Charleston, SC
- tatedecaro
- Apr 28
- 3 min read
Long weekend in Charleston, SC in mid-March, 2026 - my first time there.
First of all, my hotel! The Vendue and The Enclave at the Vendue are linked boutique, art hotels. I was at The Enclave, where everything is yellow, and there is an Artist-in-Residents. At The Vendue, everything is red, and they have a nice rooftop bar, where I watched a sunset.
Out and about - Including the Pineapple Fountain in Waterfront Park, Rainbow Row, Longitude Lane, Robert Smalls Memorial and information, shadows & cool trees, Buxton Books (walked in and immediately saw my name!), and sunset on the pier.
Charleston City Market (sweetgrass baskets by Gullah artist Corey Alston & family, and breakfast at Callie's Hot Little Biscuit), The Griffon pub - covered in dollar bills, Millers All Day for lunch, and dinner at Church & Union, a restaurant located in an old church.
Two beautiful graveyards - First Scots Presbytarian Church (next to the Nathanial Russell House), and the Unitarian Churchyard, which has a beautiful long path, called Gateway Walk, to get to it (off of King St).
Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon - During the American Revolution, confiscated tea was stored here in 1774, and it is where South Carolina's revolutionary leadership councils were held. After the British captured the city in 1780, it was used as a barracks, and its basement was used as a military prison. It housed the SC convention to ratify the US Constitution in 1788, and was the site of many events when George Washington visited.
Old Slave Mart or, Ryan's Mart - Opened in 1856 after a city ordinance banned slave auctions outside of the Exchange Building. Once a four-building complex that included a kitchen, infirmary, jail, and sales/showroom, the only remaining building is the latter. The building is believe to be the last extant slave auction facility in SC.
Nathanial Russel House Museum - Home of a wealthy merchant and slave trader, with a unique cantilevered staircase, underneath which was a trap door to a basement - notable because most homes did not have one. The slave quarters, kitchen, and laundry are being renovated.
Gibbes Museum of Art - Rodin exhibit, "Betwixt and Between" installation, and batik artwork by Leo Twiggs (some images reference the 2015 shooting at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church).
Aiken-Rhett House Museum - The approach for the preservation of this house and its outbuildings is "stabilize and conserve," as opposed to "restore," so the interiors are as they were found when the property was acquired in 1995. Gives it a really lived-in feel. The slave quarters were the most interesting and poignant part - this included a couple of rooms in the main house, and the rooms above the kitchen/laundry and the carriage house/stables.
And finally, a smattering of the houses and buildings I wandered by in the Historic District. It was so overwhelming how every single house had a historic marker and description of the history of the house, so this really is just a few of them!
Richard Capers House - One of the largest Georgian Houses of it's period still remaining in Charleston
Young-Johnson House - "Tradition of American Revolution" written here
James Simmons House - Served as Executive Headquarters and home to Confederate General Pierre G.T. Beauregard, who led the capture of Fort Sumter in 1861.
The Pink House - One of the oldest buildings in SC, and the second-oldest residence in Charleston
Thomas Rose House - Dr. Joseph Ladd Brown was carried here in 1786 after being mortally wounded in a duel... "it is alleged that his ghost still inhabits the house."
Daniel Huger House - Residence of the last Royal Governor, Lord William Campbell, whose flight ended the era of royal rule.
Lewis Timothy Print Shop - Home of The South Carolina Gazette, Lewis Timothy being a partner of Benjamin Franklin.
Morton, Waring & White Slave Trading Firm - Operated between 1828-1840.
The First Baptist Church -One of the oldest Baptist congregations in the American South, founded in 1682.
Miles Brewton House - One of the few remaining examples of chevaux de frise, or defensive spikes, installed after the Denmark Vesey slave insurrection of 1822.
And the last few pics are - an orange tree in someone's yard, a "haint blue" porch ceiling, and two other just pretty houses.
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