We love to travel and more often than not, our travel centers around the thriving hubs of the cities and towns we’re visiting. This week, I’m Charleston bound. Voted for the second year as Conde Nast’s “Top City in the US”, Charleston is the gold standard of Southern cities.
During my visit to “The Holy City,” I’ll be making my annual pilgrimage to the Charleston City Market for sweetgrass baskets. Otherwise, I’m wide open on this trip and winging it. I reached out to my friend Christina Lor, a Charleston native currently residing in Silicon Valley, who gave me a great list of places to see in her hometown. (And that I will be sharing soon!)
Andrew Zimmern of Bizarre Foods said it best, “South Carolina’s low country provides a low-key, old world existence to those who live here. If you want to taste it, it helps to slow down, turn off the main highways, and you can step into a unique way of life.” Those words ring true for every piece of Charleston you choose to experience. Slow down. Turn off the main highways. Live life as a native.
With a rich 300 year history, Charleston today is America’s most beautifully preserved architectural and historical treasure. The city’s past is a testament to the spirit and tenacity of its citizens. Its appeal has been described as a “living museum.” As Charleston native Elizabeth O’Neill Verner once said, “It is impossible for me to enter Charleston from any side, whether by land or by sea, and not feel that here the land is precious; here is a place worth keeping.
That’s one of the reasons I love Charleston. I love slowing down, breathing in the coastal air and stepping back in time as I walk down cobblestone streets, enjoying the beauty of this charming Southern city. To walk in Charleston is to take a walk immersed in gentile history and to really discover the soul of the city. A soul steeped in tradition and heritage.
One of the things I love photographing when in Charleston are the window boxes of flowers, such as this one from September, 2009.
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