Installment #27 in Monolisticle's Ongoing Campaign Against the "Internet of Endless Listicles."
Charleston is a hypnotizing swirl of gentility and graciousness and palmetto trees and wraparound porches and shutters and moss and cobblestones and sea breeze.
The city is just darn pretty. And its pretty comes at you in layers. Its prettiness engulfs you in every form of pretty there is: old charming houses, live oak-canopied streets, ever-blossoming bushes and flowers, smiling faces, lyrical voices, tiny cafés, alluring boutiques, and not to mention waterways and beaches in all directions.
It's sometimes overwhelming. Particularly in the springtime, when you have all of that prettiness combined with perfectly pretty weather.
As you walk its streets, you breathe in hints of jasmine and palmetto, salt marsh and sea air. You find yourself wanting to discover its secret places. To seep into its essence. To assimilate into its gentle florid lyricism.
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Accordingly, one of the best things to do in this old southern city is explore its idyllic neighborhoods. South Battery. Upper Tradd. Queen Street. There are so many.
You can explore it by car, of course, but you will appreciate it far more on foot. Or bicycle. You'll actually be able to "take it in." To pause and admire. To peak down alleyways. To study architectural details. And to absorb the sights and scents of its gardens. Its gardens. I could go on and on about the gardens of Charleston. Having a subtropical climate means that it's ideal for growing all kinds of lovely flowers and blossoming bushes and vines.
But for everything you see of the city, there is much you don’t see. And the mystique makes it all that more alluring. Tucked deep into concealing yards that line nearly unnavigably-narrow streets (many of them one-way), Charleston’s narrow houses seem like safes filled with secrets. The boughs of live oaks wrap around them protectively like meandering iron bars. Their impermeably-thin side yards are guarded by rose thorn, concealing ivy, and bougainvillea-covered walls.
Of course, it's impossible to talk about Charleston without talking about food. Charleston is about as good as it gets for a foodie. Its restaurants not only offer all the usual types of seafood dishes that great Southern coastal cities are known for, but it also has excellent "inland fare" such as barbeque and fried chicken.
But as far as dishes that Charleston "owns" in my mind, it is oyster roasts and she-crab soup.
Yes, Charleston's shrimp and grits dishes and seafood boils are amazing as well, but other southern cities have their own superb versions of these dishes. If you aren't familiar with it, she-crab is a bisque-like soup made with crab meat, roe, heavy cream, and a dash of sherry. It is one of my favorite things to eat in the entire world.
When it comes to friendliness and service, it's almost as if the city invented the word “hospitality.” In fact, Charleston may have the highest general baseline of excellent service of any city in the world. Whether it’s a roadside café or a high-end boutique hotel, you’ll feel genuinely welcome and taken care of. Wherever you go.
Unfortunately, this friendliness and hospitality (and previously-mentioned excessiveness of pretty) has made it one of the top tourist destinations in the country. Which, naturally, risks straining that friendliness and hospitality. So as a visitor, please do your part to contribute to Charleston's welcoming culture. It's a polite city, and politeness goes a long way here. If you go out of your way to be generous and considerate to the people you encounter, they will go out of their way for you.
And even if you don't, they probably still will. This is Charleston, after all.
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