Charleston: Fort Sumter and the Historic Peninsula on Foot
A full day on foot in Charleston's historic peninsula: the morning ferry from Liberty Square to Fort Sumter, where the Civil War began, then Waterfront Park, the City Market and its real history, the Old Slave Mart Museum, a townhouse built by a merchant who traded in captive Africans, and an evening walk past the Battery and Rainbow Row to dinner. It tells the story of slavery plainly, because the city cannot be understood without it.
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In spring (March to May) and fall (October and November), Charleston is usually warm and pleasant for walking, with mild mornings and breezy harbor crossings; spring brings pollen and the odd thunderstorm, and late fall evenings can be cool. Summer is hot and humid, with frequent afternoon thunderstorms. Hurricane season runs from June through November, and a tropical storm can cancel boats and flood downtown streets. Very high tides also flood low streets near the water, most often in the fall. These are seasonal expectations, not a forecast for your travel date; check the NWS forecast the evening before and the morning of your trip.
Admission and parking are separate. Check current conditions before departure.
A full mountain day from Atlanta: the paved walk to twin-waterfall Anna Ruby Falls, a lakeside stop at Unicoi State Park, lunch in Helen's Alpine village, the Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway over Hogpen Gap, and the view from Brasstown Bald, Georgia's highest point, with the fees, shuttle times and Oktoberfest crowds planned in.
A two-night Savannah weekend from Atlanta. Drive down I-16 on Friday afternoon and walk River Street at dusk. Saturday is on foot in the historic district: the Owens-Thomas House and its slave quarters, the squares down Bull Street to Forsyth Park, then Bonaventure Cemetery in the afternoon light. Sunday morning takes in the oak avenue at Wormsloe and the lighthouse and beach on Tybee Island before the drive home.
A day in Athens from Atlanta: a free botanical garden and a free art museum, lunch and music history downtown, the University of Georgia's historic North Campus and the Arch, the oak that owns itself, and an evening show or R.E.M. landmarks before the drive home. Plan it around home football Saturdays.
A North Georgia waterfall day from Atlanta: the rim overlooks of 1,000-foot-deep Tallulah Gorge, the stair descent to its swaying suspension bridge (or a gorge-floor permit, if you arrive early), lunch on the square in Clarkesville, and 186-foot Toccoa Falls on a university campus, with the permit, release-day and opening-hour details that decide the order.
A day southwest of Atlanta: FDR's Warm Springs museum and village in the morning, his favorite picnic overlook on Pine Mountain at midday, then Callaway's butterfly conservatory and garden paths in the afternoon, with the Fantasy In Lights drive as the evening finale in the holiday season.
A day out of Charleston to the Angel Oak on Johns Island, then up the Ashley River Road to Drayton Hall, the unrestored 1738 house, and Middleton Place, America's oldest landscaped gardens, with real time for the people enslaved at both: Drayton Hall's African American cemetery and Middleton's Beyond the Fields tour and exhibit in Eliza's House.
A Lowcountry day from Charleston: the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park in Beaufort and at Penn Center on St. Helena Island, lunch on Bay Street, then the reopened Hunting Island Lighthouse, its boneyard beach and a marsh boardwalk.
Drive the reopened stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway north of Asheville to the summit of Mount Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi, walk up Craggy Pinnacle on the way back, and finish among mountain crafts at the Folk Art Center.
A timed morning entry to Biltmore House, the gardens and Conservatory, lunch and a wine tasting at Antler Hill Village, then the rebuilt River Arts District and a late-afternoon walk through downtown Asheville to dinner.