Charleston SC oozes Southern charm and offered us a luxurious off season escape like no other. With its stately mansions, cobblestone streets, and world-class cuisine, this historic city in the low-country offered much in a mid-December getaway!
Overview of our Charleston Visit
Taking full advantage of our boomer flexibility we decided to visit Charleston SC in December during the pre-Christmas week. This provided less crowds than summer months and festive decor adorning everything from signposts to the swankiest of hotels. Researching Charleston off season dates with Expedia and Bookings.com we found competitive prices for direct flights, a wide selection in comfortable accommodation and a rental SUV of our choice.
We reserved four-night stay at the luxury boutique hotel The Planter’s Inn in the heart of the Charleston SC city’s historic district. It’s location provided us the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the city’s rich history and vibrant culture on our doorstep.
We toured the French Quarter by horse drawn carriage using Old South Carriage Tours, and explored the famous streets both North-of and South-of-Broad in warm sunshine.
Charleston SC off season was also a great opportunity to visit Sullivan’s Island & Isle of Palms north of the Charleston peninsula as well as the beaches at Kiawah Island.
Two Plantations were on our list to see: Magnolia and Middleton Place. On the drive to the plantations, we had the good fortune to stumble on the abandoned early English settlement of Fort Dorchester.
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This post will cover the following list of subjects about Charleston Off Season :
- History & Culture of Charleston
- Carriage Tour and City Sights & Places of Interest
- Choice of Accommodation Charleston Off Season
- Dining Experiences
- Nearby attractions:
- -Isle of Palms / Sullivan’s Island
- -Kiawah Island
- -Magnolia Cemetery
- -Plantations: Magnolia and Middleton Place
- -Fort Dorchester
Charleston SC History and Culture
Charleston SC was founded in 1670 and named after England’s King Charles II. It became a major slave port and one of the wealthiest cities in America. The area produced red and gold rice as well as cotton. By 1770, Charleston was the 4th largest port in the colonies after Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.
Independence from Britain
South Carolina declared its independence from Great Britain in 1774, and the capture of Charleston became a priority for the British which they achieved six years later.
The Moultrie Flag, or the Liberty Flag, is the a flag flown in the American Revolutionary War. When the war ended with the liberation of Charleston, in 1782, General Nathanael Greene‘s Southern Continental & Militia Army, used it as the first American flag displayed in the South.
1886 Earthquake
In 1886 Charleston suffered a major earthquake where nearly all 8,000 of the city structures experienced internal damage. Some historic brick buildings had minimum damage, though, mainly because of pattress plates and tie rods which were used initially to stabilize the building during hurricanes. Examples of the tie rods are seen today on many of the historic brick buildings in Charleston.
Modern Day
Charleston suffered socially and economically after the Civil War but in the 1900’s things began to turn around with the presence of US military bases and the growth in tourism.
“The city has its own unique culture as so any Southern US cities do. In Charleston, it’s food and culture are a blend of English, French, American Southern, and West African, producing an active arts scene as well as some of the finest restaurants you’ll find anywhere”.
Charleston offers the Spoleto Festival USA, Charleston Fashion Week, great museums, quaint art galleries as well as fresh seafood and dishes including Gumbo, Shrimp & Grits, She-Crab Soup, Fried Oysters, LowCountry Boil, Deviled Crab Cakes, and Red Beans & Rice. A good number of hot pepper sauces are available to accompany any and all of the above. We enjoyed skipping breakfast and having a brunch which was available at most restaurants.
Charleston Key Sites and Places of Interest
Carriage Tour of the Historic District
When visiting a new city or place of interest we enjoy taking an organized tour to help us get use to key sites of interest and and to learn from the local guides new information which will improve our visit. We’ve found local guides know a great deal about their cities and are most happy to share their knowledge and experience, usually with a bit of humor.
A primary area of interest in Charleston, is the historic district.The tour mode of transport is the horse drawn carriage.
We can recommend the Carriage Tour by Old South, and suggest you book ahead of your visit arrival if possible. City ordinance requires the horses to be well cared which they are, and the tour is very professional, informative, and entertaining.
