Charleston, SC
By Andrew Collins

The quintessentially Old South city of Charleston has begun drawing increasing numbers of gay and lesbian visitors in recent years. Readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine rank it among the top U.S. leisure destinations. Indeed, this charming metropolis offers visitors plenty to see and do. Historic house-museums, sophisticated restaurants, renowned galleries, a first-rate lineup of cultural events and festivals, and a few convivial nightlife venues have helped to turn this Colonial-era gem into the cultural anchor of the Carolina Lowcountry.

If you've spent time on Caribbean islands like Barbados or St. Thomas, Charleston's pastel-hued Colonial buildings, with their trademark broad piazzas, may look familiar. The city's sunny palm-lined streets, water views, and nonstop bustle also recall a festive island village. Meeting Street runs the length of the Historic District and contains many of the city's top attractions.

The Historic Charleston Foundation is ground zero for information on local architecture and house tours. Specifically, the foundation sponsors a month-long Annual Festival of Houses and Gardens in mid-March through mid-April, during which gaggles of Garden Club ladies and Southern queens descend upon the city's most beautiful homes. The other major event is the Spoleto Festival, which offers two weeks worth of first-rate opera, dance, theater, music, poetry readings, visual arts exhibitions, and other cultural festivities at venues throughout the area. It runs from late May through early June.

Year-round you can tour either of two foundation-operated museums, the 1817 Aiken-Rhett House and the 1808 Nathaniel Russell House. From the latter you can walk a few blocks south to Waterfront Park, a grassy tree-filled plot of land with gardens and an adjacent promenade overlooking the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper rivers. Be sure to walk back up toward town by way of East Bay Street, which is lined with mansions of every 18th- and 19th-century ilk.

Other leading attractions on Meeting Street include the Gibbes Museum of Art, which opened in 1905 and stages excellent exhibitions as well as showcasing a 7,000-piece permanent collection, and the Charleston Museum, which opened in 1773, making it the oldest museum in America. Meeting, King, and Bay streets all have their share of both high-quality and borderline-tacky gift and antiques shops, but the best shopping is had at the dozens of crafts stalls found inside the covered Old City Market, opposite which are several restaurants.

The city played an important role in the American Revolution but is probably best remembered for its early role in the Civil War. Today Fort Sumter Tours offers boat excursions out to Fort Sumter National Monument, the 19th-century fort on which the first shot of the war was fired on April 12, 1861.
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