The Informed Traveler
The Informed Traveler
On Location In Charleston, SC
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Our show this week is all about Charleston, SC where we just returned from spending 4 nights learning about the history and culture while enjoying the southern charm of the area. Highlights included interviews with the Charleston Place Hotel, the International African American Museum and Bulldog Tours.
So,
SPEAKER_03Well, hello and welcome to the Informed Traveller podcast, a weekly travel podcast where our goal is to help you become a more informed traveller. I'm your host, Randy Sharman. On our show this week, it is all about Charleston, South Carolina, where we just returned from spending four nights there, learning about the history and culture while enjoying the southern charm of the area. We were hosted by the folks from Visit Charleston, and it was a fantastic trip, and Charleston really is a beautiful place. Their so much to see and do in Charleston. It's impossible to pack it all in in four days, but we did see a lot and learned a lot about its dark and sometimes colorful past. The biggest highlight for me, being a Civil War buff, was visiting Fort Sumter. It was number one on my list of the sites to see. It's the site where the first shot was fired to start the U.S. Civil War. It's a must-see as far as I'm concerned, and you can get a visual of that tour on our Facebook and Instagram feeds. In fact, we have quite a few posts from our our time in Charleston on our social media pages, so I invite you to visit those to get a visual of our trip. We also had a visit to the International African American Museum, which was quite an eye-opening experience. It's located on the site where almost half of all enslaved African captives arrived in the U.S., and it was there that I got to speak with Paul Holston from the museum to learn all about it. It truly is quite a museum, so Bulldog Tours for a fascinating walking tour through Charleston's historic streets, learning about the architecture and the stories that made Charleston what it is today. The founder of Bulldog Tours is John Laverne, so I got to chat with him as well about the tours they offer and learn more about Charleston, so we'll play that interview for you. And our home away from home for four
The Charleston Place
SPEAKER_03nights was the elegant Charleston Place Hotel, a beautiful hotel centrally located in the heart of downtown Charleston where there There's an abundance of shops and restaurants and museums that are just a few minutes walk from the front entrance. So we begin our podcast playing a conversation we had with Becky Hubbard. She is the managing director of the Charleston Place. CharlestonPlace.com is the website. And here is that conversation for you now. It's very exciting to be here. I always think for hotels, location, location, location, it's like real estate. And so we got here last night, did a little bit of a wander, but it's an amazing location to start
SPEAKER_01yes it is amazing location to start with because it really is just centrally located to everything and Charleston itself is such a walkable city and so to have a hotel that's placed in the center of everything I'm sure when you got here last night you saw a second Sunday that we had just been finishing where King Street is just flourishing with all of our local vendors and it's just so pleasant to walk up and down and then you have so many restaurants in the area you have so many retail spaces in the area so it's just amazing place to be in general
SPEAKER_03well it kind of reminds me of the Caribbean because the streets are narrow and you have all these shops along the way and there's a few brand names out there I've noticed a couple but for the most part it's small business
SPEAKER_01it is a lot of small businesses a lot of local retail you can find really just some really great souvenirs that are so Charleston centered and you can also but you're right you did see some brand names and more are coming and there's more luxury retail coming to Charleston as well which really will be I'm sure welcomed by the community because it just makes it that much more interesting and eclectic to shop and and you'll have a lot of choices so
SPEAKER_03okay let's talk about Charleston Place now give me some background how long has it been here how did it get to be what it is today?
SPEAKER_01So it was built in 1986 and it was built really to revive the city in general not only just for tourism but as a cultural center and Mayor Riley who I'm sure you've heard of you know he really it was his inspiration to build the Charleston place and it was built at a time when Charleston was not looked upon as a city that you would go and visit often or come back to or spend a lot of time in. And so a lot of the city leaders, including Mayor Riley, thought that that was just unbelievable because Charleston is such a beautiful place and there's so much to be saved and honored and looked for in terms of history. Like you said, you're going to Fort Sumter today, but that's not the only thing that's here in terms of history. So many things have started here. And so the Charleston place was meant to be a place of gathering, but also a place where you could come and be in the center of it all and really kind of reap the benefits of this beautiful place. beautiful city.
