Lodging

Since my friend and I like to travel on a budget, we decided to stay just outside of Charleston in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Since we had a rental car, this worked out great for us, and it took just under 15 minutes for us to reach downtown. We stayed at Best Western - Patriots Point, which was in a very quiet and secluded area. This was no luxury stay -- our lodgings could have been cleaner and there was little to no turn down service, but the staff was incredibly sweet and helpful and made our stay more pleasant (pun intended lol). If you are able to splurge a little, there are some incredibly hotels in downtown Charleston that would have upgraded our experience. Do what is best for you and your budget!

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Transportation

Since we wanted to explore around Charleston and nearby areas (specifically the Angel Oak Tree and Cypress Gardens!) we needed to book a rental car. The rental saved us a LOT of money on Ubers and made it really convenient to go to nearby beaches (such as the Isle of Palms or Sullivan's Island) or grocery stores (shout out Harris Teeter!). We booked the rental through Costco, which was a first for me! If you have a membership, there were great deals and we found the pick-up and drop-off experience to be very smooth and painless. A little bonus tip is to book a "mystery car" for an additional discount! I have done this several times and it was a great choice!

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Activities

Some of the highlights for our trip to South Carolina were: 

• Live you own Notebook dreams and paddle through the Cypress Gardens

• Stroll down King Street, the French Quarter, and Rainbow Row

• Enjoy a Sunset Harbor Boat Cruise from downtown Charleston