Charleston Things To Do

My favorite things to do in Charleston:
Free:
The Garden/Cemetery walk: http://www.gardenvisit.com/garden/gateway_walk_charleston Pretty much you just look in this area and there is a path that leads through all these cemeteries and gardens. There are gates and you can usually figure out where they are, if you find one. Hopefully the map helps. 
Charleston Tea Plantation: http://www.charlestonteaplantation.com/ The tour is short and free, but they also have a nice area by the visitors center that has benches and is a good place to relax. I'd have lunch there sometime, I think they'd be ok with that. They also have other tours you can do and pay for. 
Angel Oak: on the way to the Tea Plantation, really pretty, large oak tree. http://www.angeloaktree.org/ another place you could do a picnic.
Firefly Vodka: I think it's near the Tea Plantation. I think they also do wine. http://www.fireflyvodka.com/ (we haven't been there yet)
Mepkin Abbey: http://mepkinabbey.org/ BEAUTIFUL grounds. They're outside of Charleston (on the way from Columbia). You can do a tour if you want but you could also go just to check out the grounds and they have a cute gift shop. 

most of these you can also find on this site: http://traveler.nationalgeographic.com/2010/03/free-city/charleston-text/6 not bad. 

Other fun things: 
The South Carolina aquarium: http://www.scaquarium.org/default.html 

If you like shopping, there's an outlet mall in North Charleston, near where I-26 and I-526 come together. http://www.tangeroutlet.com/charleston
 
If it were me, and I wanted to spend a day in Charleston, I'd go downtown first, early morning and  check out the garden walk and the market stuff (high-end shopping is on King Street), then have lunch at Fleet Landing. Then get the car, head out and see Angel Oak and the Tea Plantation. You could go by Folly Beach if you wanted to see the beach (there are some cute shops and surf shops there), or, depending on how exhausted you are, you could either stop at Mepkin Abbey or take Hwy 17 and see some of the plantations and just the sights of the low-country. You can take 17 to Summerville, then get back with I-26 there. Also there's a sticky fingers at that exit, if it's time for dinner. :) 
 Or, in the summer, after spending the morning downtown, I like to go out to Isle of Palms for their beach access (http://www.ccprc.com/index.aspx?NID=60) and get some sun. If you want to take a break, visit the Ben and Jerry's on IOP and window shop. Then go over to Sullivan's Island and have an early dinner at Poe's on the front deck. If it's a full moon, you can watch the moon rise over the ocean after sunset. 

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