We were in Charleston for a meeting in October. Luckily we arrived early to enjoy a few days of being tourist before heading to Wild Dunes for our meeting (sick golf course BTW). Unfortunately upon our arrival and check in to Wild Dunes, the governor ordered the evacuation due to Matthew. While many members rushed to get flights out that night or next day, we chilled and waited till Thursday to fly out (by then the airlines were in "emergency mode" and we could change our flights with no fees). So with that we made our way back to downtown Charleston where the city that was bustling a few days ago was rolling up the streets and boarding the windows. We spent the entire day eating and drinking our way across town with the few establishments that were still open. We had dinner at Hall's Chophouse and it was AMAZING (just be ready with a big appetite and a bigger wallet). Bobby Hall is in the front of the house introducing himself to each patron that comes in and does his rounds through the tables to make sure everything is up to his very high standards (we loved it).
We met up with some friends that live down there and they took us to a nice little secret place called RAW. It has become much less of a secret, but the seafood is amazing!
We had stayed earlier in the week at The Francis Marion Hotel which is an old gem so the rooms can be small, but a lovely hotel. The restuarant downstiars, the Swamp Fox, is known to have the best shrimp and grits around. I took their advice and had them twice. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/dine.gif" alt="" />