The Holy City

We've spent the past five days in Charleston, SC, the city they've modestly dubbed "The Holy City". Allegedly it's named so for the abundance of churches and synagogues which they host, but I suspect the real reason is the city's proximate relationship to heaven. Charleston is a delightful town, certainly, and we enjoyed our few days there visiting many colonial and ante bellum homes and carefully tended gardens. But Charlestonians sure are full of themselves!

If we heard it once we heard it a half dozen times: "This is where visitors want to return to live the rest of their lives." Well, not every visitor, I thought to myself. It's a pleasant enough town, with lots of history and shops and restaurants and walks, and we do intend to go back often, but they really do need to lighten up and do a reality check.



In a strange twist, however, folks will tell you, with barely disguised pride, how miserable Charleston is during the summer. We would have architectural gimmicks pointed out to us, things such as cupolas and shutters, all apparently necessary because it gets so hot and humid in the summer. Another cliche we'd hear is, "This is the only place where the humidity is 100%...and it isn't raining!"

Well, surprise: Charleston is not the only city on the southern coast of the country. We've been here in Wilmington for 35 or so summers, and it's hot and humid. We've visited Savannah in the summer, and it's hot and humid. Plus I have some personal experience of living on a Low Country island (Parris Island, specifically) during July, August and September, and it was hot and humid. So spare us, please, with the thinly veiled crowing about weather.



While I'm in the mood, there's one more habit I wish Charlestonians would sit on, and that's the constant teasing about Yankees and those from "off" (their term for anyone who comes from elsewhere). It's as though they, the locals, all arrived with the "First Fleet" in 1670, and everyone else straggled in from the far edges of civilization. Only with considerable restraint was I able to pocket my own ancestral credentials and not play that rather ungracious game.

Having said all that, we still love Charleston. In particular we love the way they have preserved their history within a still living and dynamic city, we love the openness of people who give a friendly greeting as we pass on the sidewalk, we love the narrow cobblestone streets in neighborhoods of architectural gems, we love the incredible variety of cafes and restaurants of every type, and, yes, we love their baseball park, where we saw the Charleston Riverdogs defeat the Savannah Sand Gnats.

You bet, we'll be back.