An ode to the city I’ve called home for many years in Daydreaming on the Porch

Aug. 11, 2022, 8:22 p.m.
|
Public

It’s hard for me to believe now, but for 25 years I had daily access to Charleston’s intoxicatingly charming and fascinating historic district. The former family homestead where my mother lived is in the heart of the district, and for 22 of those 25 years, I worked in the historic district. So naturally, having a great love of history and architecture, and being mindful that my ancestors lived in this very old city by the sea founded in 1670, I have spent a lot of time walking the streets, marveling that except for cars, it seems like a perfect time capsule, so fervently safeguarded and preserved are the many hundreds of 18th and 19th century houses and buildings.

Unfortunately, two years after my mother died, my siblings and I had to sell the house, a painful but necessary undertaking, and one which was delayed by the pandemic. Because of that, I spent an extra two years by myself in that gracious home full of memories that has been honored with a major preservation award and which, along with the gardens, was for years on one of the city’s major home and garden tours, tours, ours being in the Fall.

I was so proud of that house, and we loved showing it to guests on the annual tours until my mother’s health declined to the point where we could no longer do it. She loved being a part of the tours.

It’s now been exactly two months since the house was sold, and five months since I moved into my new apartment. This year has been quite a transition, and one that has been both sad, and yet also hopeful and exciting as I started over in another area of the city, which I like a lot.

It’s very true, however, I got spoiled all those years being right in the middle of old Charleston and it’s many amenities. There’s always something to do, or some place to visit in this city.

In fact, one of the reasons I decided to write this ode to Charleston is because of my latest photo walk two days ago, and reading the news that Travel & Leisure Magazine’s annual reader’s poll named Charleston the best U.S. city to visit for the 10th year on a row, ahead of places like New Orleans, San Francisco and New York.

It makes me feel proud that visitors find so much to like about this place. As I wandered down some of my favorite historic streets taking photos once again, as I have countless times before, I looked at the sights almost as if I had never seen them before. That’s the amazing thing — Charleston’s old streets, houses and multitude of gardens are so beautiful and timelessly elegant, you can’t quite believe it’s all real in this frenetic and scary 21st century we’re living through, beset by global warming, war, and the pandemic.

Charleston is filled with more than three centuries of history, much of the early history darkened by the city and surrounding area’s role in slavery and the Civil War. It used to be that the dark legacy of the past was ignored or glossed over when tourists came to to see and learn about the past here. Not any more. In the past two decades there’s been an enormous effort to open the floodgates and let it all come out. This has been a good thing. The beauty
of the historic district, and the numerous area plantations whose elaborate gardens we enjoy so much today, came with a heavy price in human suffering. I try to always be mindful of this when I am visiting historic sites, and all of us who live here, and whose families came to this vital seaport city centuries ago, are better for the changed times and new openness.

Fortunately, I now live only a ten minute drive to the historic district and the parks, gardens and streets I came to know do well. I’m grateful that I can come across the Ashley River any time I want, and appreciate the beauty I was for so many years surrounded by.

A Walk in the Historic District, August 9, 2022

https://www.flickr.com/gp/camas/304651Lc94

Some recent news articles about Charleston’s popularity as a tourist destination.

The 15 Best Cities in the United States

https://www.travelandleisure.com/worlds-best/best-cities-in-the-united-states-2022

https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/best-united-states-city-charleston-south-carolina

One of Charleston’s beautiful gardens