by Jim Morekis
Other ships moored beside the Yorktown and open for tours are the Coast Guard cutter USCG Ingham, the submarine USS Clamagore, and the destroyer USS Laffey, which survived being hit by three Japanese bombs and five kamikaze attacks—all within an hour.
A big plus is the free 90-minute guided tour. If you really want to make a family history day out of it, you can also hop on the ferry from Patriots Point to Fort Sumter and back.
Old Village
Mount Pleasant’s old town has its share of fine colonial and antebellum homes and historic churches. Indeed, Mount Pleasant’s history is almost as old as Charleston’s. First settled for farming in 1680, it soon acquired cachet as a great place for planters to spend the hot summers away from the mosquitoes inland. The main drag is Pitt Street, where you can shop and meander among plenty of shops and restaurants (try an ice cream soda at the historic Pitt Street Pharmacy). The huge meeting hall on the waterfront, Alhambra Hall, was the old ferry terminal.
Boone Hall Plantation
The majestic, live oak-lined entrance avenue to Boone Hall Plantation (1235 Long Point Rd., 843/884-4371, www.boonehallplantation.com, mid-Mar.-Labor Day, Mon.-Sat. 8:30am-6:30pm, Sun. noon-5pm, Labor Day-Nov. Mon.-Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 1pm-4pm, Dec.-mid-Mar. Mon.-Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. noon-5pm, $20 adults, $10 children) dates back to a grant to Major John Boone in the 1680s (the oaks of the entranceway were planted in 1743). Unusual for this area, where fortunes were originally made mostly on rice, Boone Hall’s main claim to fame was as a cotton plantation as well as a noted brick-making plant.
Currently owned by the McRae family, which first opened it to the public in 1959, Boone Hall is called “the most photographed plantation in America.” And photogenic it is, with natural beauty to spare in its scenic location on the Wando River and its adorable Butterfly Garden. But as you’re clicking away with your camera, keep in mind that the plantation’s “big house” is not original; it’s a 1935 reconstruction.
Boone Hall takes the phrase “living history” to its extreme; it’s not only an active agricultural facility, but it also lets visitors go on “u-pick” walks through its fields, which boast succulent strawberries, peaches, tomatoes, and even pumpkins in October—as well as free hayrides.
While Boone Hall’s most genuine historic buildings include the big Cotton Gin House (1853) and the 1750 Smokehouse, the most poignant and educational structures by far are the nine humble brick slave cabins from the 1790s, expertly restored and most fitted with interpretive displays. The cabins are the center of Boone Hall’s educational programs, including an exploration of Gullah culture at the outdoor “Gullah Theatre.” Summers see some serious Civil War reenacting going on. In all, three different tours are included with the price of admission: a 30-minute house tour, a tour of Slave Street, and a garden tour.
Charles Pinckney National Historic Site
This is one of my favorite sights in Charleston, for its uplifting, well-explored subject matter as well as its tastefully maintained house and grounds. Though “Constitution Charlie’s” old Snee Farm is down to only 28 acres from its original magnificent 700, the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site (1240 Long Point Rd., 843/881-5516, www.nps.gov/chpi, daily 9am-5pm, free) that encompasses it is still an important repository of local and national history.
Sometimes called “the forgotten Founder,” Charles Pinckney was not only a hero of the American Revolution and a notable early abolitionist but one of the main authors of the U.S. Constitution. His great aunt Eliza Lucas Pinckney was the first woman agriculturalist in the United States, responsible for opening up the indigo trade. Her son Charles Cotesworth Pinckney was one of the signers of the Constitution.
The current main house, doubling as the visitors center, dates from 1828, 11 years after Pinckney sold Snee Farm to pay off debts. That said, it’s still a great example of Lowcountry architecture. It replaces Pinckney’s original home, where President George Washington slept and had breakfast under a nearby oak tree in 1791 while touring the South. Another highlight at this National Park Service-administered site is the 0.5-mile self-guided walk around the grounds, some of it on boardwalks over the marsh.
No matter what anyone tells you, no one is buried underneath the tombstone in the grove of oak trees bearing the name of Constitution Charlie’s father, Colonel Charles Pinckney. The marker incorrectly states the elder Pinckney’s age; it was put here only as a monument. Another memorial to the colonel is in the churchyard of the 1840s-era Christ Church about one mile down Long Point Road.
