charleston |
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DAY ONE |
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MORNING Charleston is nicknamed‘ The Holy City’ for the scores of spires piercing the heavens from its cobblestoned centre. Any visit should begin right here, on the thumb-shaped peninsula at the city’ s historic heart, just seven miles long and three miles wide.
One of the most popular ways to get your bearings— amid the peninsula’ s treasure trove of restaurants, rooftop bars, boutiques and art galleries— is via horse-drawn carriage. There are more than 40,000 such tours a year, with Palmetto Carriage Works and Old South Carriage Company the two main operators, pairing visitors with experienced guides who deftly steer both horses and history-telling( and taking great care of both).
All carriage tours patrol the lower third of Charleston’ s peninsula, known as its Historic District— a protected area beginning below Calhoun Street and containing some of the most beautiful Georgian and Greek Revival buildings in North America. Down here amid the winding lanes and convoluted alleyways that have changed little since the 18th century, it’ s easy to picture Charleston as an old British port town, which is exactly what it was for the first 110 years of its existence.
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AFTERNOON Most of the historic tours start and finish at Charleston City Market. This beloved spot showcases gifts and souvenirs alongside clothes, hats and footwear from the Charleston Shoe Company, billed as‘ perfect for cobblestones or cocktails’.
The City Market is also home to Hank’ s Seafood, locally voted the best seafood restaurant in Charleston for 16 consecutive years. It specialises in comfort food such as rich she-crab soup and buttery shrimp and grits.
Suitably stuffed, wander up King Street, Charleston’ s pedestrian-friendly main shopping artery, with its agglomeration of art galleries and antique stores. Highlights include Croghan’ s Jewel Box, where you’ ll find incredible oneoff accessories; Candlefish for its 100-strong candle library; and George C. Birlant & Company, one of the largest antique stores in the South.
For art, you’ ll find an embarrassment of riches on King Street— led by Robert Lange Studios, Hagan Fine Art and Ben Ham Images. Or keep your wallet in your pocket at the stellar Gibbes Museum of Art. There’ s a permanent exhibition focused on the Charleston Renaissance— a period of intense creative cultural revival between 1915 and 1945.
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EVENING As dusk falls, Charleston’ s gas lamps surge into heartwarming life and the taverns and restaurants of the old peninsula start to fill.
‘ Charleston is a drinking city with a history problem’ is the old refrain, and there are plenty of creaky pubs with cosy nooks to choose from. Among the best is McCrady’ s Tavern on East Bay Street, where George Washington once ordered a cannon to be fired each time he took a shot, so the city could drink with him. The gunner was busy for most of the night, or so the story goes.
If you don’ t fancy a drinking session of presidential proportions, Charleston has an incredible selection of restaurants to choose from, encompassing everything from traditional Southern comfort food and Carolina barbecue to exquisite seafood and impeccable fine dining.
One of the hottest epicurean spots in town remains The Ordinary— which is anything but. Housed in a former 1920s bank on King Street, it serves oysters in dozens of delicious ways, with caviar service and a flurry of exquisite fish dishes to follow— not to mention a long and fiendishly inventive list of craft cocktails to wash down the maritime medley.
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Right: St. Michael’ s Church Steeple, Historic District
Previous pages, clockwise from top left:
Two Meeting Street Inn; historical centre; Charleston City Market; Citrus Club; Waterfront Park; Avenue of Oaks at Boone Hall Plantation; a Southern barbecue plate with sides and a sweet tea; roaming peacock in Charleston;
John Derian apartment at The Dewberry Hotel; cocktail at Fiat
Lux; carriage tours through historic Charleston
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image: awl images |
20 • pos t c a rds |