The Holy City

I have fallen in love. Yes, it's true. I have found my soulmate in a city. Charleston, South Carolina. It is the single most beautiful city I've ever seen. So unique. So utterly saturated with beauty, history and architecture. Never in my life have I been so surrounded by history.

Did you know that Charleston is known as the most well-preserved city in America? I didn't. There was an ordinance adopted in the 20s that decreed any building older than 75 years could not be altered without approval from the Historic Preservation Society.

The result is that you can walk on the same streets where revolutionaries walked and planned and plotted. You can eat at the same restaraunt where George Washington dined and see the same beautiful mansions that were built when Charleston was founded in 1670.

If I ever have seven million dollars to play with, I intend on buying one of the beautiful Italianate mansions on the Battery. With the exquisite wrought-iron gates and balconies that are double the square footage of our house, a girl couldn't help falling in love.

Walking around downtown you see a strange convergence of the past and the present. You can almost see the women walking around in hooped skirts and parasols. This is the way I like my history. You can walk back in time and look at an 18th century American Chippendale secretary's desk and handmade, 200 plus year old quilts, yet at the same time you have upscale shopping, flushing toilets and nice restaurants.

There are homes on the battery dating back to the 1600s. The rich European settlers brought all the opulence and luxuries of England with them to make this one of the most beautiful cities in the country.

There are carriage houses converted into office buildings (with the original carriage doors in tact) and slave quarters converted into shops and condos.

And this little guy, you have to take a good, long look at. He is made entirely out of hats. From his bowler hat head to his sailor hat feet.

In England, where many of Charleston's founding families came from, brick was a poor man's building material. So when they got to America and found nothing to build their homes other than brick, they put plaster over it and etched in lines to make it look like the more elegant stone. And since you aren't allowed to change the outside of the homes unless you maintain the original integrity of the structure, you see the plaster pealing away on many of the buildings to reveal the brick beneath.

Intricately forged iron gates, banisters and staircases are everywhere in Charleston. Many have been created by the renowned blacksmith, Phillip Simmons. These gates are so intricately beautiful and valuable that the residents have been known to take the gates with them when they move.

Beautiful gardens are everywhere in downtown Charleston. If you look closely at the picture above you can see one of Charleston's infamous wrought-iron spiral staircases.

Rainbow row is a remarkable stretch filled with vibrantly colored townhouses. You may recognize it from Porgie and Bess. Many of the early residents of Charleston came from Barbados, incidentally. Bringing with them their love of color, which translated into interesting and colorful architecture.

Speaking of history. Here is Printer's Row. It was here that Walker, Evans and Cogswell printed Confederate bonds during the War of Northern Aggression (we were informed that no one referred to it as the Civil War, as there was nothing civil about it).

And here you see Philadelphia's Alley, otherwise known as Duelers Alley. It is known as one of the most haunted places in Charleston. With a place as old and well-preserved as Charleston, there is little wonder that it is considered such a haunted city. In this particular alley, if you look closely at the brick on either side you can see bullet holes from duels that took place behind an old bar that catered to a somewhat rougher crowd.

The pictures don't do the place justice. I've made Ernie promise me that we will at the very least go back once a year. A week isn't nearly enough time to see all I wanted to see. But the brief bit I did see was just enough to whet my apetite. It is by far the most beautiful city in America. At least, that I've seen so far.