Captivated Me

The New Year was well spent with a kindred friend in Charleston, South Carolina. It being my first time to the city, I was smitten. This historic, walkable town is bursting with sweet nooks and crannies, lively music and markets and restaurants, and an air of passing through olden times. In some ways, this olden-day feel was sobering, given the dark seasons of slavery and conflict that have unfolded in these streets and cannot be denied. On the other hand, a heart of reconciliation seemed to rise up in kind.

The one thing that caught my particular attention in looking around, though?

THE DOORS.

Apparently, this is a thing that is all over social media. I had no idea, but can see why now after my own experience of encountering it in person!

I fell in love with so many aspects of the city – The trees and the warmth, the horses navigating the streets, the joining of chic modernity with preserved yesterdays, the benne wafers. But there is something special about these doors. They feel like portals into history, entrances into homes that are filled with stories of generations past and present. Almost every centuries-old, preserved residence, hotel, church or building had at its entrance a peculiar door, framed in antiquity, many also ornamented with vibrant colors and the added festivity of wreaths and boughs heralding the holidays.

All I can say is: Run, don’t walk to Charleston. Come for the education and ambiance and food (I recommend Melfi’s, High Cotton, Clerk’s Coffee, Metto Coffee, Bitty and Beau’s Coffee, and Tommy Condon), and stay for the doors. Or vice versa. 🙂