A Week in Charleston

It seems that lately everyone’s list of ‘Top 10 Places to Visit’ includes Charleston, South Carolina. Normally this would be a warning sign for us that it has already been over-run by chain restaurants, souvenir shops, and tour buses full of cruise ship passengers. Despite the ominous prospect of hundreds of tacky trinket shops, rows of “plastic menu” burger chain restaurants, and tourist trains chugging through the streets … we decided to spend a week in Charleston at the end of March. I am glad we did. It wasn’t. While we navigated a few rain showers, it was the ideal time to explore the city. Seriously, we live in Seattle. It appears appropriate to heed warnings from the local residents about the oppressive combination of heat and humidity in the summer.

One benefit of a growing Boeing presence in Charleston is that Alaska Airlines now offers direct flights from Seattle. The other advantage is that if your plane has a mechanical failure … they should have ample spare parts. We opted to stay at the French Quarter Inn, located right in the center of the historic district. The hotel is in a perfect location and maintains the character of a small historic inn with all of the necessary modern conveniences. The staff does a tremendous job of upholding the tradition of Southern hospitality. OK … the best part is that they also have a wonderful complimentary wine and cheese offering in the afternoon and cookies with port in the evening. Need I say more. While we rented a car, it isn’t mandatory. Given the previously mentioned wine and port, probably not advisable either. Everything in the historic district is within a reasonable walk. Besides, given the amount of food you will most definitely enjoy … a bit of exercise would be recommended. Yes, a lot of food. Given the recent hype regarding Southern cuisine and the Charleston food scene, it seems like a good place for us to start.

The hype is justified. Throughout the historic district, there is a huge selection of excellent, small, quaint, restaurants. Many of these are located in old homes, off of the main streets. As a regular user of OpenTable, I was surprised by how many of the restaurants that I had targeted where not listed. Evidently OpenTable is not very friendly to restaurants. We learned that many of the Charleston restaurants have dropped OpenTable, in favor of a similar provider called Resy. Get it. What I liked about Resy is that even though a table at Fig was not available for several weeks, I was able to set a ‘Notify Me’ alert if one became available. One did while we were in Charleston and we were able to enjoy a wonderful dinner in a ‘hard to get in’ upscale establishment. Anyplace that stands for ‘Food is Good’ can’t be bad. We particularly enjoyed our starters, a chicken live pate and a ricotta gnocchi, both wonderfully prepared and beautifully presented. Another restaurant on Resy is 82 Queen. It is easy to find. It is on Queen street at number 82. Clever. We sat outside in their courtyard. Since it was my birthday, I indulged in a feast of crab … starting with an amazing She Crab Soup. I am not quite sure what a ‘She Crab’ is, but ‘He Liked’. I finished with the Carolina Crab Cakes but skipped dessert. Nothing had crab and I was going for a theme. For lunch, I recommend Fleet Landing. It is located right on the water. It lacks the charm and quiet elegance of most places in the historic district. However, after a morning of exploring the historical sites of Charleston on a warm day, their selection of local beers hit the spot. While there, have the Fleet Landing Stuffed Hush Puppies. I have had hush puppies before, but admittedly I was raised in the Midwest and live in the Pacific Northwest. As such, I am far from an expert on hush puppies. What a weird name for food … why are they named that ? Never mind, I do not want to know. Despite this lack of expertise, I highly recommend these. They are filled with lobster, shrimp, leeks and corn … and are wonderful with a cold beer, or two. Probably not very traditional. Tough.

There is quite a bit of history in and around the historic district. What a coincidence. On our first day, we got our bearings by taking a walking tour with Two Sisters Tours. It is a great way to learn about the history of Charleston, the architecture, and the transformation that the city has gone through from a local long-time resident with a great sense of humor. Whatever you do, don’t look at real estate until you listen to her stories … and also have a stiff drink. We live in Seattle, so we understand hyper-inflated property values. Even for us … wow. ‘This Old House’ now comes with ‘This New Mortgage.’

Sitting in the middle of the harbor, Fort Sumter tops all of the ‘must see’ lists of historical sites in Charleston.  Much like some other famous historical sites, particularly those that has been bombed to smithereens, the physical remains left standing are a bit underwhelming and require some imagination. In this case however, it is worth the admission and 30-minute boat ride out to the island. The US National Park Service maintains and operates the site. The most impactful and interesting part of the visit for me were the stories told by the Park Rangers. Fans of the movie Glory will appreciate these. Molly liked their ranger hats. If Fort Sumter peaks your interest in history and you did not take my earlier advice about not renting a car, a short drive over the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge will get you to Fort Moultrie. Also run by the National Park Service, the site is an excellent place to wander on your own. If you go, you absolutely must see the introductory movie in the visitor center. It follows the history of the fort from the Revolutionary War through World War II. However, the best part of the movie … it is absolutely corny and must have been made in the 70’s. Good for a laugh. For more recent history, Patriots Point is located just across the Cooper river. A single ticket gets you access to the aircraft carrier Yorktown, the submarine USS Clamagore, and the destroyer USS Laffey. The visitor desk on board the Yorktown provide maps with a series of different self-guided tours that allow you to go as slow or fast as you like. In the submarine … I suggest slow, and maybe skip breakfast. Tight quarters.

A stay in Charleston would not be complete without a visit to one of the many plantations such as Boone Hall, Middleton or the one that we went to … Magnolia. The grounds are amazing and during our visit the azalea flowers were in full bloom. We visited as part of a full day Photo Tour with Charleston Photography Tours. The tour gave us a chance to see a lot of the surrounding countryside and visit some very photogenic spots where I was able to capture several quintessential South Carolina images. Our tour guide Tiffany spent much of the tour trying to convince me that Molly was right and I should start a blog. I guess she was successful … although I think my website name is much better than the ones she came up with.

Over the years, Molly and I have had an opportunity to travel all around the world. Only recently, we have started to explore our own country. We’ve been surprised by cities in the U.S. like Charleston that have an international feel. There are a lot of parallels to New Orleans. Both have a combination of great food, culture, history, and a similar climate. Obviously, the calm and charm of Charleston’s historic quarter is about as opposite as that found on a typical weekend on Bourbon Street. This did mean that we were not able to partake in our favorite New Orleans pass time of scoring drunken tourists. By the way, a score of 8+ requires some level of projectile vomiting. The historic district of Charleston has managed to maintain its charm. However, you can already see the pressures of bulk commercialized tourism starting to encroach on the area. So, if you would like to enjoy the combination of Southern hospitality, culture, food, and history … go soon. Not unlike Sherman’s march through the South, the growing throngs of cruise ship tourists could threaten to obliterate everything that makes Charleston special.