Charleston Tea Plantation

I went here a few years ago and then back recently and this is not a bay way to spend half a day. Charleston Tea Plantation is the only working Tea Plantation in the US. They show you the tea fields and tell you about the history of tea and the little idiocyncracies about tea and they give you a tasting of different types of tea (sun tea, green tea, black tea, etc). All of the tour was held outside, so if'n you go in the summertime, bring a fan or a hat cause it can get muggy. All in all, a nice way to spend a few hours. Oh, and the tour is FREE!!! more

They make "American Classic Tea" which, frankly, is the best tea you'll ever drink. Drive the 30 or so miles outside of Charleston and see America's Only Working Tea Plantation. They have free tours and free samples. It's not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon. They'll tell you how the tea is grown, harvested, and dried, and how the tea-tasters have to be certified and with one sip of tea can not only tell you the type of tea leaf used, but where it was grown and in what area! Talk about a sensitive tongue. This is a nice place. You're in the middle of nowhere. Make a day of it. Bring a sack lunch and some home-made Iced Tea (made with American Classic, of course) and see something that you'll not see anywhere else in this country. Did I mention it was free? more