Touring the
history, old charm of Charleston
By
Peter Greenberg
I'll
always remember the first time I traveled to Charleston.
I
sailed to the city on a cruise ship, as part of America’s inland waterway
system. And, as the boat glided into the city, I was instantly reminded of one
of the great movie lines about Charleston — a sentence that has been shortened
over the years.
In
“Gone with the Wind,” Rhett Butler's most famous line came at the end
of the movie, when he turns and faces Scarlett O'Hara and says, "Frankly,
my dear, I don't give a damn....” Everyone remembers that line. But it didn't
end there. The complete quote is: “I'm going back to Charleston, where there
is still a little grace and civility left in the world.”
Well,
if you DO give a damn about grace and civility, you can still find it in abundance
in Charleston, a remarkably well preserved peninsular city between the Ashey and
Cooper Rivers and the Atlantic Ocean. It's a city with a skyline of steeples —
180 of them, to be exact, and where most of the doorknobs in town are brass —
and always seem polished.
Charleston
is all about history, and the intersection of culture in America. What do Edgar
Allen Poe and Flavor Flav have in common? They both lived in Charleston. So did
John F. Kennedy and Blackbeard the Pirate, Samuel Morse and Stephen Colbert. And
that's just for starters.
Want
some real starters? Consider that America's first free library was established
in Charleston, in 1698. In 1735, opera was first performed in America — in
Charleston. Built around 1741, Middleton Place is the oldest formally landscaped
garden in the United States. America's first public museum opened in January 1773
— in Charleston. Want some other firsts? America's first prescription drugstore
(1780), first golf course (1786), even America's first scheduled train service
(1830) — all started in Charleston.
And
here's another first, which helps to explain why Charleston retains so much of
its history: The first zoning ordinance in America was established here in 1931,
including the creation of a Board of Architectural Review.
Charleston
remains a city of history and myth, of legend and storytelling, of visions and
yes, of ghosts.
If
you visit in April, May or October, the weather is at its best, when it’s
not too hot or humid. At the same time, there’s not much of a “slow”
season in Charleston — January is your best bet. The city doesn’t see
the same dip in downtown hotel occupancy and rates that you’ll see elsewhere.
People are shopping in the King Street area up until Christmas time. Christmas
has the Holiday Festival of Lights (more than a million lights in James Island
County Park) and the restored plantations are all decked out.
Before
New Year’s is the large multinational Renaissance “think tank,”
hosted by the Clintons; February marks the Distinctively Charleston Food and Wine
Festival, followed by the Southeast Wildlife Exposition.
Still,
no matter what time of year you travel to Charleston, be prepared to be colorfully
entertained. Again, this is a city that thrives on myths, legends and miracles.
Some
might even call Charleston the hors d’oeuvre capital of America. Why? It
started in 1865.
After
the Civil War, Charlestonians did not have the means to afford the luscious and
ostentatious meals they served prior to the war. However, they still wanted to
entertain. Hence, they started serving cocktails with “dine and dash”
hors d’oeuvres, never using plates, so as to offer less food and make for
a chic evening. Guests could help themselves to stationary appetizers — no
need for staff to serve at tableside. Plates were never used. And to this day
the tradition remains. Only napkins, of course, which are always linen and often
monogrammed.
Then
there are the legends.
Visit
the old county jail, where Charleston’s most notorious serial killers, John
and Lavinia Fisher, were sentenced to death in 1819. Lavinia, a beautiful 27-year-old,
requested that she be hanged in her wedding dress. She was hoping to use her charms
to persuade the judges to spare her, but the public wouldn’t have any of
it. They packed the courthouse and the streets shouting for her death, so she
was sentenced to die. She shouted, “If ye have a message ye want to send
to Hell, give it to me — I'll carry it!” Legend has it that she grabbed
the noose herself and jumped off the block.
And
don't forget ghosts. You don't need Halloween to visit Charleston.
Learn
about Charleston’s legends and ghosts firsthand on a walking tour that takes
you through dungeons, jails and a graveyard … at night! Adults: $18.50; children
(8-14): $10.50 (843) 722-8687, www.bulldogtours.com
