(Photo) Charleston City Market.

Piece 1: The Battery/The Citadel/City Market. Charleston, a large coastal city in South Carolina, was founded in 1670 and named in honor of King Charles II.

The area, replete with historical landmarks and colorful architecture, is one of the more popular tourist destinations.

The Battery, established as a military watchpoint, is located on the southern tip of Charleston and offers spectacular views of the South of Broad Neighborhood (many beautiful old homes) and the harbor.

Fort Sumter, installed on an island near the gateway to Charleston Harbor from the Atlantic Ocean to provide protection to the area during the War of 1812 and the American Civil War, can be seen in the distance from The Battery.

In the northwest area of the city is The Citadel, a military college established in 1842. The campus has the appearance of a fortress; the buildings follow what has been described as a “Spanish Moorish” architectural style and encircle a ten-acre grass parade ground.

At the entrance to the school, there is a large replica of the Citadel class ring.

In the southeast part of town near the French Quarter Neighborhood is the Charleston City Market. Dating back the the 1790’s, this four-block complex began as a place for area farms to sell beef and produce, and now houses a wide variety of souvenir vendors.

The City Market is a fun place to walk through; we bought a t-shirt, a bag of Carolina Gold rice, and an assortment of cooking spices.

Charleston Single House and Porch

Piece 2: Charleston Single Houses/Leon’s Oyster Shop. A “single house” is a distinctive style of home in the historic neighborhoods of Charleston.

Built to accommodate the long but narrow lots in the city’s early design, single houses typically have a rectangular shape with the long sides perpendicular to the street.

Many of these homes have multilevel porches (or piazzas) on one long side, with a faux front door on the first level facing the street. The porch is a hospitality space, and the actual front door into the house is inside here.

We noticed that most of the single house porch ceilings were painted a particular shade of light blue, and learned this color was called Haint Blue (“haint” being a variation of the word “haunt”). There is a longstanding tradition of applying Haint Blue paint to porch ceilings (to mimic the look of water) as local lore purports that ghosts cannot cross water.

The best way to end a day in Charleston is with a good restaurant meal, and Leon’s Fine Poultry & Oyster Shop in the north central area of town (off King Street) is a recommended option. The fried chicken and char-grilled oysters are especially good!

Sunset View in the Estuary

Piece 3: Folly Beach/Flipper Finders Dolphin Watch Boat Ride. A popular seaside destination about 11 miles south of downtown Charleston is Folly Beach.

State Highway 171 connects this little community to the mainland, and actually becomes Center Street once you get across the bridge. Along this main road is an array of bars, coffee shops, restaurants, and beach gear stores.

We visited Folly Beach to go on a dolphin watch boat ride with the adventure company Flipper Finders, which launches trips from the community boat landing near its storefront off Center Street.

We took a sunset tour that wound through the salt marsh estuaries behind Folly Island and out into the ocean’s edge for a brief stop at Morris Island (which features one of the oldest lighthouses in the United States) to explore its seashell-covered beach.

Our boat captain found several pods of dolphins, and the late day views of the habitat were picturesque.

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