36 Hours in Charleston, S.C.

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36 Hours in Charleston, S.C.
September 9, 2010
by Shaila Dewan
The New York Times

CHARLESTON still has its cannons aimed at Fort Sumter, where the Civil War began, and has elected the same mayor, Joseph Riley, since 1975. It even has some of the country’s most aggressive historic preservation. But that doesn’t mean this charming Southern city has nothing new to offer. There are new galleries on Broad Street, and a festoonery of restaurants, bars and boutique bakeries have transformed the once-struggling design district on upper King Street. Charlestonians, governed by laws of hospitality as incontrovertible as those of gravity, cannot help themselves from sharing their new finds, even if you are “from off,” as those who grew up on this once swampy peninsula refer to outsiders.


Friday

4 p.m.
1) MEETING LUCINDA

In 1856, Charleston banned the buying and selling of slaves outdoors, a practice viewed as out of keeping with the city’s genteel image. Trade moved indoors to places like Ryan’s Mart, where the first slave sold was a 20-year-old woman named Lucinda. The former auction hall opened in 2007 as the Old Slave Mart Museum (6 Chalmers Street, 843-958-6467; nps.gov/history/nr/travel/charleston). Exhibitions bring slavery to horrifying life in a way few museums do, addressing such topics as the stigma attached to the slave-trading profession and how slaves were dressed, shaved, fed and otherwise prepared for market day.

7 p.m.
2) LOWCOUNTRY CUISINE

For three years running, a restaurant from Charleston has won the James Beard award for best southeastern chef (first Hominy Grill, then Fig, then McCrady’s), so guessing the next winner can be an amusing parlor game. Will it be Glass Onion, with its pickled vegetables and lunch-box aesthetic, or Wild Olive, which showcases local produce and Italian cooking out on Johns Island? A dark-horse contender is Cypress Lowcountry Grille (167 East Bay Street, 843-727-0111; magnolias-blossom-cypress.com), where the chef Craig Deihl makes his own charcuterie (served with lard biscuits, $12) and pork schnitzel ($28) while throwing a bone to value-seeking diners with a $39 prix fixe menu.

10 p.m.
3) JAZZ AGE REFUGE

Charleston is not particularly known for its night life — the options sometimes come down to one outlandishly named martini versus another (caramel macchiatotini? Charlestoniantini?). But locals with an evening to kill stop by the lounge of the Charleston Grill, a grand ballroom of a restaurant tucked away in a posh hotel, the Charleston Place (224 King Street, 843-577-4522; charlestongrill.com). From a glamorous white banquette, you can take in the sophisticated tunes of the Quentin Baxter Ensemble and the very polite antics of practically all of Charleston, from dads and debutantes to Gullah painters. Snack on the truffle Parmesan popcorn ($10) and a kiwi version of the Pimm’s cup ($12).

Saturday

9 a.m.
4) SWEETGRASS AND CREPES

The old South finds new takes at the Charleston Farmers Market in Marion Square (843-724-7305; charlestonarts.sc), a bustling downtown market where you can buy pickled watermelon rind, sweetgrass baskets and flower arrangements that make use of old windows. Be prepared to fight your way through the throngs buying their week’s supply of groceries or lining up for fresh crepes ($4.50 and up; charlestoncrepecompany.com).

10 a.m.
5) SHOPPING BELLES

King Street has long been the stylish epicenter of Charleston, but it’s been invaded by the major chain stores. Take refuge on and around upper King, north of Marion Square, where chic shops and high-concept restaurants coexist with fading emporiums. Pick up a handy one-page guide to parking and neighborhood restaurants at Blue Bicycle Books (420 King Street, 843-722-2666, bluebicyclebooks.com). Sample a pastry at the fashionably French Macaroon Boutique (45 John Street, 843-577-5441; macaroonboutique.com), then browse the baffling assortment of odds and ends at Read Brothers stereo and fabric store, established in 1912 (593 King Street, 843-723-7276; www.readbrothers.com). For a splurge, head to Magar Hatworks (57 Cannon Street, 843-345-4483; magarhatworks.com; call for appointment), a millinery where Leigh Magar makes recherché hats ($175 to $700) that sell at high-end stores like Barneys New York.

