Planning a Honeymoon in Charleston

Between school, work, church, helping plan the wedding, and nursing my fiancee who has mono, I've also been trying to plan our honeymoon.

We're headed to Charleston, South Carolina for six days after the wedding. I originally planned to fly, but after comparing the cost of flights to the cost of driving, it's much more economical to drive. Additionally, it's not as long of a drive as I originally thought - only about 8.5 hours. Divided over one evening and another day, that's not bad.

(On a side note, I believe today I paid a higher rate for gas than ever before in my life: ~ $2.75/gallon. It cost me nearly $50 to fill up my Passport.)

One of the biggest decisions to make about the honeymoon is lodging - it can be hard to make choices strictly from looking on-line and it's also not a cheap thing to consider. (Not that much of anything about a wedding is cheap!)

Originally I thought we would stay in downtown Charleston at a Bed-n-Breakfast. Now I am looking at renting a villa on Kiawah Island which is nearby. It's inviting because it would probably be a little more of a relaxed, quiet environment, and we would still be able to access Charleston easily. One resource I have found is the Vacation Rentals By Owner. I like the idea of renting directly from an owner, because I feel like I'm saving money. However, I still find myself being skeptical of the owners, so I am also looking at bigger rental agencies.

I have found TripAdvisor.com to be a useful resource, although, once again, I am often skeptical of people. TripAdvisor provides forums in which people can ask and answer questions, give reviews, etc. People visit and post in the Charleston forum often, which is neat. Over the internet you don't often have full disclosure to know if a person giving a negative review of another hotel or restaurant is actually the owner of another establishment. Perhaps I am too distrusting.

Does anyone know of any good resources for trip planning in the Charleston area?
Does anyone have recommendations for specific restaurants or lodging in Charleston?
Does anyone own or know anyone that owns rental property in the Charleston area?