Lingering freshness of Charleston

KIRAN SONI GUPTA and MADHUKAR GUPTA

Charleston is a historic city, with style and character and is one of the most appealing urban areas of America. Located on the East Coast in the south Carolina district, Charleston stands apart with handsome old houses, beautiful gardens, good restaurants, lively art galleries and charming streets displaying their architectural grandeur.

"Charles Towne" (Named after Charles II) was one of the busy ports on the Eastern Coast and a centre of trading activities with West Indies, Africa, France and other European countries. In the 18th century, the coastal colony prospered on the rice, Indigo and cotton trade. Charleston was the fifth largest city on the "Atlantic Coast with more black slaves than white colonists. South Carolina played a leading role in the Revolution and many battles were fought in the state".

In fact, South Carolina was the first state to secede when Lincoln was elected and the civil war started when the South Carolinians fired on the Fort Sumter in Charleston harbour. The first shot of the civil war was fired at Fort Sumter but city's importance saw a decline after the war as the labour intensive plantations became unviable. The city now looks at tourism as a major money spinner. Sherman's forces destroyed everything and the once wealthy plantations became unworkable without slave labour.

Arriving in Charleston in October, the most striking feature was the disarming simplicity and grandeur heightened by the changing colours of the foliage. Walking along the elegant thoroughfares with small backup streets gives one aa glimpse of the way in which this town functions. The "walking tour" suggested by the tourist office is certainly the best way to explore the place. Church street, Meeting street, Tradd street, and the Kings street houses some of the best buildings and smart shops.

Among the museums the oldest is the Charleston museum (founded in 1773) and St. Gibbes museum which has some rare exhibits. The maritime museum on the east side of the Cooper River is full of planes and military arsenals and also features the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown. Some of the other down town buildings include St. Michael's Church and the citadel which has the States Military College too.

Charleston has a number of parks and plantations for which one needs days to enjoy. The visit to magnificent Magnolia plantation is a must and the trip remains incomplete without seeing the Middleton place, a terraced formal garden, planned in 1741, by the Middleton family.

The old world charm of this fabled city will continue to provide everlasting joy to thousands of lucky visitors who would take the time off.

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