SPEAKER_03I'm curious to know, like, first impressions. And I say that because when you walk into the lobby here, even when you pull up into the driveway there, it's amazing. Like, the first impression is, wow, right? And I'm sure that's not by chance. Not
SPEAKER_01at all, yes. Well, what's great is, you know, we are undergoing about a $160 million renovation for the Charleston Place. And so what you've pulled into is our original drive that the Charleston Place was actually built upon back in 1986. So it's very fun to actually go back in time and be able to offer that to our guests for a time period while we renovate and reimagine our other front drive. And so, yeah, meant to be a grand arrival. When you walk into the hotel, you see this beautiful chandelier, the grand staircase that really encircles the lobby. And it's just meant to be be a statement arrival.
SPEAKER_03And then on the other hand, it's like you guys are the front line of first impressions, right? When you visit a place, and I never thought about this until yesterday, I was thinking, and I don't want to say there's pressure on you or anything like that, but it is the first impression when you come to a destination and you check into your hotel, that sets people's whole mindset, does it not?
SPEAKER_01It's true. We actually, I'm so glad you said that because we take a lot of pride in our Southern hospitality hospitality and being representatives of Charleston the city itself because our ladies and gentlemen that are here have such genuine hospitality and they're so friendly we they really want to make us happy they want to make sure that they are kind of you know the tour guides for the city and you know a lot of them are ingrained into the fabric of the community itself and so a lot of our you know neighbors and community leaders they know our door team they know our valet team they know our you know our banquet team because we do so much within the community itself so yes we are so proud to be representatives of Charleston and actually if you ask anybody you know we call a lot of our representatives in the front we call them you know just kind of pseudo mayors because they do know everybody and everybody knows them
SPEAKER_03well that starts us as you step out the door. Like there's someone right there greeting you and it's really an amazing experience. Let's talk about the rooms and the amenities and the building itself because I get the impression that it's a lot bigger than what you first sort of see, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes, it is. So the Charleston Place, it will have, after we renovate because we're creating more suites, and so it will have 421 rooms. And so you really don't know that from stepping into the lobby. And we also have 40,000 square feet of event space as well. But the other part of this is there's all sorts of nooks and crannies around the hotel like Thoroughbred Club for example is really an amazing place to go and have a beverage and you can really look out upon the action that's going on in the lobby and in the public areas and you can choose to be a part of it all or you can choose to sit back and just view what's going on and then the Palmetto Cafe is an incredible spot for breakfast and lunch, but on Sundays we have this beautiful brunch where the music vibe, we have live music, and the vibe in Palmetto Cafe is just amazing with this incredible array of brunch items and this spread that you wouldn't believe. And it's just amazing. People come after church. People come with their families. There's just so many things that happen on a Sunday in Palmetto Cafe. And so also you know upstairs the rooms that we are reimagining they're just beautiful we meant to have it be like you're in this beautiful European hotel room but with that Charleston character still flowing throughout the room so you have the rattan furniture you have these beautiful blue and cream hues and then you still have those amazing Juliet balconies that overlook the city so again a place that you can participate in the city or you can watch from the side. So that's what we really want our guests to have a choice to do. We're also reimagining our fourth floor pool and pool deck. We're building an incredible bar that will go on the rooftop and so you can kind of overlook the townhomes that are in the city center along with swimming in our indoor outdoor pool as well. So lots going on in the rest of the Charleston place as well.
SPEAKER_03Well yeah it all sounds very exciting. You do have a spa here I noticed that. A nice little fitness area. So you have lots of things that people can use while they're here.
SPEAKER_01Yes. So you can enjoy the spa, which is incredible. We're actually building an even bigger spa in the future, which will have 13 treatment rooms. That'll be on the first level of the hotel. But we are doing a lot of temporary places, but they're done in such a beautiful way. We've actually done the renovation before the renovation. We have an incredible club lounge that our guests can choose to participate in and that you know serves breakfast and afternoon tea and then cocktails in the evening so it's a really nice place to be able to relax in between you know touring Charleston and going out to dinner and experiencing all the great food that Charleston has to offer as well but yeah our fitness center is also being reimagined but we do have an incredible temporary fitness center that you wouldn't know is temporary and you're right yeah
SPEAKER_04I didn't know it
SPEAKER_01was temporary. And so as we go through this renovation, that's really been the theme, is to keep that renovation behind the scenes and let you still be able to experience Charleston Place in all of its glory and not be interrupted by that as we look forward to the future.