Isle of Palms
This primarily residential area of about 5,000 people received the state’s first “Blue Wave” designation from the Clean Beaches Council for its well-managed and preserved beaches. Like adjacent Sullivan’s Island, there are pockets of great wealth here, but also a laid-back, beach-town vibe. You get here from Mount Pleasant by taking the Isle of Palms Connector (Hwy. 517) off U.S. 17 (Johnnie Dodds/Chuck Dawley Blvd.).
Aside from just enjoying the whole scene, the main self-contained attraction here is Isle of Palms County Park (14th Ave., 843/886-3863, www.ccprc.com, May-Labor Day daily 9am-7pm, Mar.-Apr. and Sept.-Oct. daily 10am-6pm, Nov.-Feb. daily 10am-5pm, $7 per vehicle, free for pedestrians and cyclists), with its oceanfront beach, complete with umbrella rental, a volleyball court, a playground, and lifeguards. Get here from the Isle of Palms Connector by going through the light at Palm Boulevard and taking the next left at the gate.
The island’s other claim to fame is the excellent (and surprisingly affordable) Wild Dunes Resort (5757 Palm Blvd., 888/778-1876, www.wilddunes.com, $254-320), with its two Fazio golf courses and 17 clay tennis courts. Breach Inlet, between Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island, is where the Confederate sub Hunley sortied to do battle with the USS Housatonic. During 1989’s Hurricane Hugo, the entire island was submerged.
Sullivan’s Island
Part funky beach town, part ritzy getaway, Sullivan’s Island has a timeless quality. While much of it was rebuilt after Hurricane Hugo’s devastation in 1989, plenty of local character remains, as evidenced by some cool little bars in its tiny “business district” on the main drag of Middle Street. There’s a ton of history on Sullivan’s, but you can also just while the day away on the quiet, windswept beach on the Atlantic, or ride a bike all over the island and back.
Unless you have a boat, you can only get here from Mount Pleasant. From U.S. 17, follow the signs for Highway 703 and Sullivan’s Island. Cross the Ben Sawyer Bridge, and then turn right onto Middle Street; continue for about 1.5 miles.
FORT MOULTRIE
While Fort Sumter gets the vast bulk of the media, the older Fort Moultrie (1214 Middle St., 843/883-3123, www.nps.gov/fosu, daily 9am-5pm, $3 adults, free under age 16) on Sullivan’s Island actually has a much more sweeping history. Furthering the irony, Major Robert Anderson’s detachment at Fort Sumter at the opening of the Civil War was actually the Fort Moultrie garrison, reassigned to Sumter because Moultrie was thought too vulnerable from the landward side.
Indeed, Moultrie’s first incarnation, a perimeter of felled palm trees, didn’t even have a name when it was unsuccessfully attacked by the British in the summer of 1776, the first victory by the colonists in the Revolution. The redcoat cannonballs bounced off those flexible trunks, and thus was born South Carolina’s nickname, “The Palmetto State.” The hero of the battle, Sergeant William Jasper, would gain immortality for putting the blue-and-white regimental banner—forerunner to the modern blue-and-white state flag—on a makeshift staff after the first one was shot away. Subsequently named for the commander at the time, William Moultrie, the fort was captured by the British in a later engagement. That first fort fell into decay and a new one was built over it in 1798 but was soon destroyed by a hurricane.
In 1809 a brick fort was built here; it soon gained notoriety as the place where the great chief Osceola was detained soon after his capture, and where he posed for the famous portrait by George Catlin. His captors got more than they barga
ined for when they jokingly asked the old guerrilla soldier for a rendition of the Seminole battle cry. According to accounts, Osceola’s realistic performance scared some bystanders half to death. The chief died here in 1838, and his modest grave site is still on-site, in front of the fort on the landward side.
Other famous people to have trod on Sullivan’s Island include Edgar Allan Poe, who was inspired by Sullivan’s lonely, evocative environment to write The Gold Bug and other works. There’s a Gold Bug Avenue and a Poe Avenue here today, and the local library is named after him as well. A young Lieutenant William Tecumseh Sherman was also stationed here during his Charleston stint in the 1830s before his encounter with history in the Civil War.
