Help me plan an easy trip to Charleston

I hate flying. I'm not much of a traveler but would like to change that lol. I'd love to go out of Islip if possible. Has anyone done this? Also recs on places to stay? Just my husband and I. Thanks!

Re: Help me plan an easy trip to Charleston

There's a new airline out of Islip actually...Breeze...it flies direct to Charleston...so you are in luck!

We are looking into going too...so I'm following for any and all ideas too!

Help me plan an easy trip to Charleston

Do you follow MommyShorts on Instagram or Facebook? (She's a NYC mom). She was just in Charleston I saw the other day. She probably has some of her trip ideas on her page

Re: Help me plan an easy trip to Charleston

I just went and it was amazing. My partner has a house in Charleston and has been using the new airline out of MacArthur. He said it was easy and convenient. I flew out of JFK on Jet Blue but the Charleston airport is a breeze.

We went for a quick girls weekend but it was with my mom so it wasn't girls gone wild. If you like to eat, the restaurant scene is great. We ate at High Cotton, Hanks Seafood, Poogan's Porch and a couple of other quick spots. The food was really high quality. I highly, highly recommend making reservations the minute you book your trip. It was impossible for me to get reservations at Halls Chophouse or Husk (and I even had a connection there). I did Husk in Nashville and it was so good so I was disappointed. I was only able to get a reservation at High Cotton because my hotel called in a favor. We stayed at the Hotel Bennett which was really nice. Beautiful rooms and top notch southern hospitality. Location wise, it was pretty good although late nights or high heel nights we needed to get a car service. We spent most of our time about .5-.8 miles away. There was plenty to do on the other side of the hotel also; we just didn't head that way. We used Tito's car service. They had really nice trucks and the drivers were great.

We did a ghost tour at night which was fun. It was essentially a bar crawl with a twist. We ended up in this Irish Pub called Tommy Conlon's (I think). It was awesome. They had 2 guys playing live Irish music. So fun. We found another fun bar across the street from the markets (Henry's I think?) that had a lot of levels to it. There was another pub a few blocks over called The Griffon that was fun too. Given that I was with my mom and my aunts, we didn't do the lounge/club scene but I know there is a lot of that. They are also big into dessert bars that have dessert cocktails and DJ's. Sounded fun but we just never made it. We did do the rooftop bar at our hotel which was nice.

We also did Saltwater Cycle which is basically the same thing as the pedal taverns but on water. That was really fun. They took us to where they film The Outer banks.

If you have difficulty getting reservations, contact the hotel you are staying at right away. Their concierge will likely be able to get you in if you can't do it yourself. I didn't think to do that and the concierge told me not to hesitate next time. Also, just a heads up, outside of the casual spots, you are paying Manhattan prices at the restaurants but they were worth every penny.

Re: Help me plan an easy trip to Charleston

We stayed at the Bennett when we went last year. It was really nice and in a great location. Magnolia's is great for lunch. We had dinner at Husk. It was good.

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Re: Help me plan an easy trip to Charleston

Re: Help me plan an easy trip to Charleston

Thanks very much everyone! Looking into all of this!

Re: Help me plan an easy trip to Charleston

Look into Breeze. I looked up flights from ISP to Charleston recently because the flights to Myrtle Beach have been insane priced so someone told me to look to fly to Charleston instead... the prices were really great.

Re: Help me plan an easy trip to Charleston

The Bennett hotel and Hilton are nice hotels down there. Magnolias for souther cuisine, Fleet Landing is on the water...

You'll have a great time. Have fun!

Re: Help me plan an easy trip to Charleston

I spent a lot of time there and in Savannah because I have family there. I always stayed with them, so no recommendations for hotels, sorry.

But if you love Gone With the Wind, Boone Hall is a must. It was Twelve Oaks in the movie.