Choose Charleston

Rain, clouds, and scattered thunderstorms: when severe weather warnings scroll across the bottom edge of regularly scheduled programming on the television, Charlestonians know that some parts of the peninsula should be avoided if at all possible.

The western edge of the peninsula was once a far wilder and wetter place of ponds and marsh before the land was filled in to build on. The long-ago landfill is why driving down Lockwood Boulevard can have a mild “roller-coaster” feel of up and down, up and down, bump, bump, bump. Over time, the stuff the land was filled with has settled.

It is also why there are notorious patches of Bee Street and Courtenay Drive, for example, where attempting to drive during a downpour can quite easily leave you with a towing bill and heavy repair costs.

Drainage has long been a major headache for the city in the rainy seasons. This is, after all, the South Carolina LOWcountry and Charleston proper, being a peninsula, is surrounded by mighty waters. Sandbags are a staple item for many a downtown business owner or resident, just a little something-something to have on hand in case of emergency.

The reward of the heavy rain is the lush greenery that soon follows, vines growing so fast everywhere you look that you can practically measure their progress hour by hour.

Charleston is a friendly town but there are a few improprieties sure to irk the locals.

Generally, Charlestonians are a kindly lot but very proud of their history, culture, and architecture. Religion is taken quite seriously in this city, so a certain degree of gravitas is expected while on walking tours of churches and churchyards.

Here are a few errors to eschew and boners to bypass while in town:

1. Not all of the grand houses along the Battery are open for tours. In fact, most of them are private residences. Many a family in the historic district has a tale or two of sitting down for an evening meal only to hear a knock on the door followed by a request to “come in and look around.” The answer is generally a polite, “Uh… no,” followed by equally polite directions to the Visitor’s Center, where information on which houses conduct tours and when can be obtained.

2. Asking locals if it is “always this humid” in the summertime. Yes, it is.

3. Wearing black socks with golf shorts. No!

4. Photographing the sweetgrass basket makers without permission. These are local artisans, not costumed actors, and they can be sensitive about this. Besides, asking permission is just polite.

5. Don’t even think about lifting a “little souvenir” from an archeological site or graveyard. This sort of thing shouldn’t even have to be said, but you’d be surprised…

It was hot hot hot Saturday afternoon in Hampton Park as Piccolo Spoleto burst loose with its grand finale. The event was free and open to the public and featured Adande drummers and dancers, Greek line dancing, Middle Eastern bellydancing, and Israeli jazz. The theme, of course, was Mediterranean and Middle Eastern weddings. Hey, it was hot enough out to make you believe you really were far away in some sun-drenched grove of olive trees.

Shade was already at a premium by 4 p.m., when the opening acts took the stage. Families camped out beneath trees and under tents to keep the sun off. Italian ice and snow cone dealers did a brisk business.

Big fat smoked turkey legs, barbequed chicken, shrimp, and Greek pastries were all at the ready for when the urge to eat hit the crowd. A hot air balloon was available for taking a step up toward the sky and viewing the event from a distance.

The last of the events are wrapping up throughout the day today. When the sun sets, we put this baby to bed for another year.

Charleston has long been nicknamed “The Holy City.” Steeples are the preeminent feature of our skyline and no matter where you stand on the peninsula, a church is within ready walking distance.

Also contributing to the nickname is the fact that older parts of the city retain a continental flavor. I’ve heard more than once of well-traveled folks choosing Charleston as a place to settle at the end of their wanderings because the ambiance is about as close to European as one is likely to find in the United States (New Orleans is sometimes cited as another option).

Plus, we’re polite as all get out.

Except, maybe, when we’re driving.

No walking tour of the historic district would be complete without pausing to appreciate several grand examples of our churches, including St. Philip’s, St. Michael’s, Circular Congregational, Congregation Beth Elohim, First (Scots) Presbyterian, and the Unitarian Church.

Burial grounds maintained by many of the churches offer walking paths where visitors may respectfully appreciate the local history of mortuary art. Students of History, Religion, or American Studies will find much to contemplate in the statuary and symbolism - from cherubs to death’s heads - to be found on grave markers from different eras.

