Follow:
Topics:
North America Travel

Charleston South Carolina – Southern Charm and Hospitality

Location: Charleston South Carolina

We were so lucky to spend a few lovely days visiting friends in Charleston South Carolina.  It’s a bonus when friends live in cities worth visiting and Charleston is definitely one of those.  Charleston South Carolina oozes southern charm and hospitality – you just want to eat it up.

We had visited Charleston years ago, in fact about 27 years ago.  Boy time does fly.  And although the surrounding areas of Charleston proper including the town of Mount Pleasant where we were staying, have grown exponentially, historic Charleston has stayed much the same.

The oldest town in the American south, Charleston dates to 1718 and is named for King Charles II of England.  Originally located north and founded in 1680 (location now known as Charles Town Landing), the town moved south to the strategic location where the confluence of the Wando and the Ashleigh Rivers meet Charleston Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean.

The city today (population of the greater Charleston area about 775,000) is well-known for its beauty, colonial history, hospitality, exceptional restaurants, and surrounding recreational opportunities.

We spent our short time in the area enjoying the company of our friends, and several sites around the region.  We did not go out to Fort Sumter, because we did that long ago.  Instead we walked more than eight miles all over historic Charleston.  Although the horse-drawn carriages are fun, Charleston is a pedestrian friendly town.  It’s perfect for walking; flat, safe and beautiful.  On our walk we enjoyed the magnificent historic churches (Charleston is nicknamed the Holy City because it has so many church spires) and cemeteries. The colonial historic homes are enchanting, each so perfectly coiffed and dressed as if going to a ball.  The week we were visiting was the peak of the jasmine bloom – literally millions of jasmine blossoms on nearly every beautiful home, perfumed the air for miles around.  We visited Battery Park where the herons were nesting in the giant oak trees overlooking Charleston Harbor.  Of course we stopped for photos at Rainbow Row, the original commercial district and now the longest cluster of Georgian row houses in the USA.  Our walk took us to The Pink House, the oldest stone building in Charleston dated 1674.

I really enjoyed the Historic Charleston Market, stretching for four blocks it has been a market of one sort or another since 1790 and operates in the beautiful and historic market hall.  Today the market is almost all arts and crafts, showcasing the region’s blend of Southern US, English, French and West African cultures.  My favorite was the spectacular handmade reed baskets known as Sweetgrass Baskets.  Made still today in the traditional manner by the descendants of West Africans, the baskets are works of art and sell for hundreds of dollars.

Shem Creek Park north of historic Charleston, has a lovely park and nature preserve made for walking and enjoying the birds and beauty of the area.  This is also where you can see all the shrimp boats and pick up some fresh shrimp for dinner, which we did! Another beautiful walk is out the former bridge to Sullivan’s Island.  When the new bridge opened the old bridge found new purpose as a wonderful pedestrian park across the estuary and perfect for kayak launching, bird watching, fishing and picnicking.

Boone Hall Plantation is definitely worth a visit even with the $25 entrance fee.  Boone Hall has been a working plantation for more than 350 years.  Although the current main house is not original (dates to 1936), it is beautiful and keeps to the authentic time period.  The row of brick slave cabins were really interesting, with each one focusing on interpretive information about the slave life.  Local docents offer short talks about the plantation and slavery, and a half an hour storytelling and singing presentation by a local Gullah woman was first-rate.  I am so glad we visited beautiful Boone Hall.

I could write another entire blog about the delicious food of this region…but I’ll just end the post today with a shout out to pimento cheese and  pork rinds, cheeseburger with fried green tomato, BBQ Brisket and coleslaw, scallops with pesto and mushrooms and fresh-off-the-boat shrimp. It’s a delicious city, one of its many, many charms.

Charleston South Carolina, a perfect little package of southern charm tied pretty with a hospitality bow.  Visit soon.

 

Please pin or share our blog to help us build our audience.  Thank you!

 

 

Previous Post Next Post

You may also like

14 Comments

  • Reply Carrie Ann

    We just visited Charleston last month for the first time in ages. I had forgotten just how beautiful it is! We loved walking around the historic district, too. Didn’t make it to Boone Hall, but it’s on our list for next time!

    May 31, 2019 at 4:32 pm
    • Reply Laureen

      Thanks. You’ll love Boone Hall

      May 31, 2019 at 5:36 pm
  • Reply Phoebe | Lou Messugo

    I would LOVE to visit Charleston, it looks so beautiful

    June 1, 2019 at 2:35 am
    • Reply Laureen

      One of my fav US cities!

      June 1, 2019 at 1:05 pm
  • Reply Merryn

    We met new friends from Charleston, and they’ve invited us down so this post is timely for me! I haven’t been in years, but I loved it the last time I was there (oh the food!). I’d love the market, so thank you for the tip!

    June 1, 2019 at 6:53 am
  • Reply Janet

    I love Charleston. It is trendy, romantic, historic, picturesque. I could go on. Nice post to encourage others to visit.

    June 1, 2019 at 11:40 am
  • Reply Tam Warner Minton

    Charleston is lovely, it has been a while since I’ve been there. Did you know you can dive the Cooper River and find giant shark teeth?

    June 1, 2019 at 12:00 pm
    • Reply Laureen

      What? Gotta do that next time!

      June 1, 2019 at 1:04 pm
  • Reply Nancy Hann

    Oh, what a fun place to visit! We loved our overnight stop in Charleston. It’s such a friendly town and very walkable. My husband and I were wandering downtown in the historic area, looking at the historical plaques on some of the houses and a local came up and asked if we had any questions. Turned out that his family had lived in Charleston since the 1700’s. Wow! Crazy to be in the same place for that long. He was such a kind Southern gentleman. It was so sweet of him to be so friendly. I’d love to go back.

    April 22, 2020 at 8:40 am
  • Reply Shawn Taber

    We visited Charleston while staying in Beaufort at Rhett House Inn which was amazing!! Also, great starting point for Savannah and Fripp Island which are beautiful also. Rhett house served breakfast on balcony each morning fresh blueberries too…. and packed us a lunch for beach day to Fripp. Great memories! I would love to revisit. If not for the weather, I would want to live there!

    August 7, 2020 at 11:48 am
    • Reply Laureen

      I Love it there too.

      August 7, 2020 at 3:41 pm
  • Reply Rudy

    This was a great read!

    October 26, 2021 at 2:31 pm
  • Leave a Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.