Parking, Restaurants and Plantation visits

Staying in a villa on Seabrook Island for 3 days beginning Oct 16th. Will be spending a day at least in Charleston and have made a reservation at the Charleston Grill based on recommendations in this forum. Anyone not happy with this restaurant and if so why?

Can someone give me a heads up on the best parking to use for the day while there. How close is the historic district to Charleston Grill?

Anyone have any suggestions on the most interesting plantation to visit in the area?

Parking, Restaurants and Plantation visits

The Charleston Grill is in the middle of the historic district.

There are very affordable city run garages all over downtown so the best one depends on what you are doing and what you want to see. There is a city lot off Cumberland between Meeting and Church Streets which is near The Market. Charleston Place Hotel has a parking garage off Hasell (pronounced locally as ';Hazel';) Street between King and Meeting Streets. There is another one off Meeting on Haynes Street across from Charleston Place and near the carriage rides. There are some off East Bay Street and some near the Aquarium. Another behind Mills House on Queen Street between Meeting and King Streets. That should not be a problem. Charleston is a place that you will want to park your car and stroll! Wear comfortable walking shoes.

My favorite plantation is Middleton Place. There is so much to see and do there. They have done a wonderful job conserving and preserving it. The gardens are lovely anytime of the year. The house museum is one of the best house museums I have ever visited. The tour guides are very knowledgable and informative and the furnishings are spectacular! They are not reproductions but family pieces which have been donated to the foundation. I do not recommend the carriage ride on the plantation. Spend your time on the self-guided walking tour of the gardens and stableyards. There are guided garden walks and the African-American Focus tour at no additional charge at scheduled times throughout the day. The restaurant is very good. The She-Crab Soup is great but I do not care for their Shrimp %26amp; Grits. If time permits, also do Drayton Hall. It is a very different tour from Middleton Place. It is architectural with no furnishing and minimal restoration. Drayton Hall was not burned during the Civil War.