Photo Credit Margaret Houston via Garden & Gun Magazine
If you have ever visited Charleston, you have more than likely been to the City Market downtown. It is a must for tourists to buy locally made trinkets and sweetgrass baskets to mark their trip to the Lowcountry. To me, it is one of those things you can say "been there, done that" and check it off your list. However if you are my parents, you must go every time you visit your daughter and make her go with you. [You can't see me but I'm rolling my eyes.] And now I guess they will have a new excuse to drag me there as the Charleston's Historic City Market just completed it's 18 month, $5.5 million dollar two-phase renovation. The land was given to Charleston in 1788 by Charles Pickney with the stipulation that it always be used as a public market. (Many think this building was used to sell slaves before the Civil War, but this is untrue.) The building itself dated back to 1807 and had not received any updates in over 40 years. The updated 37,000 square foot space houses 148 vendors and provides shoppers with the illusion of an outdoor market yet the comforts of air-conditioning. Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about this...despite the cramped quarters, lack of temperature control and smell of horse manure from the carriages...I liked it looking old and authentic. [My apologies to the Department of Tourism if you are reading this.] But I have yet to see it so I will hold my judgments until I do.