Staying with the coast for Part II we’ll spend three days in Charleston…the history alone is a reason to come back after your golf trip and maybe the best part of all is the food.
Your weekend is going to include some moving around…but that’s OK, you’ll love everywhere you’re going,
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The first thing you need to know is Charleston is a boy-girl trip. Take the lads to Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, or Pinehurst but save Charleston for you and the one who can embarrass you any time she feels like it.
Night one you will stay at the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island…as a long-time friend would say about The Sanctuary, “You can get a good nights sleep in that joint”
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Of course you will be travelling on Day 1 so try to get to the hotel in time for a walk on the beach, followed by a long shower ( which is a Best In Golf all by itself). Put on a coat and tie tonight, it wont kill you.
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Head for The Lobby Bar before dinner…I assure you it is an all-world place to sip a cold martini. Have dinner at The Ocean Room, Kiawah’s over-the-top dining room. Chat your waiter up…most of the time he’s the most interesting person in the hotel, including the guests.
Get up early, you have a long day. Play the Ocean Course in the morning and make sure to take a caddie…the Sherpas here are great young guys, not a bum among them. You will enjoy their company I guarantee it.
The Ocean Course deserves it’s high ranking in America’s 100 Greatest (#38) to be sure. It starts off easy enough but builds to what might be the nastiest piece of real estate you ever tried to move a golf ball around. .
Forget your handicap, you’re not likely to sniff it…but that’s cool because just being there is enough. Plus they just opened a snappy new clubhouse to lounge in after the dismembering of both your golf game and psyche.
Check out after golf and head into Charleston. You can stay at The Charleston Place ($$$$), The Andrew Pinckney Inn ($$$), or The Hampton Inn Historic District ($$).
For dinner it’s a two-parter tonight. Get over to Hank’s Seafood ( 10 Hayne St.) Belly up to the bar for a cocktail and a seafood tower. This will cost you dearly but we’ll make it up on the budget for dinner.
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Basil on upper King St. might be the best Thai restaurant in the country, trust me on this. If you like the cuisine you will agree I think.
For a little more upscale experience head to either Fulton Five (5 Fulton St.) for some incredible Italian served in the noisy atmosphere of a family kitchen or 39 Rue de Jean (39 John St.) for some exceptional french cuisine, sans the nasty waiters…order the mussels.
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Although you had a choice for dinner, there is only one place for breakfast and one thing to 
order. The Shrimp and Grits at The Hominy Grill (297 Rutledge Ave.) is the best in town. As we say down here “it will make you want to slap your Mama” for not making it for you when you were a kid. A Bloody Mary is the perfect accompaniment.
order. The Shrimp and Grits at The Hominy Grill (297 Rutledge Ave.) is the best in town. As we say down here “it will make you want to slap your Mama” for not making it for you when you were a kid. A Bloody Mary is the perfect accompaniment.
Oh I almost forgot…this is a golf trip.
For your next two rounds get up to Wild Dunes in Isle of Palms. From downtown Charleston it will take about 40 minutes or so. Both courses at WD, the Links and The Harbor are Fazio…before he became an industry.
Prior to the devastating damage dealt by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, The Links was a regular on all Top 100 lists and should have been. Although developers took the few trees Hugo missed, it is still a really good golf course with some great views of the Atlantic toward the end. The Harbor is not quite as impressive but fun to play nonetheless.
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If the beach is your thing, stay tonight atThe Boardwalk Inn at Wild Dunes, a neat small hotel with a really good resteraunt, The Sea Island Grill.
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Either way back downtown for dinner after your nap. Pick the kind of night you want…you have two choices, one casual and one a little more dressy.
Throw on your shorts and flip-flops for a casual evening. Go to Sticky Fingers for BBQ or Fleet Landing for a burger…don’t let the menu fool you at Fleet Landing…this is a Corona and burger joint…they struggle with anything more, but the location on the Cooper River in an old Navy building makes up for the weakness.
For something a little more have a drink at The Vendue Inn rooftop bar (Vendue Range off E. Bay) followed by a short walk over to Cintra (Market St.) for some dynamite northern Italian.
This is just a few of the many options in town…you would have to stay another two weeks to play the other courses at Kiawah, the classic lid-slammer specials of Charleston Municipal (where Henry Picard was Pro) and Patriot’s Point in Mt. Pleasant, as well as southern classic Justine’s Kitchen, The Peninsula Grill, McCrady’s for great food and a better wine list, or Oak for a quality piece of cow.
So described are a couple days and nights in a town built for the couples getaway…the golf is somewhat secondary and runs from superb to average but there is nothing average about the experience so get there as soon as you can.
Note: Charleston is loaded with really good private clubs as you can imagine…in order I would play Yeamans Hall (Seth Raynor), Charleston CC (Seth again), Cassique (Tom Watson), and Bull’s Bay (Mike Strantz).
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