2 p.m.
6) NOT QUITE TEETOTALING

Many people spend a lifetime trying to replicate grandma’s recipes — not so at Irvin-House Vineyards (6775 Bears Bluff Road, 843-559-6867; charlestonwine.com), a scenic vineyard about a 30-minute drive from downtown on sleepy Wadmalaw Island. The owners have spent years trying to make muscadine wine without the syrupy, made-at-home sweetness those words bring to Southerners’ minds. Two years ago, the owners took on another iconic Southern taste, iced tea, blending it with vodka to make Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka, whose authentic lazy-Sunday-afternoon flavor made it a runaway success. After the free Saturday vineyard tour at 2 p.m., you can taste both.

4 p.m.
7) OLD GROWTH

On the way back to town, take a short detour to the Angel Oak, a tree so large it could whomp 10 Hogwarts willows (3688 Angel Oak Road). The tree, which is thought to be at least 300 to 400 years old, is threatened by plans for a nearby shopping center. It is protected by a fence; the gate closes at 5 p.m.

6 p.m.
8) BIGGER FISH CAMP

Before the Bowens Island Restaurant burned down in 2006, the humble cinderblock fish camp was covered in decades’ worth of graffiti scrawled by loyal customers. In July, it reopened in a large, screened-in room on 18-foot stilts, with a nicer deck and a better view of the dolphins playing in Folly Creek (1870 Bowens Island Road, 843-795-2757; bowensislandrestaurant.com). Marker-wielding patrons have wasted no time in trying to cover the new lumber with fresh scrawls. You can try to decipher them as you wait for your roasted oysters (bottomless order is $21.50) and oversize hush puppies (a side is $4.25). Get here early to avoid the crush.

8 p.m.
9) GEORGIAN ENCORE

When the Dock Street Theater opened in 1736, the first production had a name only a pre-Revolutionary could love: “The Recruiting Officer.” Luckily, the producers chose a different work, “Flora,” an early English opera, when it reopened this year with all its Georgian splendor restored. Said to be the first theater in America built for that purpose, the Dock (135 Church Street) hosts the Spoleto Festival, the city’s artistic crown jewel, in May and June (14 George Street, 843-722-2764; spoletousa.org) and Charleston Stage (843-577-7183; charlestonstage.com), which presents musicals and popular fare the rest of the year (tickets $20 to $52).

Sunday

9 a.m.
10) STEAMY BUNS

When it opened last year, tiny WildFlour Pastry (73 Spring Street, 843-327-2621; wildflourpastrycharleston.com) created an instant tradition with “sticky bun Sundays.” A steady stream of cravers comes through the door in search of a warm, chewy, generously pecanned confection ($2.70). Those with less of a sweet tooth will be happy with crumbly fruity or savory scones ($2 and up) or a hardboiled Sea Island egg (60 cents).

11 a.m.
11) GARDENS AND GATORS

Ever since Pat Conroy’s novel “Prince of Tides,” Charleston has been known for its mossy, Lowcountry terrain as much as for its picturesque history. At Middleton Place plantation, a National Historic Landmark, one of several plantations within easy reach of downtown, you can get a close-up view of the marsh — or, in winter, of a primeval cypress swamp — on a guided kayak tour ($40). Alligators, bald eagles and river otter are among the possible sights, as is the architectural award-winning Inn at Middleton Place, where the tours meet (4290 Ashley River Road, 843-556-0500; charlestonkayakcompany.blogspot.com). After, you can take in domesticated nature on the plantation grounds, billed as the oldest landscaped garden in the country, with twin butterfly lakes, or visit the blacksmith and cooper workshops (4300 Ashley River Road, 800-782-3608; middletonplace.org). Some things in Charleston don’t change.

IF YOU GO

Multiple airlines, including Delta, U.S. Airways and Continental, fly nonstop to Charleston from New York. A recent Web search found round-trip fares starting at about $391.

Just off Marion Square, the Hampton Inn Charleston-Historic District (345 Meeting Street, 843-723-4000; hamptoninn.hilton.com) is in a restored warehouse just old enough to be billed as the area’s only antebellum hotel, with a fitness center, pool and 170 rooms, from $189.

The Battery Carriage House Inn (20 South Battery, 843-727-3100; batterycarriagehouse.com), has 11 rooms a stone’s throw from White Point Gardens at the Battery. Enjoy breakfast in a shady walled garden reputed to be haunted. Rooms from $150.