SPEAKER_03Nice. Well, you've done a good job of that. I did not know that the fitness area was a temporary one. I can't imagine what the new one is going to look like. On your website, you have experiences, different things that people can do expand on that please.
SPEAKER_01So the best way to see the city in my opinion is to walk it. And so we have a lot of beautiful walking tours that we offer through our partners in the city and tour guides in the city. We also do a lot of events on our own in terms of just activating our spaces. So the holiday events that people now have come specifically to Charleston for tree lighting ceremony, snowfall. This year, we're actually switching it up because we're building a new park right down the street called American Gardens. And in American Gardens, we're going to have this incredible 30-foot tree. We're going to have these beautiful little shopping spaces that you'll go and be able to walk through and all of our food and beverage offerings. We're going to have incredible things for children and families. we're really bringing the holidays even more to the community, but even more to create a destination in Charleston as well. We have partners that we utilize for our food tours, so Charleston's such a food city, and you can go on a walking tour where you can experience little bits of all the fine bakeries and restaurants and watering holes in Charleston if you like, and retail tours and then garden tours, so a lot that goes on. We also have partnerships with Buxton Books where you can have a book butler and deliver something to your room if you're interested in just spending the afternoon reading in one of our beautiful spaces as well. So a lot to offer and a lot going on.
SPEAKER_03Speaking of gardens, did you say snow?
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_03Do you get snow here?
SPEAKER_01We make snow here. Just want to clarify that. Last year we did get snow, actually.
SPEAKER_03I noticed that in the middle area there's a little garden and an area where you can gather outdoors here.
SPEAKER_01Yes, so that's our Palmetto Courtyard, and we really wanted it to be a retreat from the city center as well. Like I said, there's just a lot of little spaces around the Charleston Place that you can go and enjoy, and that's what we want you to do. We want you to walk into those spaces. So in the Palmetto Cafe, we have a little fountain It's very relaxing. You can sit on one of our outdoor sofas and we do an amazing thing. We do these beautiful cocktails that are served in these beautiful glass structures and you can set them with your friends. So you can get one of these cocktails and share with four of your friends and sit and listen to the fountain and some music in the middle of the Palmetto Cafe and just a enjoy the sunshine in your own little private area. Nice.
SPEAKER_03Speaking of, like you were talking about events and things, are you finding more and more guests are coming for events specific or rather than just going to a destination and discovering kind of thing?
SPEAKER_01Yes. I think, you know, Charleston has become such a destination itself in terms of food and wine festival, in terms of seaweed that happens in February. We call this you know, season and the fall and, you know, in, in the, um, starting from February on and in the spring, uh, it's our festival season where just everything is happening and you could attend a festival about books. You could attend a festival for food and wine. You could attend a festival for, you know, different homes in Charleston and going through and seeing, uh, you know, all of these historic homes. So yes, I think people do come for events specifically. I think they also travel around food and Charleston is such an incredible food destination. And so, you know, specifically they're coming. We have some very exciting things coming up. In our hotel specifically, we are partnering with Daniel Hume of Eleven Madison Park. And so we are going to be opening up a pop-up restaurant with Daniel Hume in the Charleston, where the Charleston Grill space has been. And, you know, starting October 2nd, we are so delighted to be able to open that new space, which is called Daniel Hume Times Charleston Place. And so we're so excited to be able to offer even more food offerings to our guests and the community. Nice.
SPEAKER_03When is it going to be all done? Or is it ever all done?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it will be done. Yes. So we, in about 2027, we do expect the majority of the reimagination to be done. But really, you know, As early as next year, a lot of our rooms will be fully renovated. Our pool will be reopened. Our roof deck will be reopened. And then we've just already reimagined our event space. So a lot of areas in the hotel will be finished. And then we'll just go forward with the rest of the reimagination in terms of our food and beverage spaces.
SPEAKER_03Not that they should wait till then. That's not what I'm saying. Come now and come back.
