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Biking in Charleston, S.C.

To me, a middle-age out-of-shape amateur bicyclist, Charleston is the absolute perfect place to go biking.  Though I am always amazed at mountain bikers in the Boone, N.C. area ,etc., that is not for me.  Give me lowcountry biking anyday!

I simply love biking at the Charleston County Parks, especially at Mt. Pleasant’s Palmetto Islands County Park.   Other great parks to ride in include North Charleston’s Wannamaker County Park and James Island County Park.

Here are some Websites on biking in Charleston to look at –

Bicycling Stores –

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Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

‘Magnolia Plantation and Gardens (70 acres, 28 hectares) is a historic house with gardens located on the Ashley River at 3550 Ashley River Road, Charleston County, South Carolina, United States. It is one of the oldest plantations in the south, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house and gardens are open daily; an admission fee is charged. Magnolia Plantation is located near Charleston and directly across the Ashley River from North Charleston.   Source: Article on Wikipedia

The official Website of Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.

Gene Philips has a written a wonderful blog post that shares some of the history of the plantation and gardens – Magnificent Magnolia Plantation: By Gene Phillips

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens on CharlestonShines.com

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Touring Charleston

There are a number of ways to tour Charleston including horse-drawn carriages, walking and biking tours.

Walking Tours include:

  • Charleston Strolls History Walk
  • Charleston Chef’s Kitchen Tours
  • Charleston Ghost and Dungeon Walking Tour
  • Charleston Ghost and Graveyard Walking Tour
  • Dark Side of Charleston Walking Tour
  • The Haunted Jail Tour
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Charleston in the Movies and on Television

Many, many movies and television shows have been filmed in the Charleston area.

Some of the more famous movies include:

  • Ace Ventura – When Nature Calls
  • Cold Mountain
  • Dear John
  • Die Hard with a Vengeance
  • (The) Jackal
  • (The) Legend of Bagger Vance
  • (The) Lords of Discipline
  • Night of the Living Dead
  • (The) Notebook
  • (The) Patriot
  • (The)Prince of Tides

Some of the more famous television shows include:

  • Army Wives
  • Scarlet (TV miniseries)
  • Deadly Pursuits
  • The North and South trilogy (TV miniseries)

For extensive lists of movies and television shows filmed in Charleston see the following Webpages:

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Charleston named the No. 1 Tourist Destination

On Monday, October 10th, Conde Nast Traveler announced their 2011 Readers’ Choice Award winners.   Charleston is almost always in the top ten for the most popular tourist destination in America but for the first time ever Charleston was the top vote getter.   Last year Charleston was no. 2.  This year San Francisco is no. 2.

Charleston’s ‘The French Quarter Inn’ was named the 15th most popular hotel in the United States.  Charleston Place was the 30th most popular.  The top 200 were listed.  Other popular Charleston hotels include:

  • No. 52 – Planters Inn
  • No. 62 (tied) Market Pavilion Hotel

John Rutledge House Inn earned the 16th spot in the Small Hotels category immediately followed by Wentworth Mansion and later Planters Inn, Charleston.

Kiawah Island was another big winner.  It was listed as the 3rd most popular Island destination.   Hilton Head was also in the top 10.

Sanctuary at Kiawah Island was named in the Top 50 of the Top 100 travel experiences in the WORLD and in the top 10 of Resorts in Mainland U.S.A.

Other Resorts mentioned include:

  • Inn at Palmetto Bluff, Bluffton, S.C.
  • Wild Dunes Resort, Isle of Palms, S.C.
  • Litchfield Plantion, Pawley’s Island, S.C

Read he rest of the article – http://www.concierge.com/images/cnt/pdf/2011-Readers-Choice-Awards.pdf

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A-to-Z Tasting Tour of the World

Interval World Magazine published a tasty article, ‘Around the World in 26 Dishes’.  The article asked ‘What’s your favorite vacation activity?’ and answered ‘For most travelers, that would be eating.’  Amen to that!  North American dishes mentioned wisely included ‘She-Crab Soup’ from South Carolina Lowcountry describing it:

‘rich creamy soup is based on fish stock, crab meat, and crab roe. Traditionally, the roe was the hallmark ingredient; thus the reference to she. The gender of the crab, however, is irrelevant to the tasty meal.’

The article listed a food from A-Z.  Representing ‘A’ was Arroz Con Pollo, one of my favorites (from Latin America) and ‘Z’ was Zaatar (from Middle East).

Other North American selections included Beignets from New Orleans, Key Lime Pie from Florida, and Lomi-Lomi from Hawaii.

What are some dishes that would represent YOUR favorite A-to-Z Tasting Tour?

(I don’t see the article OR the magazine online.  The company Website is IntervalWorld.com.)

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Ask the Locals

AARP magazine has a useful article on traveling to a new town.  Its advice: ‘Talk to the Locals’ to find out more about the city AND about its people.  Seek out and talk to some of the following:

  • Firefighters
  • Hotel Chefs
  • Taxi Drivers
  • Maids
  • and others.

Read the article to learn more!