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CHARLESTON DESCRIPTIONS
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Area Tours | Narrated Walking Tours | Combo Tours | Attractions | Cruises |

Step back into time as you discover and experience Rhett Butler's Charleston. The ambience of the city is perfect, with the beautiful ante bellum homes that continue as residential neighborhoods with charming gardens of all sizes and shapes. You'll see The College of Charleston, the Four Corners of Law, the Battery and Rainbow Row among many other of Charleston's fabulous sights. At the end of the tour you will be returned to your hotel by our driver.

Ride through Patriot's Point, Home of the USS Yorktown, tour the Old Village at Mt. Pleasant/Shem Creek, featuring Revolutionary War History. See the beaches, explore Old Fort Moultrie, feel the ocean breeze as you take in the complete panoramic view of Fort Sumter, the harbor... Charleston from the "other side".

Today you will be transported to the dock where you and your guide will board the "Fort Sumter Tour Boat" for the 3.3 mile ride into Charleston Harbor to Ft. Sumter. Here you relive the start of the Civil War, where the first shots were sounded on April 12, 1861, and experience life when stationed on a man-made island. You will see original fortifications, tour a wonderful Civil War Museum, enjoy history, history, history and spectacular ocean views.

Visit the most popular attraction in Charleston, Patriot's Pointe, home of 4 ships, the USS Yorktown, a diesel submarine Clagmore, Coast Guard Cutter, Navy Destroyer and Viet Nam 9 Support Base. Most famous among these is the USS Yorktown, Fighting Lady of WWII where you can view over 20 vintage aircraft on the deck and discover the Congressional Medal of Honors Museum. Today you cross the Cooper River to visit Patriot's Point in Mt. Pleasant. Escorted tour includes admission.

Enjoy a one hour tour of Charleston's historic residential area that is fully narrated by a licensed guide. Step back in time as the charm of Charleston is revealed to you from the vantage point of a Carriage.

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Featured on CNN Travel Guide, this is the original year-round ghost tour. Look forward to a spirited evening filled with stories of Charleston’s legendary ghosts, haunted inns, and Gullah superstitions. Based on Charleston Ghosts, the classic book by Margaret Rhett Martin, tours include accounts of recent encounters with resident specters and the controversial photograph of a real Charleston ghost!

Comprehensive and entertaining, the Charleston Walk includes highlights from the early days of the Carolina colony, Charleston’s impact on the American Revolution and the Civil War, the City’s endurance of earthquakes, hurricanes and fires, as well as recent efforts to preserve the treasures that remain. This is the walk that most memorably captures the cultural heritage and historical significance of Charleston.

Sites & Topics on The Charleston Walk:  Charleston’s Oldest Church * Fort Sumter & High Battery * Dock Street Theater * Charleston Harbor * Cobblestone Streets & Hidden Alleys * Historic Mansions * Old Powder Magazine John C. Calhoun’s Grave * The Great Earthquake * Hurricanes, Fires & Wars

Join us for a leisurely stroll along the timeworn streets of Charleston's Historic District. As you explore the architecture and flora of the "walled City", our expert guides will highlight the most colorful stories of the Charlestonians who have lived in these majestic southern homes. Our Historic Homes Walk features the Edmonston-Alston House and the Nathaniel Russell House

Sites, People & Topics on the Historic Homes Tour include:  The High Battery * Charleston Harbor * South of Broad Rainbow Row * Hidden Alleys * Private Gardens * Charleston's Oldest Structure * Waterfront Mansions

Engaging and scenic, this two hour tour thoroughly explores Charleston’s Civil War experience and is based on The Bombardment of Charleston, a book authored by local historic guide, Chris Phelps.

Sites, People & Topics on this tour include:  Ordinance of Secession * South Carolina Militia * The High Battery * Charleston Harbor * Fort Sumter * White Point Gardens * Blockade Running

The year is 1718. Charleston is a fortified city-state surrounded by walls of brick and mortar. The people of this beleaguered colony have endured a deadly plague, invasions by French and Spanish forces and they have bee perilously close to being exterminated in a devastating Indian war. Now they prepare to face their greatest threat-the Pirates!

Sites, People & Topics on Pirates & Buccaneers Tours include:  Stede Bonnet * Blackbeard * Captain Kidd * Anne Bonny * ”The Red Sea Men” * Pirate Tavern * Buried Treasure * Pirate Executions * The Walled City

Along with Boston, Philadelphia and New York, Charles Town played a pivotal role in both the Colonial Era and the American Revolution. Many Charlestonians were instrumental in forming our new nation. Your historic guide will bring the people and the violent events of their time to life on this Revolutionary two hour tour.

Sites, People & Topics on Patriots of Charleston Tour include:  Settlement of the Carolina Colony * Daily Life in Colonial Charles Town * William Moultrie * The Early Walled City * The Sons of Liberty & Liberty Tree * Henry Laurens * The Swamp Fox * Battle of Fort Sullivan * Issac Hayne * Old Exchange Building & Provost Dungeon

By 1820 Charleston had gained the dubious distinction of being the “Home of African Slavery” in America. Conversely, by the beginning of the Civil War Charleston had one of the largest Free-Black populations of any Southern city. Uncover the truth and dispel the myth about the African-American experience in Charleston on this well researched and informative walking tour. Learn why slavery evolved in Charleston, about Gullah folklore and the black religious experience, slave uprisings, the role of fee blacks during the era of slavery and blacks’participation in the Civil War.