Moultrie’s main Civil War role was as a target for Union shot during the long siege of Charleston. It was pounded so hard and for so long that its walls fell below a nearby sand hill and were finally unable to be hit anymore. A full military upgrade happened in the late 1800s, extending over most of Sullivan’s Island (some private owners have even bought some of the old batteries and converted them into homes). It’s the series of later forts that you’ll visit on your trip to the Moultrie site, which is technically part of the Fort Sumter National Monument and administered by the National Park Service.
Most of the outdoor tours are self-guided, but ranger programs typically happen Memorial Day-Labor Day daily at 11am and 2:30pm. There’s a bookstore and visitors center across the street, offering a 20-minute video on the hour and half hour 9am-4:30pm. Keep in mind there’s no regular ferry to Fort Sumter from Fort Moultrie; the closest ferry to Sumter leaves from Patriots Point on Mount Pleasant.
BENCH BY THE ROAD
Scholars say that about half of all African Americans alive today had an ancestor who once set foot on Sullivan’s Island. As the first point of entry for at least half of all slaves imported to the United States, the island’s “pest houses” acted as quarantine areas so slaves could be checked for communicable diseases before going to auction in Charleston proper. But few people seem to know this.
In a 1989 magazine interview, African American author and Nobel laureate Toni Morrison said about historic sites concerning slavery, “There is no suitable memorial, or plaque, or wreath or wall, or park or skyscraper lobby. There’s no 300-foot tower, there’s no small bench by the road.” In 2008, that last item became a reality, as the first of several planned “benches by the road” was installed on Sullivan’s Island to mark the sacrifice of enslaved African Americans. It’s a simple black steel bench, with an attached marker and a nearby plaque. The Bench by the Road is at the Fort Moultrie visitors center.
Folly Beach
A large percentage of the town of Folly Beach was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, and erosion since then has increased and hit the beach itself pretty hard. All that said, enough of Folly’s funky charm is left to make it worth visiting.
Folly Beach
Called “The Edge of America” during its heyday as a swinging resort getaway from the 1930s through the 1950s, Folly Beach is now a slightly beaten but enjoyable little getaway on this barrier island. As with all areas of Charleston, the cost of living here is rapidly increasing, but Folly Beach still reminds locals of a time that once was: a time of soda fountains, poodle skirts, stylish one-piece bathing suits, and growling hot rods.
Folly’s main claim to larger historic fame is playing host to George Gershwin, who stayed at a cottage on West Arctic Avenue to write the score for Porgy and Bess, set across the harbor in downtown Charleston. (Ironically, Gershwin’s opera couldn’t be performed in its original setting until 1970 because of segregationist Jim Crow laws.) Original Porgy author DuBose Heyward stayed around the corner at a summer cottage on West Ashley Avenue that he dubbed “Follywood.”
Called Folly Road until it gets to the beach, Center Street is the main drag here, dividing the beach into east and west. In this area you’ll find the Folly Beach Fishing Pier (101 E. Arctic Ave., 843/588-3474, Apr.-Oct. daily 6am-11pm, Nov. and Mar. daily 7am-7pm, Dec.-Feb. daily 8am-5pm, $7 parking, $8 fishing fee), which replaced the grand old wooden pier-and-pavilion structure that tragically burned down in 1960.
Back in the day, restaurants, bars, and amusement areas with rides lined the way up to the old pavilion. As the premier musical venue in the region, the pavilion hosted legends like Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, and Count Basie. The new fishing pier, while not as grand as the old one, is worth visiting—a massive, well-built edifice jutting over 1,000 feet into the Atlantic with a large diamond-shaped pavilion at the end. Fishing-rod holders and cleaning stations line the entire thing. Out on the “front beach,” daytime activities once included boxing matches and extralegal drag races. In the old days, the “Washout” section on the far west end was where you went to go crabbing or fly-fishing or maybe even steal a kiss from your sweetie. Today, though, the Washout is known as the prime surfing area in the Carolinas, with a dedicated group of diehards.