SPEAKER_01That's right. Please come now and come back. Yeah, we really, this is the time to be in Charleston. This is the time to discover BHC. And this is the time to really look at our hospitality company because we're doing so much in the city, you know, and really in terms of our growth and our expansion. The other thing that we're doing also, you know, besides the Charleston place is next year we open the Cooper Hotel. And so having that resort destination between Charleston place and the cooper you'll really get to experience such an incredible part of the city you'll get to experience the water and city center uh throughout our resort
SPEAKER_03well now i gotta come back anything else you want to add
SPEAKER_01i just think i think that like we said before charleston place has always been such an incredible destination for both guests and community members and we always want to be charleston's living room because it just makes it such a a joyous place. And really, we love to see guests step in for the first time and discover our hotel, but also our offerings in BHC.
SPEAKER_03That's a good way to put it. Charleston's living room. I like that. Becky Hubbard is the managing director of Charleston Place. CharlestonPlace.com. It's a beautiful place to visit. Thank you for having us.
SPEAKER_01Thank you so much, Randy. Nice to talk to you.
UNKNOWNThank you.
SPEAKER_03Well, as we mentioned from the top, our show this week is all about Charleston, South Carolina. And one of the things that stood out for me was how much the downtown area of Charleston reminded me of the Caribbean, with the colorful historic buildings, and in particular, the narrow streets. Many are one-way streets, and when you add in parking, there's room for just one lane, so it's a bit of a tight fit if you have a big vehicle. And there's even a few cobblestone streets. Also, while in Charleston, we had the privilege of visiting the International African American Museum. It's a powerful space that shares the stories of Charleston's dark past and the struggles and triumphs of African Americans
International African American Museum
SPEAKER_03from the beginnings of slavery through the Civil War era, the Civil Rights Movement, right up to present day. It is an eye-opening experience, and after our tour of the museum, I sat down with Paul Holston, Marketing and Communications Manager for the International African American Museum, to talk about the exhibits, the history, and why the museum is such an important place. Thank you for having us and inviting us and letting us explore your amazing museum.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. And thank you for coming. It's a beautiful day today also for you guys to be able to come visit. So I'm glad and happy that you guys have had a chance to visit our museum
SPEAKER_03today. Well, and we are sitting outside. And if you didn't know it, you wouldn't know that this is actually part of the museum too. You were talking to us before. This is a public area. So maybe just to Can you explain what's in front of us and what this area is before people actually enter the building?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. So the International African American Museums consists of two floors. Where we're sitting at right now is considered the ground floor, our African Ancestral Memorial Garden. So when you come, as you walk in, you know, towards the museum, we sort of, well not sort of, but we do encourage that you take time to explore the African Memorial Garden in case people didn't know The International African American Museum is a place on the historic site of Gadsden's Wharf. Gadsden's Wharf is essentially one of the biggest slave trade ports from Charleston where at least 40% of African Americans can trace their lineage coming from the transatlantic slave trade. So where we're at literally is sacred ground. It took about 23 years in the making for this museum to come about. A lot of constituents from the city of Charleston and a lot of constituents across the nation sort of worked really hard to get this off ground. So when you come, the African Ancestral Memorial Garden has a couple of various landmarks, but the goal is essentially you want to sort of come in and sort of see, being that we're on a historical landmark on how we we sort of shift this African Ancestral Memorial Garden to a place of not only remembrance and reflection, but sort of shifting the narrative from both, I will say, acknowledging the tragedy of the history, but also learning the triumph and how far we've come since the transatlantic slave trade from the 1800s, now until 2025. So in particular, one of my favorite areas that we have is called the Thai Tribute. If you go all the way on the east It's sort of it's best way to describe it. It's an infinity pool, but it's sort of sort shows a diagram of the sort of like the placement of slave ships where you know slaves were essentially placed during their transit here. So we sort of have on the left hand side of the tide tribute. Departure and we have on the right hand side the arrival. So on the left hand side of the you'll sort of see all the countries and areas where slaves sort of came through the Transatlantic slave trade. And the arrivals, or they left, I'm sorry. And then on the right is sort of the arrivals of where they arrived, not only through North America, but also South America and the Caribbean as well. And if you don't also hear, maybe in the background, you'll also hear a poem by a famous poet, Maya Angelou. And we're sort of in the area to where the best way I can describe there's a memorandum, a memorial, basically quoting Maya Angelou's Still I Rise poem. But in that space, there's a square in particular to where historically, where they actually sold off slaves here through auction. So at the time, it used to be a place where they would have slaves sort of held sort of in a bunker. And then when they would come up and bring them, there would be able, I mean, they would essentially sell them. If you go behind the Still I Rise stone, you actually see some art that was created by our architect, Walter Hood. And essentially, it's statues commemorating those slaves who were placed and sold off to slavery. And they also face to the east, which is remembering not only the tragedy, but also the triumph of where we are today.
