Keeping up in the Holy City is always a challenging task. What restaurant to try next, what street to explore, what festival to attend - there's always something going on. 

When you wanna get a feel for true Charleston romance, take the short journey to Cypress Gardens in Moncks Corner.  One of the many locations where the movie The Notebook was filmed. The famous scene where Noah and Allie take a small boat around the marsh while it's filled with swans and sunlight.

Cypress Gardens is open almost all day long throughout the seasons and hosts special events during different times of the year. If you have an extra $20 and a few hours to spare on your next Saturday or Sunday, drive to the gardens. Not only do you have the opportunity to take your own flat-bottomed boat out and tour the marsh,  there are also learning centers, a butterfly garden, swamp life aquarium, alligator exhibit and over three and a half miles of walking trails. During Halloween, the gardens have a haunted boat tour where guests navigate the spooky swamp in a boat with unsuspected twists and turns around every corner. 

The water is filled with alligators, turtles and many other forms of wildlife. The boat tour takes less than an hour and can be as fast paced or relaxing as you want as you pass through the lily pads and wooden arched bridges. If you're not a fan of rowing your own boat, you can pay a little bit extra to reserve a tour guide that will control your boat for you. If you want to skip the boat altogether, there's a walking trail around the swamp to explore the woods and gazebos around.

So whether you want to have a romantic Sunday afternoon like Noah and Allie, or go alligator hunting like Steve Irwin, Cypress Gardens will be the perfect place for your relaxing day.