It is enough to visit Charleston and never
leave downtown. Wander among the antebellum homes, the
raft of lively restaurants, waterfront parks, awesome
architecture, and art galleries, and you’ll know
why this Southern port city is consistently voted one
of the top vacation destinations in the world. Yet visitors
frequently miss the forest for the trees, for Charleston’s
lush and friendly historic district is surrounded by a
flotilla of barrier islands, each with its own distinct
character and history. From the luxurious golf links of
Kiawah and the U-pick strawberry farms on Wadmalaw to
the Victorian mansions beneath the Sullivan’s Island
lighthouse and the surfers on Folly Beach, the islands
that surround Charleston provide a whole new perspective
on the romantic allure of the Lowcountry.
Located within a 20-mile radius of the city,
many islands can be reached by car (although a few are
accessible by boat only). Leaving downtown Charleston
over the Ashley River on Route 17 South, take the first
left onto Folly Road (Route 171). Just over the Intracoastal
Waterway, at Wappoo Cut, sits James Island, a colorful
suburb where cultures and history blend seamlessly: Residents
of the Charleston Country Club live next to abandoned
slave shacks and cinder-block pawn shops, and an art-deco
convent abuts the local marine-research center. If you
turn right onto Maybank Highway, you’ll find a few
antiques shops and a favorite local hangout, Brett’s
Restaurant, which serves fresh seafood in the glow of
its bright Tuscan-yellow walls. Back on Folly Road, continue
for about five miles, where a wide marsh gives way to
Folly Beach. As you drive toward the ocean, you’ll
catch glimpses of the Morris Island lighthouse to your
left. Morris Island was the sight of the Battle of Secessionville,
a key Civil War confrontation fought in 1862. Most of
Morris Island has since washed away, but the lighthouse
stands tall on the last remaining streak of sand.
Folly, the closest ocean beach to downtown
Charleston, is six miles of sand dotted with timeworn
shacks on stilts that have survived many a hurricane.
Bumper stickers proudly claim it as “The Edge of
America.” A narrow strip of the beach known as the
Washout is a mecca for sunrise surfers in search of the
area’s biggest waves. Folly’s modest neighborhoods
offer dozens of marsh- or ocean-view rental cottages,
their yards thick with trumpet vines and hibiscus. George
Gershwin stayed in one of these while composing Porgy
and Bess. On the Folly River side of the island, Folly
Hideaway restaurant is well worth a visit. Take a seat
on the deck overlooking the marina. In the evening, if
the sky is clear, the sunsets are often spectacular.
Driving back along Maybank Highway across
James Island and Johns Island, you’ll come to Wadmalaw
Island, just a few miles inland from the sea. Strawberries
and blueberries dot fields in spring and summer at Leland
Farms, where long-empty sharecroppers’ huts sit silently
among the bursts of color and new growth. Across the road
stretches the 127-acre Charleston Tea Plantation, the
only tea farm in the United States. At the end of Maybank
Highway, turn left toward Cherry Point Park and visit
one of two local shrimp companies that sell their catch
right off their boats.
Just south of Johns Island is Kiawah Island,
the site of an exclusive golf resort and the home of about
1,100 year-round residents. Enormous modern renditions
of Spanish stucco and Queen Anne shingle-covered homes
jut out into the marshy maze of the Kiawah River or sit
on bluffs overlooking the 10 miles of glorious oceanfront.
At low tide, the beach is so wide and smooth that you
can ride a bike on it, all the way to the eastern tip,
where hundreds of pelicans make their home. Along the
way, you’ll pass snowy egrets and bustling osprey
nests, and perhaps pick up a few sand dollars and whelk
shells. When the tide is too high for beach biking, try
the inland trails—nearly 31 miles’ worth that
meander through the woods and marshes. Most of the freshwater
lagoons are home to large alligators, that frequently
emerge to sun themselves on the grassy banks.
At Bohicket Marina, near the entrance to Kiawah
Island, you can rent your own boat or join a group on
a deep-sea fishing trip. The marina has several restaurants,
including Rosebank Farms Café, which offers incredibly
fresh Southern variations such as the catch-of-the-day
hot off the grill and peppery fried chicken and green
tomatoes.
The road leading back to Charleston is sprinkled
with stands selling seasonal produce and local products:
tomatoes, onions, peaches, and peanuts, as well as sweetgrass
baskets.Visitors are welcomed at the many small churches
dotting the roadside, where you can chat with the Gullahs
of Johns Island. These descendants of slaves have lived
on the island for generations, forming a community rich
in African traditions that have been both preserved and
transformed over time. The language, music, food, and
folk medicine endure, as these Johns Islanders still live
off the land and they rarely leave. Enjoy the lilting
Gullah dialect, a blend of Elizabethan English and African
languages. Their stories and lore have deep roots in America’s
past.
Johns Island is also home to another kind
of American antiquity: Angel Oak, a massive tree believed
to be about 1400 years old. It is located off of Maybank
Highway at the southern end of the island.
The islands east of Charleston are also historically
rich. From the city, cross the Cooper River, follow the
signs for Coleman Boulevard, and you’ll be in the
town of Mount Pleasant. If you’re hungry, try Momma
Brown’s Barbecue, where you’ll find some genuine
Southern fare: slow-roasted pulled pork with hush puppies
and spicy collard greens.
The boulevard continues over the Ben Sawyer
Bridge and onto three-mile-long Sullivan’s Island .
Charleston residents moved here to escape the yellow-fever
epidemics of the 1790s, and the island was later a quarantine
stop for multitudes of transported African slaves. The
community has since been ravaged by the Civil War, as
well as by numerous hurricanes (most recently by Hugo
in 1989), but it has always been resilient, rebuilding
its charming character after each disaster.
Each block on the island is marked by a station
number (from a long-departed cablecar system). There is
plenty of parking, as well as public access to the island’s
pristine beach. The breezes here attract windsurfers and
kite-surfers, who perform daredevil tricks in the choppy
surf. This windy spot on Sullivan’s Island is only
a stone’s throw from Fort Sumter, the site of the
first action in the Civil War.
At the southwestern tip of the island stands
Fort Moultrie, a Revolutionary War artillery battery that
is now a national park. Edgar Allan Poe, Abner Doubleday,
and General William T. Sherman—who later spared it
during the Civil War—were stationed here. The great
Seminole warrior Osceola, who so vociferously protested
the relocation of his people from Florida, was imprisoned
and later buried here.
A number of other batteries on Sullivan’s Island have been converted into unique private homes,
and one is now the local library. Just over the bridge
leading to Isle of Palms is the Boathouse at Breach Inlet.
One of the few waterfront restaurants in the area, it
offers superb seafood and serves drinks on its deck. Isle
of Palms and Sullivan’s Island are perfect for bike
riders and dog walkers. For a beer and a quick bite to
eat, Dunleavy’s Pub is great spot.
There are dozens of other quaint islands
to explore, as well as more Lowcountry flavor to discover.
But on a visit to Charleston, don’t miss the unique
character of the larger islands. In short, one might say
that Folly Beach represents your hippie surfer cousin,
Wadmalaw your kitchen-loving granny, and Kiawah Island
your discriminating father-in-law. Sullivan’s Island
and Isle of Palms would be your sentimental sisters. And
Charleston itself? It could be the love of your life.
