Charleston & North Charleston: Historic Lowcountry Living, Dining & Shopping On the SC Coast

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Classical creations. Middleton Place, specifically around these butterfly lakes, is the venue for the finale of Charleston’s Spoleto Festival each year. These classically-designed gardens, fashioned after Versailles, soothe the soul, while the musical presentation lifts the spirit. Go year-round. There’s always something blooming here.

The past isn’t past. The famous Faulkner quote holds true in Charleston, where history radiates from every cobblestone and magnolia tree. But South Carolina’s Holy City doesn’t watch the world go by. Colleges, museums, restaurants, and sports draw families who consciously choose Charleston and its suburbs for home. Permanently.

Splash me. An interactive fountain enlivens Charleston’s Waterfront Park. On summer days, happy children – even some grownups – cool off in the water. Then visit the nearby SC Aquarium to see native and exotic sea life.

The pyramid of Charleston. The Ravenel Bridge proves engineering ingenuity didn’t end in Egypt. What a way to cross the Cooper River – on North America’s longest cable stay span! Photo courtesy of The Biltmore Company

Charleston Pop.:
106,712

Charleston County Pop.: 330,368

Charleston Metro Pop.: 330,368

Charleston Hotels

Charleston Chamber of Commerce: 843.577.2510
www.charlestonchamber.net

Charleston Convention & Visitors Bureau:
800.774.0006
www.charlestoncvb.com


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Charleston & North Charleston: Historic Lowcountry Living, Dining & Shopping On the SC Coast

Center for Carolina Living
he cobbled streets in old Charleston are perfect for a casual stroll past rainbow-colored homes and stately mansions.

Sometimes, when Linda Schunk is taking her walk, she enjoys glimpses of manicured gardens behind wrought-iron gates. She’ll pause to watch the weavers of sweetgrass baskets, or stand on the historic battery and gaze toward the horizon where ocean and sky seem to meet.

“Charleston is such a beautiful city. I like walking downtown and being a tourist,” she says. “And I love going home.”

Her own piece of Charleston is the first house built in Etiwan Park on Daniel Island several years ago amid massive oaks and graceful palms.

Where it all began. The Civil War had been brewing for years, however, the first battle happened here at Fort Sumter, in the Charleston Harbor. On Friday, April 12, 1861, cannons boomed and the war was on. Union forces surrendered 30+ hours later, and were allowed to leave with honor. Today, visitors enjoy the history and children have fun amongst the buildings. Take your sunscreen – and your camera.

Now there are 600 or so, and John and Linda Schunk no longer have the only streetlight on the island by any means.

But she still has the sense of wonder she felt the day she first crossed a rickety bridge and caught, with her decorator’s eye, the vision of the neighborhood to come.

Since moving to Charleston from Chicago in 1996, the Schunks have become cheerleaders for the side of the city that most people don’t know about, its livability for about 330,000 people who have homes in Charleston and surrounding Charleston County. “It’s not just a place to visit,” says Mrs. Schunk. “It’s a wonderful place to live.”

Historic Charleston

Steeped in its own history like the ubiquitous sweet tea found in every restaurant, Charleston is South Carolina’s oldest city and the site where the Civil War began. Reminders of the past are everywhere.

Fort Sumter in the harbor is now a national park, newly refurbished with iron gates and a fountain. In a nearby laboratory, there are archaeologists painstakingly sifting the secrets of The Hunley, a Confederate submarine that sank after taking out a Yankee ship by stealth in 1864. The Hunley was lifted from the murky waters off the coast of Charleston in August, 2000.

And Charleston has so many museums, gardens, plantations and other places to learn about its colorful past. Children are delighted to know that past included pirates. Nor does Charleston shy away from its role in slavery as the port of entry for most Africans who came to this country in chains. Mayor Riley has announced plans to construct a $30-35 million slave museum, the largest in the country. (In office more than a quarter of a century, Mayor Riley is considered a visionary who almost single-handedly transformed Charleston into the polished tourist town it’s become.)

Moving to Charleston

Writer Brian Hicks was on vacation in Charleston when the discovery of The Hunley was announced, and his fascination with the news event is one thing that later led him to move to Charleston and its grand old daily newspaper, The Post and Courier. He’s written a book about The Hunley with colleague Schuyler Kropf.

“Charleston is one of those places where you vacation and fantasize about what it’s like to live there,” says the writer, who did just that before making the move from Nashville several years ago. He and his wife, Beth, are living out one of their fantasies in a West Ashley home that overlooks the Stono River.


	They found coastal housing costs pricey but offset by lower taxes and other costs of living.

Above all, the couple decided it was a good place to raise a child. They’ve become members of the Charleston County Public Parks Program, which offers plenty of activities to keep youngsters and parents occupied. The $69 million South Carolina Aquarium on the waterfront is just a quick drive from the Joseph P. Riley Park.

“The people who live here - not all of them children - play outdoors most of the year in a mild climate,” says Mr. Hicks. Charleston has the ocean, of course, as well as the Ashley, Cooper and Stono rivers, Intracoastal Waterway, and the ACE Wildlife Basin.

Spoleto & Other Festivals

For 17 days and nights each spring, Spoleto Festival USA fills Charleston, South Carolina's historic theaters, churches and outdoor spaces with performances by renowned artists as well as emerging performers in opera, theater, dance, and chamber, symphonic, choral and jazz music. Spoleto Festival USA is internationally recognized as America's premier performing arts festival.

The Piccolo Spoleto Festival is another great event, produced by the City of Charleston. But Charleston also celebrates oysters with a January festival and African and Caribbean cultures at the fall Mojo Festival. It hosts the Southeastern Wildlife Exhibition each February.

Southern Hospitality

Indeed, the late etiquette expert, Marjabelle Young Stewart, named Charleston the “Most Mannerly City in the United States” so many times it was recently given the “Lifetime Achievement Award” for its manners. It’s been on the list (frequently at the top) all 25 years it’s been compiled. But that’s one of countless accolades. It’s #6 on the list of “Top Cities in the United States and Canada” according to Travel and Leisure magazine’s tenth annual World’s Best poll.


	Southern Living magazine calls Charleston the “Most Romantic Getaway” in the South. Brides Magazine recommended it for honeymoons; Family Fun Magazine bragged about its activities for children.

Bill Settlemyer, a “recovering lawyer” who now publishes and edits the Charleston Regional Business Journal, has chronicled the good, the bad and even the ugly about Charleston since 1996, but is quick to say why he is sometimes critical of the city he chose during a “mid-life crisis” some 20 years ago. Mr. Settlemyer left a lucrative career with a Philadelphia insurance company to live in the city of his dreams. Now, he says, through his work he can help guide the area he loves to a better future.

Over the years, he says he’s seen Charleston’s transition from a stagnant, albeit atmospheric, Southern town to a progressive, modern city with small communities dotting its outlying areas.

Already a prime area for professions, especially medicine and law, Charleston is now attracting high-tech companies. And, the Medical University of South Carolina is transferring medical research to private, spin-off companies. Mr. Settlemyer remains enthusiastic. “If this is not the most beautiful place in the country, I’m not sure what is.”

For the 14th consecutive year, readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine have honored Charleston as a Top 10 travel destination in the U.S. Readers of Southern Living magazine once again named Charleston their “Favorite Southern City.”

Visit often. Who knows? One day, you may decide that this is home.

About the Author

Margaret N. O'Shea is a retired journalist who now investigates legal cases for lawyers. She was a newspaper reporter for 37 years, nominated four times for a Pulitzer Prize and three times named South Carolina Journalist of the Year by the Society of Professional Journalists. She lives in Columbia and continues to write.