Info on Charleston,S.C.

[Sunshine]

We will be going there in about 5 weeks, and would appreciate any info of the neat places to see and eat at...thanks!!!

[cel]

I love iop.net for isle of palms info--where are ya'll staying?

[cel]

www.iop.net oops :D

[Capucine]

Look at the Chamber of Commerce website. You can find it by doing a Google search. It's a really beautiful area. Hope you love it as much as I do.

[jhiggins]

Here is a calendar of events for March.
http://www.sciway.net/calendar/march.html

If you like cooking, you might like to stop by Charleston Cooks downtown.
www.charlestoncooks.com (http://www.charlestoncooks.com)
Their classes are so much fun! They even have a lowcountry class that's only $25. I'm going to that one with a group of friends in March.

Places to eat - it's hard to go wrong. My favs are Hanks (for good seafood), S.N.O.B. - is soooo good, and Peninsula Grill if you want something even more upscale.

I live in Charleston, so send me an email if you think of more questions.

[Herndonhokie]

There is a restaurant there called The Wreck. It is an old fishing boat that was washed on shore during a hurricane, and they turned it into a seafood restaurant. Best seafood I have ever eaten. Not fancy, but lots of character. I believe there was a feature in SL magazine on this restaurant within the past year or 18 months.

HerndonHokie

[renee43]

Charleston is one of my favorite places. Make sure you see the Battery and the Market Place. Also try The Trawler restaurant for good seafood and don't let the high bridges freak you out!

[Capucine]

Charleston is one of my favorite places. Make sure you see the Battery and the Market Place. Also try The Trawler restaurant for good seafood and don't let the high bridges freak you out!

I thought those old bridges were gone. There is a new (beautiful) bridge I'm positive.

[jhiggins]

Charleston is one of my favorite places. Make sure you see the Battery and the Market Place. Also try The Trawler restaurant for good seafood and don't let the high bridges freak you out!

Renee - you will be sooo happy when you come back. The scary old bridges are gone - they are blowing them up as we speak! :) We now have a beautiful, wide, non-scary bridge. You can even bike and walk over it - which is a fun thing to do if you have time! Great views.

The Trawler is no longer there. It was replaced by Big Game Restaurant which has also closed.

[Heat_Addict]

Renee - you will be sooo happy when you come back. The scary old bridges are gone - they are blowing them up as we speak! :) We now have a beautiful, wide, non-scary bridge. You can even bike and walk over it - which is a fun thing to do if you have time! Great views.

The Trawler is no longer there. It was replaced by Big Game Restaurant which has also closed.

Which scary bridge? Are y'all talking about a bridge on highway 526? I remember at least one that looked like it easily went up 100 feet or more, so the tallest ships could still go under? The grade was SO steep. Must have been at least a 10% grade and made me feel like I was in the Appalachian mountains.

I'd hate to see what it's like when Charleston gets an ice storm! :D

[jhiggins]

No, we were referring to the old Cooper River Bridge that went from Charleston into Mount Pleasant (on 17). It was extremely narrow and very rickety looking.


:)

[Sophie]

Speaking of the old Cooper Bridge...I may be in the minority here, but I think its such a shame that they are destroying that bridge. I wish there was some way they could have kept it under a preservation act or something. I know it was scary, I've traveled across it a few times, but I just loved the oldness of it, if that makes sense. I think it could have been a really nice walking or biking path, or something.

Isle of Palms is great! I like staying out of the city, on the beach, and then traveling into town to do things. Have fun!

[Capucine]

Sophie, you are not alone. Those old bridges didn't bother me really. I know they did alot of people though, so it's good they have the new bridge. I haven't actually seen it, but the pictures look beautiful. Even still, I just can't imagine Charleston without those old bridges in the landscape.

[Sophie]

Oh, I'm thinking I may not have made myself very clear in my previous post. I'm all for the new bridge, and feel that it was needed. And I do think it is really a beautiful bridge. I just wish that in addition to the new bridge, they could have preserved the old Cooper Bridge somehow.

Seems like I remember reading something a while back about many of the Charleston area residents wanting the city or state or someone to do something to the old bridge so it could be kept... Guess that didn't work out, or maybe it just wasn't a practical option. Still, its a shame to lose it completely.

[Capucine]

I knew what you were saying Sophie. Sorry if it sounded like I misinterpreted.

It would have been nice if they could have moved the old bridges somewhere. I guess that would have cost alot of $$. I suppose they determined it wasn't worth it. I know I'll get used to it. But I think I'll always miss those old bridges.

