Charleston, SC - A Great Day Visit from Columbia

Charleston has been named again as a top travel destination.
Charleston is only 114 miles from Columbia, so it really makes for a great day or weekend visit.

Lonely Planet, a popular Internet travel website, has recently named Charleston as one of its "Top Cities to Visit in 2010."  There have been many other travel awards for Charleston, including: For the sixteenth consecutive year, readers of Condé Nast Traveler magazine honored Charleston as a Top 10 travel destination in the United States. For 2008, Charleston was honored with a No. 2 slot - topped only by San Francisco. Also, TripAdvisor.com awarded Charleston a Travelers' Choice Award for 2008 (top 25 United States Destination).

Charleston is one of the most historical and well-preserved cities in the United States. Charleston has had a starring role in South Carolina & American history since its founding more than 300 years ago.The English established the first permanent European settlement on the Ashley River in 1670. War, fires, earthquakes and hurricanes have threatened this resilient city over the years but it still stands strong and beautiful. The city's historic district today has barely changed, boasting 73 pre-Revoluntionary buildings, 136 late 18th century structures and over 600 others built in the 1840s. Visitors can tour the city by foot or horse-drawn carriage.

CLICK HERE: Mel's Charleston Travel Guide

TripAdvisor Travel Guide for Charleston
Order a FREE Official Charleston Visitor Guide
Charleston Visitor's Bureau

Charleston Day Trip

Want a suggestion for a great day trip or weekend trip to make from Columbia? Try Charleston!

Barbara and I went on a spur of the moment day trip yesterday (Friday, November 7th) to Charleston. Our primary focus was to visit Patriots Point and the USS Yorktown in Charleston Harbor. Click here to visit our photo tour.

The USS Yorktown (CV-10) was the tenth aircraft carrier to serve in the United States Navy. Yorktown received the Presidential Unit Citation and earned 11 battle stars for service in World War II. Yorktown also earned 5 battle stars for service off Vietnam and recovered the Apollo 8 astronauts and capsule (December 1968). Yorktown was decommissioned in 1970. In 1975, Yorktown was towed from Bayonne, NJ to Charleston to become the centerpiece of Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.

Patriots Point tour exhibits include: USS Yorktown, historic planes and flight deck, USS Laffey, USS Clamagore, USS Ingham, Congressional Medal of Honor Museum, and the Vietnam Support Base.

Patriots Point website

We toured all of Patriots Point and walked some of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge over the Cooper River. My pedometer indicated that we walked 5.4 miles in our Patriots Point and Cooper River bridge walking!

After leaving Patriots Point, we headed over to the market area in Charleston on Meeting Street. We had a great seafood meal at Hymans Seafood (highly recommended!) and walked and shopped in the Market Area.

Hymans Seafood
Charleston Visitors Bureau
Ravenel Bridge over Cooper River

We recommend Charleston highly! Visit soon.

Click here for our Photo Tour