Earliest unmarked grave: 1695
Earliest inscribed gravestone: 1729
The Battery
The Battery a civil-war coastal defense artillery battery which was located at the site. It stretches along the lower shores of the Charleston peninsula, bordered by the Ashley and Cooper Rivers. A wonderful green park with old oak trees and Spanish moss offer a place for locals to play with their pooches or just sit and watch the water go by.
Along the center walkway in line with Church St. is The Defenders of Fort Moultrie, honoring South Carolinian soldiers during the Battle of Sullivan’s Island.
Commemorated by a statue of Sergeant William Jasper, a hero of the Revolutionary War battle won by the colonists at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island on June 28, 1776
The battery has structural issues and requires restoration work. In August 2023, a tropical storm breached the wall and flooded parts of downtown. This is not an unusual occurrence and locals are use to the flooding.
White Point Garden
Confederate Defenders of Charleston honors Confederate soldiers from Charleston, most notably those who served at Fort Sumter during the American Civil War. Built with funds by a local philanthropist, the monument design by Hermon Atkins MacNeil in White Point Garden since 1932.
Antebellum Homes
Edmondston-Alston House,
21 East Battery, Charleston
Constructed nearly 200 years ago, circa 1825, the Edmondston-Alston House presents the history of the people, both free and enslaved, who lived and worked here. Interesting tour, a lot of original furniture, and a couple of historic documents.
TOURS
Monday 1:00p.m to 4:00 p.m.
Tuesday – Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
William Washington House
8 South Battery Street, Charleston,
Church Street and Water Street
5 Cobbled Streets remain in Charleston
One of which is Adger’s Wharf is South of Broad and runs straight to the water. Its current name comes from James Adger II who had a shop on the street. “Cob” stones were ballast in ships arriving in Charleston. The benefit of cobbled streets is they drain well and they do not form ruts from wheeled traffic.
Another cobbled street is Chalmers St. in the French Quarter, where there was an entrance to a large slave trading complex.
This slave market was known as Ryan’s Mart. Opening 1856 by Thomas Ryan after the city banned auctions of slaves from streets near the Exchange building. Today it’s a museum dedicated to those souls trafficked in slavery.
Charleston Museum
360 Meeting Street Downtown Charleston
The Charleston Museum is the oldest museum in the United States. It’s a wonderful collection of history with exhibits from its early days as a colonial settlement to its role in the American Revolution and Civil War.
The photo on the right, shows a cotton machine produced by an English company Dobson and Barlow. England took an interest in cotton as many mills in the northern part of the country produced cotton cloth from southern US states.
Gibbes Museum of Art
135 Meeting St, Charleston
In 1888, when Charleston was financially and culturally reeling from the civil war, benefactor James Gibbes left money ($100,000) to the City to build an art museum. The Gibbes Museum opened in 1905 and offers a good mix of subjects and range of art media. We enjoyed the visit and left with a better sense of the history of the city.
Charleston City Market
The City Market built in the 1790s and stretches for four city blocks. The Market Hall, seen here, anchors one end and houses Charleston’s Confederate Museum.
Vendors sell handmade crafted souvenirs and other items including artwork, jewelry, and Gullah sweetgrass baskets which are exquisite!
Fort Sumter – National Monument
Fort Sumter is the Island Fort where the Civil War began.
A popular family tour is the 2 hour visit by boat. Boats can be boarded leave from Liberty Square in downtown Charleston, or in Mt. Pleasant at the Patriots Point.
Where to Stay in Charleston
Staying in the Charleston Off Season in the historic district, which is convenient for most of the sites and restaurants / bars, is the place to be.
We checked with different sites for best accommodation rates and reviews and found with Expedia.com there is a wide selection of hotels in the area and some of the best prices. This link will take you Accommodation in the Historic District listed by Bookings.com
We were delighted with our stay at the Planters Inn which we chose because of it’s central location and the great reviews and photos.
- Arriving late due to a delay, we were tired and hungry. The warm welcome by Ben at the check-in and Mike for valet parking made it all OK.
- The staff throughout the hotel were professional and quick to provide quality service.
