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40 Rutledge Ave., Charleston, South Carolina, 29401, United States
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Fried fish plate
Tommy Dew's Walking History Tours
Come On Quit Hiding
Dusk in Charleston
my wife and I will be traveling to charleston in mid may and would like to know what there is to see and do around the market area.
Tons to see and do. Charleston is a walkable city in many ways, although there are great mule drawn tours that are reasonable and give you a grand overview of the history and traditions. I also took a walking "ghost tour"- again very interesting, filled with history about the city. The Citadel is interesting, also, and if the school year is still in session, I believe there are regularly scheduled musters of the cadets,open to the public. The market itself contains much of your usual tourist stuff, but one of the specialties is sweet grass baskets, made from grass and long pine needles- a coiled type of basket, extremely prized by collectors and the baskets smell so good. Many patterns are passed through the generations, as a sort of legacy. There are also carved gourds, handmade soaps, regional products. You could also learn about the "Gullah" traditions, and about the "low country cuisine." There is a local tea plantation- one of the few in the central U.S., and they used to have a booth with free samples of iced tea.
There are many buildings with detailed architecture- the rope like carvings of woodwork are fascinating.
If you get a chance, take a break at a restaurant called Magnolia's- I remember their shrimp and grits entree as being really good. Just take it slow and mosey along- Charleston is a feast for the senses, particularly in spring and early summer.
The Historic District with its numerous Antebellum houses. This photo shows part of the area and was taken from the river. It shows just some of the 19th century Antebellum within the Historic District. Taking a river excursion down river and seeing all the great estates from the water.
If you love a good cigar then make sure you stop by here and visit The Smoking Lamp located at 189 East Bay Street, phone # (843) 577-7339 We went in and the owner Lola Marley was right there to help, she was very nice and very helpful, she really know her stuff and took me right to what I was looking for. You are able to smoke them big cigars right in the store. This is a great shop in an old build along Bay Street, they have cigars of all type and sizes, cutter, lighters, walking sticks and so much more. They also have one of the largest walk-in humidor room lined with Spanish cedar. Very cool place!
There are many amazing beaches here, but if you want to rent a surfboard, waverunner, kayak or any other water sport you can rent any of these at Folly beach. Also THE spot for surfing is Folly Beach it has the best waves. You don't need to bring anything you can buy it all at the beach.
We visited the Charleston Museum with our grandchildren and DIL at the time when the Hunley had been found and recovered. The Charleston Museum has an exhibit out front which was a reproduction of what they thought the Hunley looked like. Plus there is an earlier version inside.
This museum (although currently situated in an angular brick building) was established very early in Charleston history - it was founded in 1773. As a result it has many "collections" which were given to the museum early that don't really 'fit' with the stated mission of the museum, which is to "preserve and interpret the cultural and natural history of Charleston and the South Carolina Lowcountry"
You have to be alert - mixed in with the indigenous animals, there are exhibited polar bears, giraffes, moas, and dinosaurs not native to the area. And in the historical section, in addition to Charleston Silver, slave tags, artifacts from eras of rice and cotton, the chair in which delegates sat to sign South Carolina’s Ordinance of Secession, and firearms and ordnance from the War Between the States, there are also such things as an Egyptian mummy, .. and a plaster cast of the monumental statue of Pharaoh Rameses II.
There ARE local fossils on exhibit such as the skeleton of an Oligocene crocodile and whale fossils from the same period and a giant false-toothed bird, Pseudodontronis. The bird is a Pliocene ancestor to modern pelicans, to which it appears similar in form, with the notable exceptions that it has a wingspan of 18 feet, and its jaws appear to have been borrowed from a barracuda.
In addition to the main museum, there are two historic houses across the street which can be toured.
Single-site and Combination Tour Ticket Prices*
Adult (13 years+)
Museum $10.00
Historic House $ 9.00
Two Sites $16.00 You Save $3.00!
Three Sites $21.00 You Save $7.00!
Child (3 to 12 years)
Museum $ 4.00
Historic House $ 4.00 NOTE: Children ages 2 and under are admitted FREE
One Person Per Ticket
No Exchanges or Refunds
Whle prints of the late Charleston artist Elizabeth O'Neill Verner's pastels and etching are on sale here, they also have work by other regional artists.
It was here I that I picked up her book about her home town, "Mellowed by Time: A Charleston Notebook" which is highly recommended for anyone who likes to know more about Charleston.
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Q: Plantation visit feasible for 1 day stay in Charleston? "Plan on spending one day in July in Charleston coming from NY & heading to Orlando.....arriving on a Fri.night spending the day..."
A: "We drove out to Magnolia Plantation on our own. I remember it taking about 30 mins. from downtown Charleston, you might spend about 1-2 hours seeing the houses and..."
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