[Heat_Addict]

So what is the bridge I remember?

I remember it was at least 4 lines of asphalt and going up it you only could see sky. Near the top you couldn't really see any land out either side of the road. We've been to Charleston a few times. Most of the time it's been by way of the road from Myrtle Beach but once we came from the Savannah area on a hwy also by the coast. I remember I've seen the Battery, Folly Beach, Boone Plantation and Summerville.

[jhiggins]

You might be talking about the Don Holt bridge - it's big and blue and goes over the Cooper River.

Or - you might be talking about the next bridge down - at Daniel Island. I don't know what the name of that one is. It looks like a roller coaster from a distance - although it doesn't really seem that high when you're on it.

[Heat_Addict]

Do they ever close either of those bridges if and when they get iced up?

[jhiggins]

What do you mean iced up????
:D

I am sooo serious.

No ice here.

[Capucine]

Well, I wasn't sure. But I was thinking Charleston probably doesn't have ice. Or, if they do, it's like once a century.

[Heat_Addict]

I study climate and weather in my free time. Weather maps show Charleston is at best in Zone 8b which means it's average coldest day in the last 20 years has been between 15-20 F. It's also near the coast so there should me lots of moisture around. I've also heard of a time or two in the past decade where Myrtle Beach got sleet or snow. I just thought in a place like Charleston there might at least be a thin film of ice once every few years covering everything. Are you all just pulling my leg?

[Capucine]

Well, I'm not positive. I'm in Atlanta, and we get an ice storm about once every decade. Otherwise, we might or might not have a little bit every year, in spots. I would expect that Charleston gets less than we do, but they might have a little ice occasionally. Myrtle Beach is a bit further north than Charleston.

[Heat_Addict]

I wasn't neccesarily talking about an ice storm. I'm talking about even having 1/64" intermittant ice film on the roads. For this to happen, all it has to do is rain, then drop below freezing, maybe to 25 F or colder before the rain dries up. This would still make the roads much more slick than any rain would.

[Heat_Addict]

What happens in Atlanta when y'all get an ice storm? I like details. :D

[outothebox]

I would hazard a guess that the city grinds to a halt, but I could be wrong. I know that's what happens in other places. Most places in the South don't get enough snow/ice to warrant removal mechanisms/machines, and you just have to wait for it to melt, or try to go about your business anyway. I know in some places, depending on the severity, people lose electricity for a wile (up to even a couple of weeks). Some people will go to the store and stock up like they do for other weather emergencies (hurricanes come to mind...). You will get off school, but you'll probably have to make it up somehow... :p

[Heat_Addict]

I figured something like that, but was hoping for some entertaining stories. :rolleyes: But I'd still prefer to here about ice in Charleston.

I'm also not sure what they would consider an ice storm. We've never had one where I live (by our own standards) yet we get freezing rain that gives us a glaze about 1/8" at least once almost every winter. I guess we'd only consider it a storm if branches and power lines get knocked down and around here it's never thick enough to do that.

[Capucine]

I would be surprised if Charleston gets "ice storms". Although, sometime in their history they probably have. When we get just freezing rain, the roads will be slick in places. And no one can drive on that. Most of the time it warms up enough during the day to melt that off. A real ice storm involves downed power lines, trees limbs down, etc. No power.....it's not fun. Schools are out. The longest I've gone without power in my current home was 3 or 4 days in the last real ice storm. Which was around 1999. I was able to get to work most of those days though.

[Heat_Addict]

So parts of the Atlanta area lose power from ice every 10 years approx.? Like I've said, we've never lost power from ice, though places 2 hours west, north or east have. Even there it still doesn't happen every ten years. I don't know if they build our towers differently.

We have a tall bridge over a corner of Lake Ontario similar to the ones I saw in Charleston. They often close the whole bridge when wind speed approaches 50 mph. I guess it's so big rigs and cube vans don't tip over.

When I was there, it looked like it'd be scary even with a bit of light rain, so that's why I asked about ice or any other type of frozen precip.

[Capucine]

Ten years is a guess. It doesn't happen often, but it happens.

[Heat_Addict]

Interesting... Thanks Capucine.

Did Sunshine get all the answers she wanted?

[renee43]

I didn't know the Trawler had closed. I know it burned awhile back and was rebuilt. Oh well, there's always BubbaGumps. Thank you Jesus those bridges are going! Do you remember when the mentally ill woman threw the baby into the Cooper a while back? We saw the excitement from the hotel room window. It was so sad and frightening. I hope Sunshine enjoys her visit. We're going in March for a wedding.