Well, friends, Charleston has just come through a week of dreary rain as Tropical Storm Debbie decided to visit and stay for three days. Yes, we’ve entered Hurricane season, and this is what happens.
In the last note on Charleston on the Cheap, I mentioned getting your rooms early, which is more critical during the high season. This time of the year. It’s better to get your rooms ahead of time only if you have a 24-hour cancellation clause since you never know what will happen. I think of the poor souls who arrived last Sunday to spend the week in Charleston, only to leave on Tuesday. For those of you who can drive in from your location or have the ability to travel on a whim, downtown has some excellent prices right now. For example, the Andrew Pinckney Inn, one block off Market Street, has average room rates between $189 and $224 a night. They are advertising rooms this weekend for $183.This is always good to remember if you can be flexible during your travels.
Usually, hurricanes and tropical storms pass by a community long before the Weather Channel leaves the scene. I was only genuinely concerned when I heard Jim Cantore was coming to town. That’s never a harbinger of good news for any coastal town.
Weathering Charleston’s Tropical Storms
But the real harbinger of impending disaster is when Waffle House closes down. Because they don’t close down for nothing. And there’s Bessie, better known as the Coburg cow. It’s time to get out of town when they take her down. I don’t know anyone who evacuated this going around. And I don’t even remember seeing a tree limb down. Yes, there was some severe flooding in the city, but Charleston is as beautiful as ever now, and it usually is within a day or two of any storm. So it’s a great time to hit the tailwinds of the storm that drives those cheap hotel rates in a city that has lots of empty hotel rooms.
OK, you have arrived in Charleston and are now staying on Saul White Blvd. Awake bright and early for a day of Charleston sightseeing. If you want some breakfast, look no further than the Waffle House, which is only a few steps from your hotel. You can get an excellent breakfast for under $12. Go light with hash browns with 5 add-ons for $5.75. I think that’s the same price as the biscuits and gravy.
After breakfast, head downtown.Uber downtown for under $12. Public transportation will get you there for $2, and you will. See Charleston’s least exclusive neighborhoods along the route. That’ll take an hour, though. Drive downtown in 15 minutes. Whatever your mode of Transportation, you should land at the Charleston Visitor Center at 360 Meeting Street, where you can pick up brochures on things to see and do in Charleston. Lowcountry attractions and tours of all sorts, culinary, ecology, and themed tours.Charleston Walking Tours, bus tours, private tours, and even tours to Fort Sumter. Museums, Special Events, and Festivals such as Food and Wine, the Colour of Music, and Spoleto Festival USA are big festivals here. In the winter, January and February, visitors can pick up a Museum Mile Tour Package. For $40, you can purchase that pass and gain entry to all the Museums.
Maximizing Your Charleston Visit on a Budget
You can still purchase a Charleston Tour Pass for $40 out of that sweet spot. This pass allows admittance to museums at 40% off. There are limitations. For example, if you plan to use it for 2 days, you can enter 3 venues at 40% off. If you stay for three days, you’ll gain entry to 4 venues. Since you are right there, you can start your Charleston Tour at one of the adjacent Museums. The Charleston Museum is at 353 Meeting Street, across from the Charleston Visitor Center. Founded in 1773, it is the country’s first and oldest Municipal Museum. Not only Great Charleston history and South Carolina history, but great Natural History, Textiles, Stoneware, and Decorative Arts are all featured here. Next door to the Visitors Center, families can tour Charleston’s Children’s Museum and get a close-up view of a nineteenth-century locomotive, The Best Friend Of Charleston. Just a block away is the Aiken-Rhett House (1826). Donated as a museum house by the Rhett family in 1979, the story is engaging, and the house has been conserved but not restored. Carriage in the stable appears almost like someone took the horses away long ago and never returned! The servant’s quarters are intact. Even the outhouses stand in the rear corner.
Next, catch the DASH bus, which departs from the Visitors Center downtown to Market Street for some shopping. Find lunch at Tommy Condon’s, the Griffin, or Guillart and Maliclet. Blind Tiger Pub is picturesque, affordable, and a must-see on A Charleston Pub Tour! Afterward, Haunt a graveyard, they are open on weekdays. Tour Charleston Churches. St. Phillips Church and the Huguenot Church are practically adjacent, and both will have docents and illustration boards of significant events and parish members important in the life of the community and the nation. Finish your afternoon in a swing at the Joseph P Riley Waterfront Park dock. If you time it right, you can watch the sunset over the city. If it’s time to pick up the car at the Visitors Center, the Dash bus stops there!
