Charming Charleston, SC, Charleston, South Carolina

Everyone has been to Charleston, right? Until recently, not us! On a recent road trip we spent 3 days in Charleston and loved every minute. Here is our trek through this great historic US city.

Start with a walking tour. We’ve found the best way to get to know a historic city is to get out and walk with a guide. On this day we booked with Bulldog Tours. They were great to work with, reasonably priced and our guide was very knowledgeable.

The first thing we learned was, in this almost sub tropical city, early settlers built what are called “Garden rooms.” These outdoor rooms allow you to enjoy the beauty surrounded by both indigenous and non-native plants. This style of home is seen throughout the city with the architecture a heavy influence from the island of Barbados.

The tropical architecture is found throughout the city. Due to the climate, most of the early homes were built only one room wide, to allow air to flow through the porch that took up one entire side of the house, to the other side. These are now lovingly called “single-wide’s.” (sorry about the trash can…it was garbage day when we took our tour)

In terms of the unique architecture in Charleston, the street called “Rainbow Row,” is one of the most famous. This part of Charleston was one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in one of the wealthiest cities in the Colonies. These homes date back to the 1720’s. In the early 1900’s these homes had fallen into disrepair and were in jeopardy of being demolished. Then in 1932 preservationist, Susan Pringle Frost, purchased a few of the homes and began to restore them. In 1935 this whole area was designated National Historic Landmark. Such rich history! ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).