Charleston Livability

This is city life at a different speed. 
Begin your morning with a stroll to one of our favorite coffee spots – perhaps City Lights on Market Street or Second State Coffee on Beaufain. Cafés and corner shops serving light breakfast abound – perhaps a smoothie and crepe at Queen Street Grocery or a croissant and latté at Café Framboise will start the day right.

Even on the busiest of workdays, the aura of Historic Charleston moves at a pace ostensibly designed to be stress-relieving. Professionals from offices, banks, and law firms in the historic business district saunter to delis and cafés with the harmony of noontime church bells ringing from every direction.

Spend an afternoon on the promenade of Waterfront Park while sailboats whip around the harbor, and stroll into any number of shops and galleries in the historic French Quarter. For a heightened view, head to one of our rooftop venues: Pavilion Bar, The Rooftop, Élevé, and The Watch – where an evening cocktail with a panoramic view of the city provides the perfect finish to your day.

A stroll into South of Broad provides a constant joy to anyone who appreciates fine architecture and formal gardens – this residential neighborhood preserves centuries of history while always refreshing its particulars. 
Buffering South of Broad from Charleston Harbor is The Battery, a century-old seawall adjacent to the oak canopies of White Point Garden, walkable across the length of the southern tip of the peninsula.

Enthusiasts of fine arts have much to discover in the French Quarter, where dozens of galleries house works ranging from antebellum masterpieces to avant-garde contemporaries. 
Be sure to check in with the ever-evolving collections at our treasured Gibbes Museum of Art, and my personal favorite on Queen Street – the welcoming Robert Lange Studios.

For theatre devotees there is always an evening treat on Queen Street – a variety of performances from Charleston’s oldest theatre group, Footlight Players, and for a through immersion into historic thespianism, pay homage to the Dock Street Theatre – the first building in America built exclusively for theatrical performances.