To get to Folly Beach from Charleston, go west on Calhoun Street and take the James Island Connector. Take a left onto Folly Road (Hwy. 171), which becomes Center Street on into Folly Beach.
At the far east end of Folly Island, about 300 yards offshore, you’ll see the Morris Island Lighthouse, an 1876 beacon that was once surrounded by lush green landscape, now completely surrounded by water as the land has eroded around it. Now privately owned, there’s an extensive effort to save and preserve the lighthouse (www.savethelight.org). There’s also an effort to keep high-dollar condo development off beautiful bird-friendly Morris Island itself (www.morrisisland.org). To get there while there’s still something left to enjoy, take East Ashley Street until it dead-ends. Park in the lot and take a 0.25-mile walk to the beach.
TOURS
Because of the city’s small, fairly centralized layout, the best way to experience Charleston is on foot—either yours or via hooves of an equine nature. Thankfully, there’s a wide variety of walking and carriage tours for you to choose from. The sheer number and breadth of tour options in Charleston is beyond the scope of this section. For a full selection of available tours, visit the Charleston Visitor Reception and Transportation Center (375 Meeting St., 800/774-0006, www.charlestoncvb.com, Mon.-Fri. 8:30am-5pm), where they have entire walls of brochures for all the latest tours, with local tourism experts on-site. Here are some notable highlights.
Walking Tours
If you find yourself walking around downtown, you’ll almost invariably come across a walking tour in progress, with a small cluster of people gathered around a tour guide. There are too many walking tours to list them all, but here are the best.
For more than 10 years, Ed Grimball’s Walking Tours (306 Yates Ave., 843/762-0056, www.edgrimballtours.com, $22 adults, $8 children) has run two-hour tours on Friday-Saturday mornings, courtesy of the knowledgeable and still-sprightly Ed himself, a native Charlestonian. All of Ed’s walks start from the big Pineapple Fountain in Waterfront Park, and reservations are a must.
Doin’ the Charleston
It has been called the biggest song and dance craze of the 20th century. It first entered the American public consciousness via New York City in a 1923 Harlem musical called Runnin’ Wild, but the roots of the dance soon to be known as the Charleston were indeed in the Holy City. No one is quite sure of the day and date, but local lore assures us that members of Charleston’s legendary Jenkins Orphanage Band were the first to start dancing that crazy “Geechie step,” a development that soon became part of the band’s act. The Jenkins Orphanage was started in 1891 by the African American Baptist minister Reverend D. J. Jenkins and was originally housed in the Old Marine Hospital at 20 Franklin Street (which you can see today, although it’s not open to the public). To raise money, Reverend Jenkins acquired donated instruments and started a band comprising talented orphans from the house. The orphans traveled as far away as London, where they were a hit with the locals but not with the constabulary, who unceremoniously fined them for stopping traffic
. A Charleston attorney who happened to be in London at the time, Augustine Smyth, paid their way back home, becoming a lifelong supporter of the orphanage in the process.
From then on, playing in donated old Citadel uniforms, the Jenkins Orphanage Band frequently took its act on the road. They played at the St. Louis and Buffalo expositions, and even at President Taft’s inauguration. They also frequently played in New York, and it was there that African American pianist and composer James P. Johnson heard the Charlestonians play and dance to their Gullah rhythms, considered exotic at the time. Johnson would incorporate what he heard into the tune “Charleston,” one of many songs in the revue Runnin’ Wild. The catchy song and its accompanying loose-limbed dance seemed tailor-made for the Roaring ’20s and its liberated, hedonistic spirit. Before long the Charleston had swept the nation, becoming a staple of jazz clubs and speakeasies across the country, and indeed, the world.
Original Charleston Walks (45 Broad St., 800/729-3420, www.charlestonwalks.com, daily 8:30am-9:30pm, $18.50 adults, $10.50 children) has received much national TV exposure. They leave from the corner of Market and State Streets and have a full slate of tours, including a popular adults-only pub crawl.
Charleston Strolls Walk with History (843/766-2080, www.charlestonstrolls.com, $20 adults, $10 children) is another popular tour good for a historical overview and tidbits. They have three daily embarkation points: Charleston Place (9:30am), the Days Inn (9:40am), and the Mills House (10am).