SPEAKER_03I think that's important to acknowledge. It's not just a memorial sort of museum. It is the whole evolution of this is the way it was 400 years ago, give or take a few hundred years, and this is where we are now. We've come a long way, as you mentioned before, but there's still places to grow and things that still have to be overcome.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and like I said, when you go into the second floor, our actual museum, we have about 12 different types of exhibitions and we also have a special exhibition gallery. In addition to that, we have a world-class Center for Family History Center where folks who are interested in learning more about the genealogy and the ancestral background. We have world-class genealogists who are able to assist them and the whole focus and mission here, which I love, I'm a native of Somerville, South Carolina, which is a city right outside of Charleston, but what stands out to me when I as I work here and especially on a marketing standpoint and sort of engaging with media and members is just being able to share these those untold stories that are not necessarily highlighted in the mainstream one of the things that are very in particular that I enjoy is the way that we shape our and tell the story of South Carolina history related to the Gullah Geechee culture, and as well as things that people may have not known in towards how African-Americans contributed in the city of Charleston. And that sort of spreads that story out into the international narrative. So those are the things that I hope when people come here with that open mind, of course, we do acknowledge the tragedy, but more importantly, we want you to leave with understanding and knowing going to triumph, and also encouraging other people to visit as well. Yeah,
SPEAKER_04absolutely.
SPEAKER_03We've done the tour, and you asked me afterwards if there was anything that stood out, and I couldn't think of anything right away, but as soon as you mentioned the genealogy, the displays of family history, and the one in particular that actually traced back her great-great-great-great-grandmother who was one of the first people brought from Africa here, that one really I was like, well, there is someone here and then she's alive today that traced her genealogy right back to this spot here.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, we also feature a couple of two other people I could stand out. Former First Lady Michelle Obama was able to trace back. We have some proof and sort of documents that examine some of her background history. And also we have actually one of our own staff members. His name is Darius Brown. He's actually a research assistant, a part of our Center for Family History. and he was able to trace his family history back. So we are very proud and honored to be able to assist people to sort of learn those their ancestors and those before them. And it's for everybody. It's not just African Americans. I mean, we sort of encourage, you know, what our Center for Family History Department encourages is, you know, you start off with at least your paternal and maternal grandparents. If you have more beyond that, it helps a lot. But they'll be able to, you know, whether it's through one-on-one consultation or with the kiosks that we utilize, the booths that we utilize, that we can assist in sort of continuing to help trace that family tree.
SPEAKER_03I think one One of the things that also struck me too is that I consider myself a bit of a history buff and civil war history is one of my favourites and the civil rights movement and you think you know a lot until you come to a place like this and they just bypass some of the displays and some of the artifacts and they really should stop because there is a lot to learn from even if you think you know a lot.
SPEAKER_02Yeah and fun fact, great that you mentioned that actually this month is our Centre for Family History is recognizing sort of a legacy of Freedom Month because we actually hold some archives and pensions from the United States color troops, you know, in aligning with those various wars. So, you know, to your point, I mean, those are stories that are not told. And like I said, we continue to encourage people to really continue to educate themselves. Like you said earlier, not just about the slavery aspect in particular, but just how much African Americans has contributed to this country that is now about to be 250 years old next year.