Sites, People & Topics on the Slavery & Freedom Tour include:  The Old Slave Mart Museum * Robert Smalls* Catfish Row * ”Free Persons of Color” * Fort Sumter Slave Traders * The “Ellis Island “of Slavery * Denmark Vesey and Slave Revolts

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• "GONE WITH THE WIND" CITY TOUR & CHARLESTON FROM THE "OTHER SIDE"
  (All Day Adventure)
• PATRIOTS POINT & FORT SUMTER (7 HOURS)
• "GONE WITH THE WIND" CITY TOUR & PATRIOTS POINT (ALL DAY ADVENTURE)
• "GONE WITH THE WIND" CITY TOUR & FORT SUMTER (ALL DAY ADVENTURE)
• "GONE WITH THE WIND" CITY TOUR & CARRIAGE RIDE (Take carriage ride at your convenience)
• "GONE WITH THE WIND" CITY TOUR & TOURING HOMES TO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

• BOONE HALL PLANTATION & CHARLES PINCKNEY HOUSE
• DRAYTON HALL (4.5 Hour Tour)
• JOSEPH MANIGAULT HOUSE: GRAND SOUTHERN MANSION
• MAGNOLIA PLANTATION & GARDENS (4.5 Hour tour)
• MIDDLETON PLACE (4.5 Hour Tour)ONE WITH THE WIND" CITY TOUR (1.5 Hours)

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The Aiken Rhett House stands alone as the most intact urban villa with dependency buildings showcasing life in Antebellum Charleston. A conservation approach has been adopted for this important site which has survived virtually unaltered since 1858. Many objects can still be found in the rooms for which they were purchased.

Boone Hall Plantation, setting for miniseries "The North and the South" would fulfill anyone's vision of a southern plantation. The Avenue of Oaks marks the entrance to the house, past the Cotton Dock on the Wampancheonee Creek and the original 1790's slave cabins. Costumed guides in antebellum attire set the stage for the house tour. Today you will be transported 8 miles northeast of Charleston to tour Boone Hall Plantation & Charles Pinckney House. Cross the Cooper River Bridge, travel through Mt. Pleasant to reach your first stop, the charming and historic Charles Pinckney House and Farm set among live oaks. Next stop is Boone Hall where you will be welcomed by costumed guides.

A rare jewel and architectural delight, Drayton Hall, completed in 1742 is one of the finest examples of Palladian Architecture in America. Heralded as the oldest Plantation home in America open to the public, Drayton Hall is the only grand house on the Ashley River to survive the wrath of Sherman and his famous march. Today you will be transported twelve miles northwest of Charleston to tour Drayton Hall.

A gracious example of early 19th Century commitment to elegance, style and comfort The Edmonston-Alston House is one of the city's most splendid dwellings. This historic residence was built in Charleston's High Battery by a shipping merchant and later renovated in the Greek Revival style. Visitors are invited to tour the rooms where General Robert E. Lee took refuge during the Civil War and where General P.G.T. Beauregard watched the bombardment of Ft. Sumter. A repository of treasure, the Alston family furniture, silver, books and paintings are on display.

This Historic landmark, circa 1772, was home to Thomas Heyward Jr., signer of the Declaration of Independence. When George Washington visited Charleston in 1791, the house was rented for his use. Furnished with an extraordinary collection of Charleston-made furniture there is also a period formal garden and restored kitchen building.

Complete your tour of Charleston's Historic District with a step back in time, fine antiques and beautiful architecture. The Joseph Manigault House (circa 1803) is a premier example of neo-classical architecture. The interior reflects an outstanding collection of American, English and French furnishings of the period. A charming Gate Temple is the focus of the period garden.

Over three Centuries old and the centerpiece of Ashley River history, Stately Magnolia Plantation, considered by many experts to be "the most beautiful garden in the world" is America's oldest major public garden and first man-made tourist attraction. The saga begins in the 18th Century when the Draytons first begin Magnolia which is believed today to be South Carolina's only remaining plantation under original family ownership. Today you will be transported twelve miles northwest of Charleston to Magnolia Plantation on the Ashley River where you will experience a complete guided tour of this magnificent plantation. Enjoy a narrated 45-mjnute Nature Train Ride around 3 miles of the plantation. See flooded rice fields, slave cabins, alligators, egrets and other of wildlife followed by a guided tour of the Plantation house and garden.

Middleton Place, located on the Ashley River, is a magnificent and carefully preserved 18th Century plantation that encompasses America's oldest landscaped Gardens, the Middleton Place House and Plantation Stable yards. Today you will travel 14 miles northwest of Charleston for a completely narrated tour out to the rice plantation, a self guided tour through the formal gardens, view the Butterfly Lakes and take a guided tour through the House. You may want to leave in time for lunch "on your own" at the famous restaurant on property.

Since 1808, visitors have admired the grand townhouse of Charleston merchant Nathaniel Russell, one of America's most important neoclassical dwellings. The graceful interior boasts elaborate ornamentation and the famous "free-flying" staircase is a Charleston must-see. Set amid gracious gardens and furnished with period antiques, the house evokes the gracious lifestyle of the city's elite.

Built in 1841, Charleston's Old City Market features small shops, restaurants and a flea market with everything from produce to antiques. Hear the lilting dialect of Gullah ladies as they weave and sell hanmade sweetgrass baskets.

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Experience Charleston and her history from the decks of the new Spirit of Carolina, Charleston's premier passenger yacht. For 1 hour and 30 minutes, enjoy a leisurely narrated cruise past the palatial homes of Charleston's famous Battery, the Cooper River Bridges, Waterfront Park, Patriots Point, Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie and Charleston's bustling seaport. This cruise does not stop at Ft. Sumter.

Enjoy a delicious meal as you cruise by the city's beautiful and historic Battery homes, under magnificent Cooper River bridges and alongside the Port Terminal. Enjoy climate controlled dining salons, open observation decks and a full-service galley. Experience a delightful three-course meal prepared to order onboard, table-side service, your favorite beverages, live entertainment and dancing.

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