I Heart My City: Currie’s Charleston

Hi there city-lovers! Today we’re bringing you the Southern charms of Charleston, South Carolina with the help of Currie McCollough.

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Charleston, South Carolina is My City

The first place I take a visitor from out of town is the Battery, also known as White Point Gardens. You can see Fort Sumter where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.

When I crave oysters I always go to Bowen’s Island.

To escape the heat I head to the Charleston Aquarium.

If I want to look at old houses I go up Highway 61 to Drayton Hall, one of the finest examples of Georgian-Palladian architecture in the United States.

For complete quiet, I can hide away in the Unitarian Church graveyard.

If you come to my city, get your picture taken with an American Revolutionary War soldier on the steps of the Old Exchange Building.

If you have to order one thing off the menu from Hominy Grill it has to be the buttercream pie.

Sugar is my one-stop shop for great baked goods.

When I’m feeling cash-strapped I go to happy hour at Cafe Lana.

For a huge splurge I go Trattoria Lucca.

Photo ops in my city include church steeples and the best vantage points are the Ravenel Bridge and the Market Pavilion Hotel.

If my city were a celebrity it’d be Andie MacDowell, well-mannered and sophisticated, as well as Southern and sultry.

The most random thing about my city is that it is considered the best-mannered city in America.

In my city, an active day outdoors involves sunscreen and bug spray.

My city’s best museum is the Gibbes Museum of Art.

My favorite jogging/walking route is the Ravenel Bridge across the Cooper River.

For a night of dancing, go to Raval. Or, for live music, check out the Music Farm.

Gene’s Hofbrau is the spot for late-night eats.

To find out what’s going on at night and on the weekends, read www.charlestonsmostunique.com.

You can tell a lot about my city from the smiling faces.

You can tell if someone is from my city if they wear flip flops in the winter and know how to speak Geechee.

In the spring you should attend Charleston Fashion Week.

In the summer you should attend the Spoleto Festival..

In the fall you should go to lots of oyster roasts.

In the winter you should attend the Blues Festival.

A hidden gem in my city is Magnolia Cemetery.

For a great breakfast joint try Hominy Grill.

Don’t miss the Piccolo Spoleto festival in May/June.

Just outside my city, you can visit Kiawah Island Resort.

The best way to see my city is on foot.

If my city were a pet it would be an old bluetick coonhound, a relic of the past with excellent blood lines who loves to sit on the porch.

If I didn’t live in a city, I’d live at the edge of America, on Folly Beach, South Carolina.

The best book about my city is Tombee: Portrait of a Cotton Planter by Theodore Rosengarten.

When I think about my city, the song that comes to mind is America Street, written about life on the East Side of Charleston, by Edwin McCain, who is from Charleston.

If you have kids, you won’t want to miss pony rides and jump castles at the Farmers Market.

Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess could only happen in my city.

My city should be featured on your cover or website because it is the most ethnically diverse and historically intact city in America.

Photos: Currie McCullough