When we are not leading tours (or cleaning up after tours!), we’re exploring Charleston, South Carolina on our own with friends and family.  Here are a few of our favorites that you can do if you’ve only got a few hours on your hands.

1.  Awendaw Shell Ring Interpretive Trail

In the many years that we’ve been exploring this trail, we’ve never seen this “pocket park” of the Francis Marion National Forest with a crowd.  There is ample parking and interpretive signs at the trailhead leading into a shaded forest.  Once you emerge from the woods, the landscape opens up to sweeping views of the salt marsh as you walk on a 120-foot boardwalk.  This one-mile walk takes you by 4,000 year old shell mounds (oyster and clam) created by Native Americans.  We always feel reinvigorated after this short hike, like we’ve had a chance to touch the earth and reconnect.  If you’re a birder, this is a very good South Carolina birding spot, with chances to see wading birds, passerines, raptors and more.

After your walk, stop in a the Sewee Restaurant for fried shrimp (so good) or the Sewee Outpost for a biscuit (absolutely addictive).

Awendaw Shell Ring Interpretive Trail
Directions: From Charleston, take US Highway 17 North to Doar Road North (SC Route 432-S). Turn right and go 2.1 miles to Salt Pond Road. Turn right onto (FS Road 243) and go 0.1 miles to trailhead.

2.  Slightly North of Broad Shopping

In downtown Charleston, shopping on King Street gets all of the attention. For us, we like the places that feel like you’ve made an incredible discovery that no one else knows about.

Start on Broad Street and find The-Commons.  You’ll walk between two tightly situated buildings down a fern-lined walkway until you see the tiny store.  Inside, you’ll find hand-crafted, artisan quality goods.   And you’ll want them all.  The last time we were there, we bought hand-turned spalted wood napkin rings.  And a lot of other little things that we coveted.  You’ll feel good knowing that you are buying sustainably made products that you’ll keep for a lifetime.

The fern-lined alley opens up to reveal an inviting little shop, The-Commons. Just try to resist this place.

Then meander up to Queen Street.  On the way, get a cup of coffee and something sweet from Normandy Farms Bakery (19 Broad Street).  They have this orange-rosemary bread that is worth lugging around town if you’re a bread lover.  Once you are on Queen, look for a sign that has a silhouette of a young lady’s profile.  You’ve found Curiousity (56 1/2 Queen Street), a charming little shop down another narrow pathway filled with hotel silver, old trophies, estate jewelry and all sorts of other treasures.  And the best part:  You can afford most of it. This is a shop with personality, not pretentiousness.   We found it while we were on an anniversary getaway and we bought a silver tomato server, a set of butter knives with mother-of-pearl handles and these vintage Kilim and leather coasters (we’ve since bought many more as gifts because they are amazing).

3.  Breakfast at Charleston Place

Unexpectedly obvious?  Perhaps. But even though this isn’t one of the hip places to go like The Daily or Mercantile and Mash (both great, by the way!),  breakfast at Belmond Charleston Place Palmetto Cafe has our hearts.  The service is impeccable, and the atmosphere makes you want to linger long after the last bite of shrimp and grits is gone from your plate.

Don’t rush when you go to the Palmetto Cafe. This restaurant was designed for comfortably lazing through the morning with steaming cups of coffee. As parents of a 2-year-old, exhausted and limited for time, we’ve adopted a morning at the Charleston Place- during those brief golden hours while she’s at preschool- to celebrate each other’s birthdays.  After we drop her off, we drive over the Ravenel Bridge and into the Holy City, windows down and music turned up. As soon as we walk into the Charleston Place Hotel, we relax into comfortable chairs and enjoy being a tourist in our own hometown.  After breakfast, we walk down alleys and cobblestone streets, pop into a few shops, and then head back into our lives of parenthood, kayak tours, boat maintenance and daily chores.  It’s a treat.

PRO TIP:  If you have the time, go ahead and make a day of it and slip on up to the Spa for a massage or pedicure.

4.  Sunrise Park on James Island.

This is where we go when we want to sit on a bench and enjoy the view.  And the view is SPECTACULAR.   From this vantage point, the water always looks like an aquamarine gem, glittering and bright, and the sky reveals itself as a rich teal color.  You’ll be able to take in all of the downtown steeples, Ravenel Bridge, Fort Sumter, Sullivans Island and Castle Pinckney from this perfect park. Pack a picnic (or just grab a cup of coffee), leave your phone in the car and take some time to visit with a  friend.

And if you’re the type that wants more activity than a picnic and a conversation, it’s a great place to launch a kayak our stand-up paddleboard for a fun excursion. Some of our guides kayak occasionally to work using this put-in spot.

Located in a neighborhood on James Island, the official name is Milton P. Demetre Park. We love this place, so please be respectful of the this hidden gem and the park rules.