I first met Trey and Traci Smith a couple of years ago while covering the autumn Halloween scene for Charleston City Paper. Trey and Traci know how to scare up a good show. They ought to - for the past sixteen years, they have masterminded frightfully good carnivals, haunted houses, and hayrides, both in Nashville and the South Carolina Lowcountry.

So when I heard that they were opening a brand new ghost show downtown, I made it a point to catch a preview (those familiar with my blog Wicked Winter know my penchant for ghost stories, legends, and myths).

People can now catch Trey and Traci’s eerie twists on local lore and legend all year long. No more need to wait until October to discover what chills and thrills they’ve been brewing. Charleston Legends & Lore Ghost Theater (161 Church Street, across from Tommy Condon’s Restaurant) features shows on the hour and half hour Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 12 noon to 8 p.m.

The show itself is 22 minutes of harrowing history, told by a series of ghosts. A young boy who succumbed to fever soon after arriving in Charles Towne sets the stage, revealing details about the earliest days of Lowcountry colonization even as his revenant rattles about across the stage and staircase.

An early patriot executed for defying the British, a confederate soldier from the Time of Northern Aggression, Blackbeard the Pirate, a kindly lady speaking Gullah, and an ominous boo-hag all make their lingering presences known to the audience.

It’s actually a pretty exciting way to learn a few facts about the wicked, wanton history of Charleston from the early (pre-Riley) days of pirates, plagues, and peril.

The show is for all ages. Younger kids might get a bit weirded out by some of the objects moving about on the stage (Trey is very, very good at his craft) but the scariest stuff has been held in reserve.

But don’t fret, fright fans: Trey has plans for the scariest stuff later on, closer to Halloween.

The play’s the thing this time of year in Charleston.

Music, theatre, dance, and comedy performances are happening all over the peninsula proper as well as in several areas outside the city.

Spoleto Festival USA dates back to 1977 and is recognized as a major world arts festival featuring opera, chamber and choral music, and ballet from the finest artists.

Piccolo Spoleto, founded in 1979 by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, runs alongside Spoleto as an outreach arm, embracing local and regional performers.

Between Spoleto and Piccolo Spoleto, there are literally shows for everyone. Visual art, poetry, song and dance in the park; the list is exhausting. There are even some free shows if ticket price is an issue.

I’ve been reviewing several shows for Charleston City Paper as well as catching a few just for myself. It can be a bit of whirlwind downtown during the festival, traffic tied up in knots (especially with today’s rain) and everybody moving between venues, but it’s worth it.

Why fuss over some dark, blustery skies or the slow molasses ooze of commuting  while there’s fun to be had? Like Johnny Mercer wrote, “…ac-cent-tch-uate the positive.”

You have the whole rest of the year to worry over the negative, right?

Now in its fourth year, the Folly Festival Film Festival supports, encourages, and acts as a showcase for filmmakers, in particular for local talent from South Carolina.

The Folly Felder is a beautiful fit for Piccolo Spoleto, a local arts extravaganza that runs alongside the more internationally flavored Spoleto Festival each year.

Short film has become an increasingly accesible art form, thanks in large part to digital technology and new ways and means of distribution now possible.

A well-made short can be a special delight. Time constraints force artists to make full use of their talents, to snip away unneeded bits and keep the story in tight focus throughout.

This year’s festival paid special recognition to three extraordinary shorts. The bronze went to local filmmaker Richard Almes of Mt. Pleasant, the silver to Merrill Weekley, just up the coast in Surfside Beach, and a well-deserved gold to Barry Battles and Griffin Hood of Alabama.

The major film industry, as we all know, has had more than a few flirtations with Charleston and other South Carolina locations. While this is an obvious choice for films about the American Civil War, it is also becoming recognized that the spectacular landscapes and beauty of the South Carolina Lowcountry make it outstanding for other features as well.

Hey, here in Charleston, we’re always ready for our close-up.

