South Carolina
Charleston at a Slower Pace: A Journey Through Time & Culture
Program No. 23056RJ
Explore the culture and unique story of Charleston at a slower pace — discover plantation homes, Lowcountry cuisine, antebellum architecture and all the South’s myriad charms.
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6 days
5 nights
11 meals
5B 3L 3D
1
Check-in, Registration, Orientation, Welcome Dinner
Charleston, SC
3
Boone Hall Plantation, African American Museum
Charleston, SC
5
Tea Garden, Angel Oak, Free Afternoon
Charleston, SC
6
Program Concludes
Charleston, SC
At a Glance
Take a step back in time — and pace — and discover one of America’s most historic and beautiful cities. Throughout Charleston and the coastal Lowcountry, stroll through manicured gardens, study ornate home interiors and dive into antebellum plantation history. Hear the stories of those who lived and worked in these stately homes and on plantations, black and white, enslaved and free. Learn about the Gullah community, descendants of enslaved people who have preserved more of their African heritage than any other community in the country.
Activity Level
On Your Feet
Walking up to one mile and standing up to an hour on field trips. Some uneven surfaces, especially at the plantations and in the Historic District.
Best of all, you’ll…
- Step inside the Aiken-Rhett and Joseph Manigault homes, as well as Boone Hall Plantation, and hear jazz, gospel and Gullah songs come to life in the historic Circular Congregational Church.
- Explore the International African American Museum, the Charleston Museum and the only tea garden in the U.S.
- Learn about the history of Charleston, Lowcountry cuisine, sweetgrass basket-weaving and Gullah culture.
General Notes
You may be interested in a more active version of this program, "Signature City Charleston: Historic Plantations and Gardens" (#19403).
Featured Expert
All trip experts
Tom Murray
Tom Murray is a graduate of San Jose State University but is a Southerner by choice, having spent more than 45 years in the South absorbing the culture, customs and history of the region. Tom specializes in coastal history with an emphasis on the sea islands of Georgia. Few people know and love beautiful Cumberland and Amelia islands better than Tom. He has spent 25 years lecturing and leading Road Scholar groups to sites from the mountains to the sea.
Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.
Tom Murray
View biography
Tom Murray is a graduate of San Jose State University but is a Southerner by choice, having spent more than 45 years in the South absorbing the culture, customs and history of the region. Tom specializes in coastal history with an emphasis on the sea islands of Georgia. Few people know and love beautiful Cumberland and Amelia islands better than Tom. He has spent 25 years lecturing and leading Road Scholar groups to sites from the mountains to the sea.
Ruth Miller
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Ruth Miller, a graduate of Duke University, has lived all over America and journeyed throughout the world. As a Charleston historian and excursion leader, she enjoys tying local history into the American story and worldwide events. Ruth is the author and co-author of numerous books, including “Charleston Charlie — A Family Activity Book for Kids of All Ages,” “Touring the Tombstones,” and “The Angel Oak Story.” She is a member of the South Carolina Historical Society and the National Trust.
Al Miller
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Al Miller received a bachelor’s degree in English, speech and drama from Baptist College — now Charleston Southern University. He is a recognized historian specializing in local, black history with emphasis on the Gullah-Geechee culture. He brings his musical talent to his lectures for a unique perspective. Al enjoys leading educational excursions, is a licensed real estate agent, as well as a historian and lecturer on black history. He is also a member of numerous organizations, including the Choraliers Music Club of Charleston, Alpha Phi Fraternity and St. James A.M.E. Church.
Darryl Stoneworth
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Darryl Stoneworth, along with wife Angela, has been selling home-crafted sweetgrass baskets in the Charleston City Market since May 2009. If you happen by his stand, you'll know Darryl by his omnipresent smile. The couple is also constructing their first roadside basket stand along Highway 17N in Mount Pleasant, N.C. The town has renamed and dedicated this stretch of the highway in tribute to the hamlet's sweetgrass basket makers.
Harlan Greene
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Harlan Greene is a native of Charleston, an award-winning novelist and author of many nonfiction books on Charleston. His works include “Charleston: City of Memory” and “Mr. Skylark: John Bennett and the Charleston Renaissance,” as well as others. Formerly the assistant director of the South Carolina Historical Society, Harlan is now senior manuscript and reference archivist for the College of Charleston. He also served on the Mayor’s Arts and History Commission.
Georgia Murphy
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Georgia Murphy grew up in a small middle Georgia town, but has called Charleston home for the past 37 years. She has been a licensed excursion leader for the City of Charleston for 28 years, and considers sharing the beauty and history of Charleston and the Carolina Low Country as one of her greatest joys.
Suggested Reading List
(8 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
Charleston at a Slower Pace: A Journey Through Time & Culture
Program Number: 23056
A Witness to History: Charleston's Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon
The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon in Charleston, South Carolina, is one of the great buildings of Colonial America. Serving as city hall, customs house, post office and prison; as the British Headquarters during the occupation of Charles Towne and then host to a great ball honoring George Washington, the Exchange has been an eyewitness to America’s history. This stoic building-—designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975—-has been described as the best example of the dignity and ornament of the traditional English “exchange-town hall” design of the eighteenth century built in the United States. From within its Great Hall to deep below in the Provost Dungeon, the Exchange has played a vital role in American history. Andrus’ and Miller’s fast-paced and readable survey of the history and significance of the Old Exchange Building will appeal to visitor and serious historian alike.
