Go for the Shows, Stay for the Charm
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Whether in the pews of First (Scots) Presbyterian Church, on the site of one of the oldest theaters in America, or under the oaks at the Cistern, located on the campus of the College of Charleston, where you are is as captivating as what you see during the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, S.C.
Starting Memorial Day weekend, this 17-day whirlwind of opera, dance, music, and theater, spawned by the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, 28 years ago, will draw thousands of arts lovers from the region and the world for productions of “Don Giovanni” and “Macbeth,” and the latest works from tap impresario Savion Glover and monologist Mike Daisey. American premieres include the play “Amajuba,” telling the story of South Africans in the last days of apartheid, and Walter Braunfel’s opera “Die Vogel,” adapted from Aristophanes’s play “The Birds.” Italy’s Colla Marionettes and England’s Westminster Choir are also among the 130 performances in the festival (843-579-3100, www.spoletousa.org). Combined with the city-sponsored Piccolo Spoleto, featuring local talent, it’s possible to fill almost every hour of the day and night.
“The reason that Spoleto is so special, and really one of the most wonderful experiences in the arts world, is that the city becomes the festival,” Mayor Joseph Riley said. “You really can’t come to Spoleto and not become a part of the city.”
However, Spoleto visitors often miss out on some of city’s jewels. The Charleston Historic Foundation’s two museum houses and the Tellis Pharmacy, which boasts the oldest neon sign in town, report no increase in traffic. That’s a shame. As Mayor Riley boasts, “The historic district is exquisite in its beauty and inspiring in its quality.”
Situated on a peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean, in between the Ashley and Cooper rivers, Charleston began as a trading port in 1670. The slave trade drove the economy, supplying the work force for hugely profitable rice crops, and later, cotton. Plantation owners came here to flaunt their wealth and, in the summer, to escape malaria and yellow fever, which took many lives in their low-country fields. They built grand homes and held grand parties. Then the Civil War came – it allegedly started here with fires shot at Fort Sumter – and that gracious way of life ended.
While a large part of the city’s economy is dedicated to helping tourists glimpse that way of life, something special happens during the festival. As the director of Spoleto, Nigel Redden, put it: “Spoleto reanimates the city as it was 200 years ago.” (Mr. Redden is a familiar name to New Yorkers, as he also directs the Lincoln Center Festival.)
All a Spoleto patron has to do is wander – after all, there’s nothing like a walk and a meal to refresh oneself between performances. All but one Spoleto event takes place in the historic downtown district, which is three square miles and easy to navigate on foot, with most destinations 15 to 20 minutes apart.
A good starting point for touring is Waterfront Park. Sit on one of the big swings on the pier, taking care to observe the posted 20-minute limit – this is one of the best-mannered cities in America.
Walk south to the mansions facing the water on East Battery, before getting lost in the interior streets, lined with charming manses and gardens – some humble, some extravagant – from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
“Charleston is an architectural laboratory,” the executive director of the Historic Charleston Foundation, Kitty Robinson, told me, citing the “wonderful natural blend” of Victorian, Federal, Georgian, and Greek Revival homes. A helpful reference is Margaret Moore’s “Complete Charleston.”
The scent of Confederate jasmine and the posted histories of ghosts and famous visitors like George Washington, John Calhoun, and Jefferson Davis make a walk romantic. It’s a journey back in time, especially at dusk, when the gaslights flicker and horse-drawn carriages roll past. The Volvos parked on the street are often the only sign of modern living.
Frustrated by mere glimpses from the sidewalk? The Charleston Historic Foundation offers tours of the Nathaniel Russell House (51 Meeting St.), pristinely restored to its original grandeur circa 1808, and the Aiken-Rhett House (48 Elizabeth St.), kept in the neglected state it was found when bought in 1995, 20 years after its last occupants had left. You’ll feel like an archeologist walking through the home’s ballroom, with its peeling layers of wallpaper and decaying cushions – it was sealed up for more than 50 years (843-723-1623, www.historiccharleston.org). Both homes are venues for Piccolo Spoleto concerts (843-724-7305, www.piccolospoleto.org).
Eventually, hunger pangs call, and Charleston’s more than 100 restaurants beckon. For a light meal, order a bowl of gazpacho at the cozy Fast and French (98 Broad St., 843-577-9797). Southern fare with a twist is served at the long-established Magnolia’s (185 East Bay St., 847-577-7771). I liked the fried green tomatoes with mozzarella, drizzled with balsamic vinegar. The two-year-old Fig serves the best shrimp and grits in town – an Italian rendition made with polenta, fresh tomatoes, and without the customary cream (232 Meeting St., 843-805-5900). The sweet tooth must taste the coconut cake at the formal Peninsula Grill (112 N. Main St., 847-723-0700) and the chocolate pudding at the country-style Hominy Grill (207 Rutledge Ave., 847-937-0930).
The past and present jarringly collide in the shopping districts. The building that houses the local department store Berlins, on the corner of King and Broad streets, screams 1950, but the mannequins are wearing Los Angeles designer Rozae Nichols (in New York, you’ll find her at Barneys). Founded in 1883 and run by the same family for four generations, Berlins marks the start of the Madison Avenue of Charleston, a mix of art galleries, antique shops, and boutiques, along with the familiar Saks Fifth Avenue, Banana Republic, and Victoria’s Secret. This is where you’ll find one of the three Starbucks stores downtown.
The ultimate tourist trap is the old slave market, where more than a hundred vendors sell T-shirts, jewelry, handbags, and hand-woven sweet grass baskets, an art form perfected by Africans who came here as slaves (more than three-quarters of the slave trade took place in Charleston).
If the upper-brow offerings of Spoleto and the town’s historic attractions leave you restless, then spend your late evening at Music Farm, where rock bands play in a large, airy barn (39 Ann St., 847-722-8904). Catch some shut-eye at a bed and breakfast in a historic home, such as Governer’s House Inn (117 Broad St., 843-720-2070), or a hotel. Choices include Charleston Place (205 Meeting St., 843-722-4900) or the more affordable Holiday Inn (125 Calhoun St., 843-805-7900).
Charleston’s charm is in the unspoiled nature of its building infrastructure. This is partly an accident of economic history: Industrialization, railroads, and highways did not tear up the downtown. Fire, earthquakes, and most recently, Hurricane Hugo, have done more damage than redevelopment.
The preservation is also intentional. When the wrecking ball finally did come, in the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s, Charleston’s elite mobilized and created one of the most effective preservation movements in the country. The “Carolopolis” plaque you’ll see on so many restored homes is an award given by the Preservation Society of Charleston. The Historic Charleston Foundation’s plaques are concentrated in the neighborhood of Ansonborough, where it operates a fund that purchases and resells homes to preservation-minded owners. The Daniel Legare House at 79 Anson St., circa 1760-1770, is currently for sale for $1.6 million.
There’s not much to miss about New York. “It’s moving from one sophisticated situation to another. There’s no real transition needed,” public relations maven Lou Hammond, who lives in New York and has a second, historic home in Charleston, said. “Perhaps one has to walk gentler. If you’re driving, you don’t honk your horn.”
Or, as Mr. Redden put it: “In New York there’s a kind of abrasive energy on the sidewalks. In Charleston people tend to say good morning to you on the sidewalk.”