So thanks in advance for helping me.

I want to visit Charleston this spring. Late April to be exact. I have always wanted to visit and now is that time.  My wife and I love history, old houses, museums, forts, military anything.  We like to get up early and go all day. We will have a rental car and we are fit to walk all day.

I wanted to stay in a B+B, but any that I have found ones that have availabilities at that time, serve breakfast at 9 AM.... well that's too late for us.. hell by the time you eat and bullshit its 10 and the day is half over.  Our normal workday starts at 530am, so you can see we are  morning people.

Pretty much going to look for a hotel outside of the historic district that has a breakfast included or a restaurant inside... A business park area would be fine too.  I usually stay in Hilton Garden Inns because they have a business atmosphere and have nice, real breakfasts for a small additional fee.

The reason I'm asking here instead of looking online is because I don't want to book online, never being there and find out its in a dump, the hood, or hard to get area. 

Also, can you give me some advice about cool things to do that might not be online,  or perhaps places to eat.

Hilton Garden Inn over the bridge in Mount Pleasant is a good to go for friends coming into town. My folks and brother live down the street from there and it's a great area with lots of things to do. I'd recommend:

- Patriot's Point and going aboard the USS Yorktown. It's a 2-3 hour thing that you can easily get caught up in (http://www.patriotspoint.org/)
- The water should be warm-ish by then and the beaches at Sullivan's Island and Isle of Palms are great to go walk on and while you're there, check out Fort Moultrie ( Moultrie)
- There's so much to gawk out downtown, I highly recommend taking one of the many carriage ride tours, the driver's are very knowledgeable and it's a great way to see the city and get the history. Palmetto Carriage is our go-to (https://palmettocarriage.com/#dLzgqq/)
- For food, check Yelp. There's an abundance of amazing places to eat so it all depends on what you like and how much you're willing to pay. Circa 1886 and Halls Chophouse are my favorite big ticket, fancy meal places. High Cotton and S.N.O.B are great while not being as expensive. 187 Raw is amazing if you can manage to find a seat. And back over in Mount Pleasant Page's Okra Grill has divine shrimp and grits and Red Drum has great fish. And if you need a beer, check out the upper deck on Red's right on Shem Creek, you'll see some of the best sunsets of your life.

Hope that helps.

Yes that helps a lot.  Thanks for taking the time to write this.

Don't know if you're a golfer, but if you are, you need to get out to Kiawah Island to play one of their incredible courses.

If you do head out that way, make sure to get a dinner reservation at one of the best Italian restaurants in the area, Wild Olive, on Johns Island.

Of Course, if you are a gun person, the Palmetto State Armory Stores in Summerville on the way in or out, and/or the PSA store in Mt Pleasant are worth a visit. Other advice given above is spot on. I would add that after doing the carriage tour, walk around on lower East Bay St, do the old market area, Cut through the Omni Hotel to King St and walk the King St shops up to about Marion Square, or maybe about 3 blocks more, and back down to Broad St. Also, go east of East Bay St out to the park along the Cooper River and walk down to the battery at the south end of East bay St. The Carriage ride on the street may be below the top of the battery, and the best views of the harbor and Ft. Sumter are from up on the Battery itself.
So, I would recommend getting all day parking downtown and call ahead to reserve going on the carriage tour first, for the history and layout of the area, then hit the "bricks" with a good guide map. Plenty of good places to eat downtown, some fancy and expensive and some not. If you like Greek Food, there is a place called Old Town at the corner of King and Market St worth trying. Its been there seems like forever.

Hyman's Seafood next to the Omni on Meeting St. has a checkered reputation. Some people seem to love it, but a lot of local's consider it a tourist trap. If you want a rustic dining experience with good seafood, use your Google Fu and GPS to find "The Wreck" on a back street (Haddrell St) in Mt Pleasant. Its on Shem Creek but its way back up in a residential area nearer to the mouth of Shem Creek, and its in an old fish processing plant. There are real Shrimp boat docks out behind it and some boats may be tied up there. Access to the boats and working dock is restricted, but you will be very close to them. Its at the end of the street, almost hidden behind a huge outdoor boat storage rack

Wow, that's awesome... thanks

So much to do, too little time for Chucktown.  All of the above are great tips.  If you are on Sullivans Island, Poes is famous for burgers, across the street is Home Team BBQ.

If it is a rainy day, the Yorktown aircraft carrier is fun to visit, it can take you a day to go through it.  The first submarine the Hunley is in a museum on the old Navy Base.

Eat on the water when you get the chance, Shem Creek area is great,.  Morgan Creek Grill at the Isle of Palms Marina or the Boathouse at Breech Inlet - Isle of Palms are good too.

The area plantations offer tours, and there should be plenty of spring flowers - Boone Hall, Middleton Place, Magnolia Gardens.

Have fun

ok thanks for the info y'all.

booked my trip tonight.

keep any ideas coming.... I'm liking what I'm hearing so far.

If the above are not enough look into tours of the several major plantations not far out from the Metro Charleston area, and you can visit the Charles Towne landing in the SC Charles Towne State Park nearby. A walk through the old Market downtown on Market St (of course) is a must do. Lots of hand woven reed basket vendors there that make them the traditional old fashioned way, but they are NOT cheap. The SC Aquarium downtown is worth a visit too. There is a Waterpark on James Island in the county park, but I don't know when it opens.

Some other places to consider eating:

Tattooed Moose--pretty damn good burgers

The Lost Dog Café on Folly Beach--great breakfast

Patriots Point is awesome, and I would really recommend walking across the Ravenel Bridge--especially if you are morning folks.

Just thought I'd point out that there is currently a Groupon for 50% off admission to Patriots Point for two people. This one has a promotional period that ends on 28 Feb, but Groupon runs deals to this attraction on a pretty regular basis, so check back closer to the date of your trip.

Patriots Point Groupon

If you are into participatory activities please check out Addams Artifacts and Relic Hunts. He is pretty amazing.
http://www.addams-artifacts.net/index.html

Walk the market, check out the four corners, hit the battery.

Food: oak, halls, cypress, high cotton, all the others previously mentioned.

Guess what time it is fellas?

Ok been here two days.

My food review so far has pages akra grill at the number 1 spot for down home awesome meals.  We had  Kayla C. As our waitress twice, she is  awesome.

The wreck was very good for fresh fish... so fresh and yummy... I had the seafood platter. 

Poes on Sullivan island was average at best. If you like dried up hockey puck, it's great.

Patriot point was really awesome, we were there 9 hours on Monday. It was raining real hard when we got there first thing in the AM...we were informed that we were the only ones on the ship till about 11.. that was nice..
I busted my ass on  the top of the steps going in and have some bruises and a nice gash on my arm... but I didn't let any of that ruin my day.

We did Boone plantation today and went downtown for a bit.

I have a private carriage ride scheduled for the AM Wednesday and will spend the rest of the day DT. 

We are heading down in less than a month

Has anyone here taken the 1 - 1/2 hour Gray Line Bus tour, and how was it compared to a carriage tour?