Shall we dine? 

Breaking bread is a time-honored means for folks to get to know another. It also works quite well as a way to become better acquainted with a city or region.

Charleston has been a diner’s delight for as long as history has been recorded and even a bit before. If prehistoric shell rings serve as any indication, native peoples were enjoying the plentiful oysters, clams, and conch in these coastal waters long before the first brick was placed in the foundation of Charles Towne. A great example of a shell ring (also known as a shell midden or mound) can be viewed just shy of Awendaw on a nature trail off of Doer Road.We’ll talk about that a bit more when I discuss the lore and legend of the Sewee.

That’s called a teaser, so stay tuned.

It should surprise no one to learn that seafood remains a large slice of the local fare. But what might raise a few eyebrows is that fact that a great deal of the seafood supped upon in local restaurants is not harvested from local waters. It may seem counterintuitive to think that frozen shrimp from Asia can be purchased in bulk for less money than it costs to buy from a local fisherman whose boat is docked just a few yards down from the restaurant doing the buying, but that’s just the world we live in.

Many folks are doing their part to support the local fishermen and farmers, however. Choosing foods harvested in South Carolina has become an increasingly popular form of activism. There are good reasons, in terms of supporting the regional economy, for making local and sustainable choices, but mostly, I think, people just like it because it feels better, being able to put a face to the name.

That’s the philosophy of one of our top local (not to mention James Beard Foundation nominated) chefs, Mike Lata of FIG, who can tell you exactly why the kale, beets, or triggerfish on your plate tastes so good. He knows the name, methods, and reputation of the man or woman who grew or caught it before it was delivered to his restaurant.

There’s an enormous amount of pride in Charleston cooking. We do love our rice – any rice, really, but especially we love the rice with a local history, like Carolina Gold.

We love our sweet tea. It pains us when we travel and are offered, in far-away restaurants, unsweetened tea with a couple of sugar packets to the side. It is simply not the same.

We love our shrimp and grits, Carolina Gold, and sweet tea as well as we love our fried chicken, drop biscuits, and greens but we are also becoming more and more open to other influences and culinary styles as well. Today, downtown Charleston features a wider array of ethnic and experimental restaurant choices than ever before.

We adore our pastry chefs. May I have an afternoon just to sing songs in their honor? Sweet things, only know that if we foodies had our way, statues of each and every one of you would be on pedestals in Marion Square.

So that’s it, right on the table, in a nutshell. Dining in Charleston isn’t supposed to be a means of filling up before rushing off to the next attraction.

Child, dining in Charleston is the next attraction. So, slow down and savor every bite of it.

Introduction 

There is a distinction in the local parlance between the come’yuhs and the bin’yuhs. Should you be a bin’yuh, your ancestry may well stretch back to the time of the original walled city of Charles Towne, fortified against attacks by the Spanish, to the time of Northern Aggression, or perhaps only to the early to middle years of the twentieth century. Come’yuhs did exactly that: they came here after being born somewhere else.

I am a come’yuh, just so you know.

This is fine by me because it has, over the last 17 years, allowed me the joy of discovery.

The American South exerts a powerful, at least cinematic if not outright mythic, pull on the imagination. Is it any wonder that brides consistently choose Charleston as one of the most popular destination wedding sites? The semi-tropical coast, barrier islands scattered along its length, is a place of salt marshes and live oaks, Spanish moss slung from the languid dark branches like a lingering image from a half-remembered dream.

Travelers from around the world are drawn to the architectural grandeur and hand-detailed craftsmanship of Southern mansions. Fascination with the history of the plantation system and the war between North and South grabs hold of them and then wild-caught shrimp from local waters, Carolina Gold rice, and sweet tea does the rest.

Little wonder that many a new resident to Charleston, Beaufort, Savannah, or the islands in-between tells a tale of having visited many times, each time lingering a little longer, until finally deciding to pack up their belongings and come here to stay.

Each time you visit, you find a little more to savor.

And I’ll be sharing exactly that, post by post, with you in the days ahead.