- Benne’s next door was convenient for coffee and a coconut cake which is Bobby Flay’s “All-time favorite dessert”. It’s good.
- We enjoyed the Peninsula Grill restaurant for breakfast. We passed on dinner at the Peninsula but did end one evening at the Champagne Bar which has a wonderful atmosphere and a great Negroni!
Other hotels nearby we considered before booking the Planters Inn were:
The Spectator Hotel 67 State St, Charleston, SC 29401•(866) 476-4212
Hotel Emeline 181 Church St, Charleston, SC 29401•(843) 577-2644
French Quarter Inn 166 Church St, Charleston, SC 29401•(866) 812-1900
Boomer Alert: Parking in the historic district is limited and can be expensive if you rely on hotel valet parking but there are a few cheaper parking lots / garages close nearby.
Suggestions on Where to Eat in Historic Charleston
SweetWater Cafe was across the street from the hotel on Market Street in the Historic District. Brunch here is great. It’s cozy and inviting and the soups and chili are good as is the service.
Acme Lowcountry Kitchen is located on Isle of Palms 31 J.C. Long Blvd.Isle of Palms, SC29451.
We stumbled on this place and it is wonderful! John had Holy City Hash with large chunks of lean corned beef – best breakfast he’s had outside Ireland. I had fried shrimp which were really good.
Poogan’s Porch on Queen Street (walking distance from our hotel). Poogan’s has a charming atmosphere with great Southern food. John had their excellent She-Crab soup and I had the Shrimp & Grits. Service at the bar was great too! Poogan was an abandoned or homeless dog who hung out on the front porch of the home. There’s a wonderful portrait of him in the bar area.
Peninsula Grill – at the Planters Inn Hotel. Fine dining and formal with a beautiful menu. It’s a place for gracious dining.
Tommy Condon’s Irish Bar and Restaurant 160 Church Street
We had to go to Tommy Condon’s which was only 3 blocks from our hotel because it’s an Irish Pub and if there is one nearby, according to John, we have to go. A true Irish Pub with an Irish pub menu including shepherd’s pie and corned beef and cabbage. John’s assessment of the the Guinness: top class. Good selection of Irish Whiskeys too. We were there on a night that Carroll Brown was the entertainment – lucky for us! This was just a couple of weeks or so after Shane MacGowan had passed and Carroll played a sweet version of “Fairytale of New York.” He’s a great musician / singer with a good Irish ability to tell a story.
Hyman’s Seafood – around the corner from the Planter’s Inn on Meeting Street. It’s got a great old heritage and a warm, inviting bar area. Good selection of fresh seafood. Busy place, get there early or eat in the bar which is a good place to meet other travelers. We sat adjacent to a gentleman and his wife down from Rochester, NY. He grew up in North West England (where John had lived a while) and there was some singing of rugby songs with the stories after that!
Santis Restaurante Mexicano on the way north at 1302 Meeting Street. We stumbled on this great restaurant for lunch! Great find. It was festively decorated for Christmas, service was wonderful and the food is authentic Mexican. There are awards up on the wall for best of the best over years which probably is the reason for all the cars in the parking lot.
The Husk – the well publicized fine dining restaurant on Queen Street beside Poogan’s Porch. Maybe it was just a bad night, but this was a significant disappointment during our visit after visiting its sister restaurant in Nashville.
Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge
Traveling to Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island we travel over the The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge (also known as the Ravenel Bridge and the Cooper River Bridge). It is an impressive a cable-stayed bridge over the Cooper River connecting downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant. If you are into bridges, it’s nice.
Sullivan’s Island
At the mouth of Charleston Harbor and neighbor to the Isle of Palms, Sullivan’s Island is an interesting mix of beaches with local restaurants and shops and quiet being Charleston Off Season.
We arrived a few days after a storm so clean up was in progress. Off-season it was pleasantly peaceful.
Isle of Palms
A few minutes drive north is the Isle of Palms which is a mix of residential and resort community. Again visiting Charleston off-season was a quiet, pleasant experience, but in July and August it must be a totally different atmosphere as roads and access is narrow, and visitor parking scarce.
