My parents and I are flying to South Carolina the first week of March to visit my brother and sister-in-law, who recently moved there. We’ll be spending 2-3 days in Charleston, the rest in Columbia, where they live.
I’m not really sure what to expect, or what to look for. I’m looking forward to seeing the old homes in Charleston since I like architecture, but I don’t know how pretty they’ll be this time of year - are there flowers out already in March in this part of the country? I don’t have any desire to visit plantation homes, although my mom will probably drag me to one, I’m not really crazy about Southern cooking, and there don’t seem to be any interesting museums.
When I travel, I like seeing historical sights, interesting architecture, trying new food (just not Southern food ), anything art- or theatre-related, and seeing nice scenery. So what the heck should I do down there?
I live in Charleston. It will probably be a toss-up on the weather. It stays relatively cold here, but you might have some good sunny afternoons to hang out. The azaleas may not be in bloom by then, so it will look kind of funky. But you can still check out the historic houses and such. You’re missing the Spoleto arts festival by about 2 months. That’s as “artsy” as we get. I’m sure there will be plenty of other things that I will think of. Let me consult with some friends and give you some suggestions.
Since Columbia’s away from the water, I think it warms up a tad faster. If you get a nice day, park your car somewhere in the Shandon neighborhood and wander around on foot. Shandon’s a neighborhood of funky old houses in between Devine and Rosewood, running east on Devine from Five Points.
It’s been awhile since I was there, so I can’t say about the first week of March specifically, but I remember that for most of March, bicycling through Shandon on the way to USC, the neighborhood was a riot of flowers - as Jethro Tull would put it, “the flowers bloom like madness in the spring.”
On the whole, Columbia’s more of a town to live in than a town to do touristy stuff in, but it does have its charms.
While Skerri can tell you far more about Charleston than I can, I can tell you that, down near the Battery at least, Charleston’s a great town to wander on foot. It’s also got a variety of good restaurants. Stop by Juanita Greenberg’s for lunch one day, and split a couple of their enormous, delicious burritos amongst the three of you.
OK. Here’s a small list of things to do in Charleston.
If you’re into comedy/improv sketch, there is a place called Theater 99 (30 Cumberland St, 843-853-6687) that will be having shows during the first weekend of March. You can also find out about it at www.havenots.com.
There are several art galleries around the downtown area that feature local artists. The big gallery is the Gibbes Art Gallery and Museum (135 Meeting Street, 843-722-2706) where they have lots of cool exhibits. The ongoing one now is called Corrie Mccallum and the Charleston Renaissance Tradition: Early Works.
The Charleston Museum (360 Meeting Street, 843-722-2996) is pretty cool. You can also tour the Aiken-Rhett mansion and the Manigault house right across the street for a bit more of admission price.
If the weather is good, you can trek out to West Ashley (about 5 minutes from downtown) to Charles Towne Landing (Highway 171, 843-852-4200). This is the site of the first settlement of South Carolina (where my mother’s ancestors landed.) There are walking trails, a huge field to have picnics, a replica of the boat that landed, and an animal forest filled with (formerly) local animals. It’s pretty cool, but if the weather is warm, pack bug spray.
Below the Old Customs House (corner of Broad and East Bay Street) there is a place called the Provost Dungeon. It’s been years since I’ve been there, but they had lots of creepy manequins in various poses in various forms of punishment. (Not like S&M but kind of creepy and very likely should be PG-13.) It’s also supposed to be haunted, if you believe in that sort of thing. (I have always been scared of that place.)
6.The USS Yorktown is docked in Mt. Pleasant. (Patriot’s Point, 843-884-2727) This is the second commissioned ship named Yorktown that was in WW2.
Upon re-reading I see that you mention food as long as it isn’t Southern. Good - more for me :D. Anyway, check out Sticky Fingers (on Meeting St.) for great ribs. Go to California Dreaming (take a taxi, you’ll never find it on your own) for generally great food, great atmosphere, reasonable prices. Those are two of my favorite non-Southern places.
Darn it. Never try to type with a phone book in your hand. You end up hitting submit, somehow.
Fort Sumter Tours (180 Calhoun, 843-722-1691) is a ferry ride to the “infamous” fort involved in the first battle of the Civil War, or as some people still call it, “The War of Northern Aggression”.
The Market is a lovely tourist-packed area. (Market Street, between Meeting Street and East Bay Street) There are vendors hawking all sorts of Charleston-related merchandise. If you decide to buy a sweetgrass basket, try to get a good price. They sell those things for hundreds of dollars, but you can usually get a nice one for under $100. There is a municipal parking lot on the North side of Market Street, and that’s where you can go to get on a horse-drawn carriage tour. There are also lots of great shops on Market Street.
If walking is your thing, definitely hit the Battery (at the foot of East Bay Street). There are beautiful homes all over the area, and people take great care of them.
The South Carolina Aquarium (100 Aquarium Wharf, 843-720-1990) is pretty cool, if a little overpriced. I think adult admission is $14 or something like that. There are quite a few exhibits, and at that time of the year, it won’t be terribly crowded.
The Charleston Visitor’s Center (375 Meeting Street, 843-724-7474) has lots of information about walking tours, maps, and stuff like that. You can pretty much get a tour for anything: ghosts, antebellum houses, Civil War information, historic tours, and information about all the plantations in the area. (I would recommend Middleton Plantation. There’s more there than any of the other ones.)
Charleston is also filled with restaurants, and basically you can’t walk 5 feet without finding one. So you shouldn’t have to worry about food too much. And there are plenty of places that serve other food in addition to Southern cooking, so you should be fine.
Word to the wise, if you like seafood, go to the Boathouse (14 Chapel Street, 843-577-7171) or A.W. Shucks (70 State Street, 843-723-1151). Avoid Hyman’s Seafood like the plague. Cheap seafood for exhorbitant prices is their bottom line. If you need to know anything more, you can email me. I would also recommend checking out the Charleston City Paper. They have an events section that will tell you (about a week beforehand) what is going on in town.
They offer some neat walking tours, both guided and unguided. We met a guide late one night for a “Ghost walk.” We saw Charleston at night, hearing about local legends. Sort of an interesting and different way to see Charleston.
The buggy tours might seem sort of hokey but they are actually a nice way to see parts of the city. There are four routes and you can’t really pick which one you’ll be on (they are assigned by the city at random, as a way to regulate buggy traffic) but on any of them you will see things and hear things you might not otherwise learn about.
There is an aircraft carrier to tour if the southern culture gets old.
After you have spent a few days in Columbia, I think your best experience will be seeing “Welcome to Columbia” quickly receding in your rear-view mirror.
Columbia has a couple of notable “street celebrities” that you might notice:
“The Asian Guy:” our official homeless person. You’ll know him when you see him. Trust me.
“The Walking Girl:” She doesn’t have a job, husband, or car. All she does is walk and take University classes–now going over 20 years.
“The Pope:” An African-American chap who walks around in Papal vestments, claiming to be Il Papa–or whatever it is in Eye-talian
“The Reverend E. Slave:” Another African-American chap who hangs out at the Capitol Grounds, protesting the Confederate Flag, soliciting “donations” for his “church”–a PO box.
And always about 25 people sitting around outside, waiting to be seated! I never ate there, just walked by.
I’d recommend the Mellow Mushroom downtown too, they’ve got awesome pizza, calzones, sandwiches and a pretty extensive beer list.
Bring comfy shoes, because almost everything is within walking distance of each other, but your feet will get tired.
I only lived there for a year, so I don’t really know that I could contribute anything that hasn’t already been said.