SPEAKER_03What's the best way to explore this? I know this is the public area down here. You want to make sure you have a look and look at the Tide Tribute. And then you make your way into the building and you easily map it out. So you get to see everything and you can take as much time as you want. Maybe come back. Maybe it takes two days. Or or skim through things if you're pressed for time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. The uniqueness of our museum at this current state is that we are a self-guided museum. We do utilize a phone app that's called Bloomberg Connects that if you would want to use a self-guided audio guide, that can help. But we really heavily encourage people to really take intentional time in looking at each artifact, looking at each gallery, looking at each particular landmark. So that way, they just take time to really digest it and not just, you know, read and pass off. Because these are stories that are not, again, not really told international, you know, in the mainstream aspect. And so, you know, we start, we encourage people to start from the African Ancestor Memorial Garden. Sort of that sort of gives you some time to just reflect before you go in and sort of absorb all 12 galleries and special exhibit, special exhibitions and the Center for Family History Center as well. It's just a lot. I mean, it takes you maybe an average, an hour and a half, maybe two hours if you wanted to get like the need to know, but it'll take you a couple. I mean, we encourage you to come back. And because we also host programming in terms of community programming throughout the year. We host, actually host for educational aspect, we host field trips for K through 12 students. And we also do a lot of community engagement too. I'll say like one of our biggest activations throughout the year is what we call Juneteenth on the Yard. And so last two years, we have done like basically a community block party to where this whole entire first, our first four Ancestral Memorial Grounds comes a place of community and a place of just supporting each other just in recognition of Juneteenth, but also being able to align Charleston community and those who come from outside of Charleston to be able to just connect, be able to come to the museum. Normally those, like a day like that, they free admission to the museum as well. So not only do you be able to engage with our staff, we have special performances, we have vendors, we have food. It's just a great time. I think this year was, in the two years we've been here, that Juneteenth on the yard, we had about four, over 4,000 people here. So this whole, like right now it's completely, you know, sort of quiet, but like that day from our east yard to our west yard, it was just filled with smiling faces, so. That's good.
SPEAKER_03It seems to me that museums are continually evolving. You have new exhibits, things are coming up and different events. And to your point about storytelling, I would imagine there's always a new story that comes up.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I would say throughout the year, especially when our curatorial team tries to seek new artifacts, you know, there are things that are unique that we like to highlight and enhance that story, whether it's through our public program, whether it's through through our special exhibition. Our current special exhibition is redefined creative expressions of the black diaspora. And that is essentially a special exhibit that was curated by our curatorial team. And basically, the goal is to basically highlight the various aspects of the Black diaspora through storytelling, art, music, and all that sort of category in that storytelling aspect.
SPEAKER_03There are some museums you can go through and you just come away with a heavy feeling. You don't get that feeling here. I mean, there is a lot of heavy stuff that you can absorb, but at the end of the day, there's this... positive outlook. At least that's what I
SPEAKER_02get. I mean, that's what a lot of our visitors express. Like I said, I think you come in as you, you know, any museum, you sort of come in with that expectation already. Oh, okay, it's just a historic aspect. So you start, like I said, you start with learning the tragedy, you know, the departure and the arrivals and you sort of go into the transatlantic experience that sort of talks about from the transatlantic slave experience up until about the 1900s. But then as you sort of get into our American journeys and you sort of see how far we've progressed since that time, you sort of come with a lighthearted, joyful feeling. And by the time you leave from the West Yard compared to the East Yard, you know, you sort of do. And the sun shines on the West Yard as well. So I think that is just the balance that I think we just love here in terms of our mission statement of telling the untold story of the African-American journey at one of our most historical
SPEAKER_03sites.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Anything you want to add? Yeah. If you have never been to Charleston, please think and consider the International African American Museum as a go-to place to visit. Charleston has become over the last decade, maybe 20 years, one of the top 10 places of tourism. And with us being here only two years, we just only, we crossed our second anniversary in June of 2023, but We encourage and desire people to have the International African American Museum as a go-to place on their list when they're touring and visiting Charleston. So if you want to learn more about us, please visit at I-A-A-M-U-S-E-U-M.org, I-A-A-Museum.org. And yeah, we look forward to having you here.
SPEAKER_03I'm glad you said that because I would have mixed that all up. Paul Holston is the Marketing and Communications Manager for the International African American Museum I do thank you for inviting us. I really thoroughly enjoyed our visit. Thank
SPEAKER_02you. Yes, and we're so glad that you and your wife was able to visit. So please come back again.
