Where are you coming from and how arriving? Are you driving INTO the south--or flying from somewhere. It helps in planning an itinerary.

Oh, and time of year will help also. Do you like vistas or do you like city museums, or both.

And you might want to tell us your interests. Mine might not be yours.

The south encompasses several to many states depending on your definition. You really need to provide a lot more info for someone to give you a useful answer.

Wilmington, Charleston, Asheville, Atlanta, Charleston, Savannah, Beaufort, Beaufort, New Orleans, Birmingham, St. Augustine.

We are flying in from Los Angeles in Mid May. We are very flexible in terms of where we start our trip. We enjoy museums, walking and eloping, plantations, food, parks. We definitely want to visit Savannah and Charleston. We would like suggestions regarding surrounding must-sees.

You might add Asheville to get some mountains in with your coastal cities.

I feel sure that "eloping" is a typo, but I can't think of what you actually mean!

Eloping = Hiking? I agree with Jent103 - Asheville is beautiful. Check out the Biltmore Estate. And there's plenty of outdoor activities (whitewater rafting!) and shopping and great food.

My best tip for Charleston and Savannah in the Spring is to time your visit for weekdays rather week end. Both are more tourist destinations than business destinations. You can get a hotel room for half of the weekend rate. Stay in the historic district.

May is the month for Spoleto in Charleston so there will be international performers and artists as well as popular regional ones.

I think Spoleto is the end of May, and it can be a great destination time if you like those activities. It will also be VERY crowded and rates will be expensive. Good advice about doing Charleston and Savannah mid-week also
There are multi threads on a trip like this, one I recall from an english couple who wanted much the same as you.
I would either fly RT to Charlotte as your flight city, or arrange your itinerary and fly open jaw. However with Charlotte you can make a pretty nice loop to include many wonderful areas of the South. And Charlotte has a pretty nice museum scene that impressed some friends from LA who are active in that city's museum life. If you do include Charlotte, I HIGHLY recommend our Bechtler and Mint Museums in downtown.
Charlotte-Pawley's Island (see Brookgreen Gardens)-Georgetown (Revolutionary era historic district)-Charleston (3 days miniumum)-Savannah (2days?)-Asheville (2-3 days Biltmore House, maybe hiking on the Blue Ridge Parkway-cute downtown area)-Charlotte.

Since we have the time, would you add Hilton Head?

What is eloping?