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Hominy Grill

Local ingredients turn inventive Southern cuisine into a destination. 843-937-0930; www.hominygrill.com; 207 Rutledge St, Charleston; mains $7-17; 7:30am-8:30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-3pm Sat & Sun;

Magnolia’s Uptown Down South

Casual but elegant take on Southern fare. 843-577-7771; www.magnolias-blossom-cypress.com; 185 E Bay St, Charleston; mains $10-36; 11:30am-9:45pm Mon-Thu, to 10:45pm Fri & Sat, 11am-3:45pm Sun

Poogan’s Porch

Classic Southern fare in a classic Charlestonian Victorian. 843-577-2337; www.poogansporch.com; 72 Queen St, Charleston; mains $12-24; 11:30am-3pm & 5-9:30pm Mon-Sat, 9am-3pm Sun;

SLEEP

21 East Battery Bed and Breakfast

Invitingly warm rooms mirror the historic Edmondston-Alston House. 843-556-0500; www.21eastbattery.com; 21 East Battery St, Charleston; r $250-395

John Rutledge House Inn

In a house old enough to have hosted George Washington for breakfast, there are 19 historic rooms in an elegant setting. 843-723-7999; www.johnrutledgehouseinn.com; 116 Broad St, Charleston; r $205-405

Notso Hostel

A little less than a mile from the historic downtown with laundry facilities and free wi-fi. 843-722-8383; www.notsohostel.com; 156 Spring St, Charleston; dorms $21, r $60

USEFUL WEBSITES

www.charlestoncvb.com

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LINK YOUR TRIP www.lonelyplanet.com/trip-planner

TRIP

22 Ashley River Plantations opposite

23 South Carolina Swamps

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Return to beginning of chapter

TRIP 22

Ashley River Plantations

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WHY GO Haven’t seen an alligator in the wild yet? Want to see what plantation life was like, and hear about it from the descendants of slaves? Three historic plantations and two historic sites less than an hour from Charleston offer a fascinating glimpse into South Carolina’s past.

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TIME

2 days

DISTANCE

43 miles

BEST TIME TO GO

Apr - Jun

START

Ashley River Rd, SC

END

Summerville, SC

ALSO GOOD FOR

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Start your tour of the historic Ashley River Rd at the site of the first successful colony in the Carolinas, the Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site. In 1670, the ship Carolina arrived from England by way of Barbados, where its passengers had learned the ins and outs of managing sugar plantations and utilizing slaves. The area they settled became the first plantation in the American South and a model for a way of life that persisted until Reconstruction. Nowadays, the site has an interactive museum, 664 acres of grounds to explore, unspoiled wetlands and a full-scale, dry-docked 18th-century trading vessel. From Charleston, take Hwy 26 to exit 216A (Cosgrove Rd), then follow signposts. Alligator count: four adults, half a dozen babies.

Backtrack slightly onto Old Towne Rd to Ashley River Rd for Drayton Hall. The genteel, stately home is the oldest preserved plantation in the US open to the public. In 2008, Drayton Hall teamed up with producers from Discovery Channel to create The Voices of Drayton Hall. As you tour the home and grounds of the circa 1738 home, listen to stories on a portable DVD player from former residents, descendants of the Drayton family and their slaves. Even without the DVD, the highly learned tour guides - almost all with advanced degrees in history - are fonts of information about the almost perfectly preserved structure. Alligator count: about two dozen.

Plan on spending the afternoon and evening at Middleton Place, a former plantation that’s now a museum complex just north on Ashley River Rd from Drayton Hall. If the name Middleton sounds familiar, you might remember that Arthur Middleton signed the Declaration of Independence. And, as invading Union troops duly noted 89 years later, Williams Middleton signed the Ordinance of Secession, which led to the creation of the Confederacy. When Charleston was ransacked in 1865, Middleton Place was burned to a crisp by the Union Army. Today, it’s the guesthouse that houses the