long I've been hanging out at Edisto - an old hard to break habit so to speak!! =;-o
I grew up in Charleston, live in Columbia, but have a place at Myrtle Beach where I go for a week each year and have a house on Lake Murray. I love my week at the beach as it is at the Marriott Grande Dunes Resort. As much as I love it, and good restaurants are all around, this man needs to go to Charleston or the Charleston beaches. Sure the whole coast is good, but there is just so much to Charleston. I entertain clients there and they are all amazed.
If you've never been to Charleston, that's where you should go. If you want beach, stay at Isle of Palms and drive into the city. Second choice would be Beaufort Area beaches. Third, for pure beach and shopping, I'd pick North Myrtle Beach (Ocean Drive area, specifically), with shopping at Barefoot Landing.
If you want to avoid crowds, then stay away from Charleston and Myrtle Beach. Those places are overrun with tourists from everywhere -- many of them waiting on a cruise ship. My recommendation would be Edisto Island. There aren't many commercial operations on the island, but you won't run into the crowds in Charleston. You might also consider the upstate of South Carolina. It is a well-hidden secret of how beautiful it is. There are several B&Bs near Table Rock.
Having surpassed SF a few years ago as the number one tourist destination in the US, Charleston, SC is now second in the world behind Florence Italy. Even though I work for PRT I'm not biased.
Sumter is wonderful. Everything is so clean and beach is immaculate.
Sparkleberry Beach?
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Hunting Island out past Beaufort though... They just did a massive Re-nourishment project there to fix hurricane damage and... WOW. Just Wow! The North and South beaches there are now the biggest/ nicest beaches in the State and it is not close! HUGE, pristine white sand beaches, no condos/hotels or even HOUSES built out on it, less people than Myrtle or any Charleston islands... cool old lighthouse... If ya’ll haven’t been since it reopened, you need to go!
I second Charleston for all around- beaches, shopping and food!
Hunting Island out past Beaufort though... They just did a massive Re-nourishment project there to fix hurricane damage and... WOW. Just Wow! The North and South beaches there are now the biggest/ nicest beaches in the State and it is not close! HUGE, pristine white sand beaches, no condos/hotels or even HOUSES built out on it, less people than Myrtle or any Charleston islands... cool old lighthouse... If ya’ll haven’t been since it reopened, you need to go!
My fav state park in SC which has villas, swimming, campground, etc is https://southcarolinaparks.com/devils-fork
....Devils Fork State Park in the mountains...
....Devils Fork State Park in the mountains...
Charleston is tough to beat. We moved here in 1993. There's something here for everyone, water, fishing, shopping, golf, dining, history, etc.
That's the problem. I'd give my house away in Mt. Pleasant if my wife would let me. It was great in 1993 when you moved here.
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