Charleston Shopping

If you are looking for nautical and are willing to part wth your money, dig deep because this place is expensive. Beautiful boats, ships, captains wheels and much more, just be prepared to drop it like it's hot! Good qulity stuff just over priced. So check around before you by some thing there may be another store with it cheaper.

These malls are always advertised together at Christmas time, so I think they're owned by the same people. Citadel Mall is in West Ashley, and Northwoods Mall is in North Charleston. And they're a lot alike, except Citadel may be newer. They are both nice and clean, and they have all the normal mall stores.

The market place is great for gifts, souvineers, jewelry, and even chili. You can find a lot of neat things here. King Street is full of antique shops, and also around here you'll find some of the nicer stores, especially at the Charleston Place Hotel.

What to buy: 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.

I can't remember the name of any particular shops but there were quite a few of them on King Street.

What to buy: With Charleston as old as it its, there were a lot of great antique furniture and collectibles.
I bought the old post card I used at the top of my Charleston because I thought it was so neat. (Somewhere I have the photos I took of a sunset we watched over Battery Park)

What to pay: Of course most of the antiques are expensive, but my post card was only a dollar I think.

I did not do too much shopping, though I happened to walk into the Historical Society's museum. They sold a variety of gifts and had an interesting display on the different types of architecture used amongst the buildings.

At both the main marketplace area and at other areas in town there are several folks selling baskets. Often times the weavers will be active making a new basket even amongst all of the tourists walking around.
These aren't your ordinary baskets. I was amazed by the skill and final product.

What to pay: The prices ranged anywhere from few dozen dollars on upwards to hundreds.

OK, King St and the market iare the place to shop. As anyone who has been to Charleston knows...cheap parking is nearly impossible to find. There is one place that usually is open because tourists do not know about it. When driving down King ST, look for Saks Fifth Ave. After you pass Saks, there is a one way alley to the right. Drive straight o the end. Right in front of you is a large metered parking lot that usually has spaces. Most of the meters dont work anyway, but on Sundays it's free.