The resort promotional leaflet reads “…with live music and beach volleyball at The Windjammer, ice cream and pizza along front beach, and families kicked back to enjoy it all.”
Kiawah Island
We headed 45 minutes south to Kiawah Island and enjoyed the scenic route on State Road S-10-20 (Bohicket Road to Maybank Hwy).
Along this route we traveled country roads lined with large, shaded oak trees draped in Spanish moss. It is often referred to as the Alley of Oaks.
We weren’t aware that most of Kiawah is private residential communities, but we enjoyed the public beach access for the princely sum of $5. Hey, the sun was shining and the sea looked inviting even in mid December.
Magnolia Cemetery
Magnolia Cemetery 70 Cunnington Ave Charleston SC 29405
Hours: Open Daily 8 am – 5 pm (Open until 6 pm during DST)
“Planters, politicians, military leaders, bootleggers, whorehouse madams – you name it, anybody from the last 150 years of Charleston’s history is out there,” says Ted Phillips, author of the book on Magnolia, City of the Silent.
Regarded as richest man in Charleston when he died, making his money in cotton and banking.
Buried at Magnolia Cemetery are 82 South Carolinians who were killed or mortally wounded at Gettysburg. We found that interesting (who / how?) and with research we found in 1871, Charleston’s Ladies Memorial Association traveled to Gettysburg, disinterred the S.C. soldiers from shallow graves on the battlefield, and had them brought home.
Plantations – Charleston Off Season
We visited the Magnolia Plantation and the Middleton Place Plantation but arrived too late for detailed tours. This gave us time soak up the serenity of each plantation and wander some of the grounds. The starkness of the slave cabins at Magnolia Plantation gave an eerie feeling in contrast to the opulence of the rest of the plantation.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
Magnolia Plantation, 3550 Ashley River Road, Charleston, SC 29414
The plantation dates to 1676. Some of the enslaved people who were forced to work at the house and rice plantation were brought from Barbados in the 1670s.
The slave labor lived in four cabins on site and eventually a fifth after being freed.
My painting impression of the tree & spanish moss lined roads in and around the Low Country near Magnolia Plantation.
See more of John’s paintings on the page Art Inspired by Our Favorite Travels & Places
Middleton Place – Gardens & Restaurant
4300 Ashley River Rd, Charleston, SC 29414
Going back to 1675, is a rare survivor of the American Revolution and Civil Wars but it didn’t get away unscathed. In 1865, toward the end of the American Civil War, Union soldiers burned most of the house, leaving only the south wing and parts of the north wing standing. Then in 1886, an earthquake destroyed the walls of the main house and north wing.
Fort Dorchester
As we left Middleton Place near Summerville, we came across a State Park of a former English settlement settled in 1696, abandoned after the Revolutionary War.
This town was settled by Pilgrims who came over on the Mayflower and was named after Dorchester, England.
Between 1757 and 1760, a tabby (tabby is a mixture of oyster shells, lime and sand) fort containing a gunpowder magazine was built by local slaves and is still standing today.
The Earthquake of 1886, whose epicenter was less than a mile from Dorchester, destroyed most of the ruins except for the old church tower, its graveyard and the walls of the fort. The ruins are in the process of being excavated and the markers provide a decent insight into this once-thriving settlement.
Trivia Charleston SC
- Charleston’s nickname is the “Holy City” because of its historic claim of religious tolerance + abundant places of worship.
- The Battle of Fort Sullivan was a major battle in the Revolutionary War . It was the first major victory for the Americans.
- Civil War began in Charleston with the shots fired at Fort Sumter.
- Charleston boasts many American firsts
- public college in 1770
- museum in 1773
- the first theater in 1736
- golf club in America in 1786
5. Charleston’s baseball team is called the Charleston RiverDogs. Part owner and “Director of Fun” is actoand Charleston local Bill Murray.
6. The song The Charleston was written in 1923. The musical Running Wild featured a dance, set to the tune of the song, also called The Charleston. It is based on a dance popularized by the black community, first in Africa and then right here in South Carolina.