Very Charleston: A Celebration of History, Culture, and Lowcountry Charm
Cobblestone streets leading to perfectly preserved historic homes. Intricate wrought-iron gates opening to lush, fragrant gardens. A skyline of steeples and a river harbor bustling with schooners and sailboats. Charleston is one of America's most charming cities.In vibrant watercolors and detailed sketches, artist Diana Gessler captures the beauty and riches that make Charleston so unique: White Point Gardens, the Spoleto Festival, Rainbow Row, Waterfront Park, Fort Moultrie, the beaches of Sullivan's Island, sumptuous Lowcountry cuisine, and handmade sweetgrass baskets. Full of fascinating details--on everything from the art of early entertaining, the city's inspired architectural and garden designs, and George Washington's Southern tour to famous Charlestonians and the flags of Sumter--Very Charleston celebrates the city, the Lowcountry, the people, and our history. Hand-lettered and full color throughout, Very Charleston includes maps, an index, and a handy appendix of sites.
With her cheerful illustrations and love for discovering little-known facts, Diana Gessler has created both an entertaining guide and an irresistible keepsake for visitors and Charlestonians alike.
Allegiance: Fort Sumter, Charleston, and the Beginning of the Civil War
An original and deeply human portrait of soldiers and civilians caught in the vortex of war.
So vividly does Allegiance re-create the events leading to the firing of the first shot of the Civil War on April 12, 1861, that we can feel the fabric of the Union tearing apart. It is a tense and surprising story, filled with indecisive bureaucrats, uninformed leaders, hotheaded politicians, and dedicated and honorable soldiers on both sides.
The six-month-long agony that began with Lincoln's election in November sputtered from one crisis to the next until Lincoln's inauguration, and finally exploded as the soldiers at Sumter neared starvation. At the center of this dramatic narrative is the heroic figure of Major Robert Anderson, a soldier whose experience had taught him above all that war is the poorest form of policy. With little help from Washington, D.C., Anderson almost single-handedly forestalled the beginning of the war until he finally had no choice but to fight.
David Detzer's decade-long research illuminates the passions that led to the fighting, the sober reflections of the man who restrained its outbreak, and individuals on both sides who changed American history. No other historian has given us a clearer or more intimate picture of the human drama of Fort Sumter.
The Angel Oak Story
The Angel Oak is a Southern live oak tree located in Angel Oak Park, in Charleston, South Carolina, on Johns Island, one of South Carolina's Sea Islands. It is estimated to be 300-400 years old, stands 65 ft (20 m) tall, measures 28 ft (8.5 m) in circumference, and shades with its crown an area of 17,000 square feet. This book goes in depth regarding the history of this mighty tree.
Charleston: City of Memory
South of Broad
Against the sumptuous backdrop of Charleston, South Carolina, South of Broad gathers a unique cast of sinners and saints. Leopold Bloom King, our narrator, is the son of an amiable, loving father who teaches science at the local high school. His mother, an ex-nun, is the high school principal and a well-known Joyce scholar. After Leo's older brother commits suicide at the age of thirteen, the family struggles with the shattering effects of his death, and Leo, lonely and isolated, searches for something to sustain him. Eventually, he finds his answer when he becomes part of a tightly knit group of high school seniors that includes friends Sheba and Trevor Poe, glamorous twins with an alcoholic mother and a prison-escapee father; hardscrabble mountain runaways Niles and Starla Whitehead; socialite Molly Huger and her boyfriend, Chadworth Rutledge X; and an ever-widening circle whose liaisons will ripple across two decades-from 1960s counterculture through the dawn of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.
The ties among them endure for years, surviving marriages happy and troubled, unrequited loves and unspoken longings, hard-won successes and devastating breakdowns, and Charleston's dark legacy of racism and class divisions. But the final test of friendship that brings them to San Francisco is something no one is prepared for. South of Broad is Pat Conroy at his finest; a long-awaited work from a great American writer whose passion for life and language knows no bounds.
A Short History of Charleston
A concise small history of Charleston that is easy to read and enjoyable.
Invention of Wings
The Invention of Wings, a powerful and sweeping historical novel by Sue Monk Kidd, begins, fittingly, with an image of flight: Hetty “Handful”, who has grown up as a slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, recalls the night her mother told her that her ancestors in Africa could fly over trees and clouds. That day, Handful’s mother, Charlotte, gave her daughter the gift of hope— the possibility that someday she might regain her wings and fly to freedom. Throughout Kidd’s exquisitely written story, Handful struggles, sometimes with quiet dissidence, sometimes with open rebellion, to cultivate a belief in the invincibility of her spirit and in the sacred truth that one does not need actual wings in order to rise.