SPEAKER_03This is the Informed Traveler podcast. I'm Randy Sharman. Just want to remind you of our website, theinformedtraveler.org. That's where you can find our contact page if you have any questions or comments about the podcast. You can also email me, too, with any questions you might have. My email address is randy at theinformedtraveler.org. And if you want to see some of the videos and images of the places we visited while in Charleston, you can like us on Facebook at facebook.com slash informedtraveler, on Instagram at informedtraveler, or on X at Informed Traveler. We have highlights of our tour to Fort Sumter on there, the colorful architecture of the historic buildings in the downtown area of Charleston, and the images of Charleston Place Hotel, plus a few others. Again, it's available on our Facebook page at facebook.com slash informedtraveler, on Instagram at informedtraveler, or on X at informedtraveler. Now, one of my favorite things to do when visiting We'll see you next time.
Bulldog Tours
SPEAKER_03and here is that conversation now. Tell me the story of Bulldog Tours and how you got it going and how it became what it is today.
SPEAKER_00Sure. Well, native, I was born here a long time ago and I've always loved my hometown and just been infatuated with it for a variety of reasons. And when I graduated from college in 1991, being a tour guide, I gave carriage tours. It was my first job ever and absolutely loved it. But felt compelled to go get the real job, did that, and about 10 years later it just happened I was like I really want to start my own tour company just something I'm proud of and the goal is to help from day one I wanted to help preserve one of my favorite buildings in Charleston it's the old exchange building and I went met with him I was like I've got this crazy idea I'll start a tour company up I'll give you a third of the proceeds I just want to help raise money for preservation I have no idea if this will work I've never owned or operated a company that I you know by myself but we'll give it a shot and fast forward 20 24 years later, we've raised millions of dollars to help preserve that building. And we've made similar partnerships with other historical landmarks in town. And it's kind of our business model of sustainable tourism. And I think we're right at about $7 million that we've helped raise to preserve these local landmarks. And I love what we do. We do a variety of history, food, ghosts, cocktail tours. We do some custom stuff for different corporate groups. And we have a very fun job that we take really seriously and love showcasing my hometown. Well, it
SPEAKER_03sounds like I'm telling your voice. And the preservation part, that's a big part of it, isn't it? And I guess you could say you were sustainable before sustainable became cool.
SPEAKER_00Perhaps, and I didn't even know that term when I started this. I just thought that I was doing the right thing and kind of doing something neat. I wasn't in this for the money. I really never have been. I had a really good job when I started all this up, and I was like, I don't care if this thing makes money or loses money. It's actually okay if it lost money for the tax write-off reasons. But yeah, it just kind of kept the focus on building something that I was really proud of, something that helped make Charleston better. And yes, it turns out there is a term for it, and it's called sustainable tourism.
SPEAKER_03See, you were there before it became cool. So tell me about the specific tours. You kind of glazed over some of the tours you offer. But a breakdown, we're going to go, I believe, on two separate tours, I understand, doing a food one and a historic stroll.
