A walking tour helps you love the South on your own terms. Charleston is always fresh. She might show her centuries but her "experience" benefits you!
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Thousands of magazine readers cast ballots for the 2009 Readers' Choice Awards and several honors go to Charleston, SC. This is clearly the trend, people love to show their love for The Holy City.

Southern Living magazine once again named Charleston their Favorite Southern City.
Honors also included top tier billing for Best Weekend Getaway, Best Family Destination and Best Festivals, among others.
Forbes Traveler named Charleston's historic King Street shopping area as one of the "10 Top Shopping Districts in USA" in a November article by Lynn Parramore. This follows CNN and the September issue of Southern Living magazine highlighting The Upper King Design District in the cover article "10 Reasons to Visit Charleston Again."

Parramore writes,
"You can imagine any number of Southern belles sweeping down storied blocks packed with antiques, shoes, jewelry and luxury boutiques.
You'll find familiar names like Abercrombie & Fitch, plus locally owned stores such as Bob Ellis for shoes and Half Moon Outfitters for hiking gear.
For one-of-kind antiques, browse King Street Antique Mall.
A Shrimp & Grits Martini at the Swamp Fox, inside the Francis Marion Hotel, is just the thing to revive the shopped-out."

Well, regarding that Shrimp & Grits Martini... we'll <sniff> take your word for it. Sounds like something only a recreational shopper would order.

Here's the best option: if you want to feel Southern and experience authentic locality, take a CityTrex MP3 self-guided audio walking tour of historic downtown Charleston. We'll make sure you return home with more tales than your friends will care to hear. Want to shop? You can press pause and shop (we like that too), then resume when you're ready.
Thanks to charlestoncvb.com for collecting this info.