SPEAKER_00Correct. So y'all are going to do, your wife and yourself, do the Charleston Strolls Walk with History Tour. And this is a two-hour walk-in tour. Charleston's very flat and very easy to navigate. And you're going to see the best of Charleston's historic district. And that includes Rainbow Row and the French Quarter and the Battery and talk about the historic homes, the Revolutionary War. You're going to see historic historic churches, historic homes, gardens. Just learn a little bit about the culture of our city and how we came to be and you're going to be in a magical neighborhood. It's called South Abroad and that's where the finest homes in Charleston and many consider in the country to be located and you're going to be blown away. I don't know if you've ever been to Charleston before, Randy, but it is a special place and the history is fascinating. For United States standards, we're old. We were founded in 1670, but it's all relative. We have visitors from say Germany or England or France and we're babies compared to them, but this was all started by King Charles II and I think we've done an amazing job of staying in touch with our history, and preservation has been a really big part of Charleston's success and a big part of our community for a very long time. We had the first preservation society, the first preservation laws in the United States, and it shows. So you're going to do this tour today, and then at some point on your visit, you're going to do a food tour, which was actually one of the first food tour operators in the country. They had just kind of started up. There was a handful of food tours I was like, you know, if there's any food story that needs to be told in the United States, it's Charleston. And it's because we have a very unique story, a very unique flavor, a very unique cuisine. It's called Low Country Cuisine. And kind of the synopsis is the enslaved Africans that were here, they took the food and the recipes and the passion for foods from the British settlers, from the French Huguenots, from the Irish and the Scottish and people from all over the world and took the recipes and the ingredients and the food passion from the Native Americans. And they kind of blended it all together and came up with what we know as Low Country Cuisine today. And I thought it was a very important story to tell. And we have amazing restaurants in town. Charleston, pretty warm climate. So we can grow stuff here almost year round. And you can taste that in the food that we eat. There's a good chance that the vegetables on your plate were probably in the ground just a few days prior and were low right on the Atlantic Ocean. So we've got the waterways. We've got creeks and rivers and Charleston Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean. So access to incredible seafood. So it's very fresh. And then a lot of local restaurants, they partner with local regional farms to provide fresh poultry and beef and everything else that goes into making our dishes magical. But yeah, you're going to eat a lot while you're in town. But the good news, Randy, is you're going to walk a lot. Right. So it's actually a calorie deficit, so you're going to go home and be very surprised that, wow, you came back healthier than before you came here.
SPEAKER_03You talk about storytelling. It seems to me that what makes a tour is the guide and the stories that they tell, so tell me a bit about who you have taking people on their tours.
SPEAKER_00Sure, that's a great question. Charleston, we've always prided ourselves in having amazing tour guides. In fact, for the longest period of time, we had We're one of the first cities or maybe the first city that had required a license. You had to have a license to be a tour guide. It was the hardest tour guide test in America. Hands down the hardest test I've ever taken in my life.
SPEAKER_03Did you pass the first time?
SPEAKER_00I did pass the first time. It's funny because I'm not a hyper academic person, but our history is pretty tangible. You can read about a house and the architecture or whatever stories are behind it and you can stand right in front of where it all happened. And it just really clicked with my brain and I'm more of a visual learner. And so I was fascinated with Charleston history. I never really aced my history exams in college, but when it came to Charleston history, it was easy for me to understand. And then I would rely on friends and family members like, hey, do y'all know this story about whatever house or whatever person and got lots of great insight. But the powers to be declared a few years ago that we can no longer require tour guide licensing, But that program still exists, and we do require our tour guides at Bulldog Tours to be licensed. We have quite a few, many of them experts in whatever subject matter, whether it's gardens or Civil War, Revolutionary War, architecture, what have you. Again, we have a very fun job that we take seriously. Bulldog Tours, we probably spend more money and time on training than any tour company in town. We want our guides to be the very best, and I know your tour guide today Nancy Smalls. She has been a tour guide for decades in this town and she could easily write an encyclopedia about Charleston. So y'all are in for a treat.
SPEAKER_03Is your first tour that you ever did when you first started the company, is it still the same tour? What I'm trying to say, have you managed to keep certain tours because they're popular?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. The first tour I ever did was actually on a horse and carriage. But it was the stories that I told that very day. It would have been in June of 1991. Still some of the same stories that I tell today. And this tour here, I love the history and the food tours. Ghost tours are entertaining to me. I've never been a huge ghost person, although I love ghost stories. I love getting kids excited because it's a blend of history and a blend of spooky as well, and this time of year is kind of fun because of Halloween and everything, so we certainly do a lot of kids and families on the spooky ghost tours, but they're very entertaining, and we take folks to places that we're pretty positive are legitimately haunted. We have access to a pre-revolutionary dungeon. We have access to the oldest graveyard in Charleston. We have access to the Old City Jail, which housed some of Charleston's most infamous criminals, and then we also do tours at the USS Yorktown it's a World War two aircraft carrier out in our harbor at Patriots Point in that place that the ship is fascinating and it's filled with very compelling stories that will make I don't care if you're a skeptic many folks come on the tour like a ghost it's just you know whatever but they leave thinking oh my gosh oh my god that was very thought-provoking yeah
SPEAKER_03I guess that over time, have you found new stories that you didn't know 20 years ago? I guess it's always an evolving thing, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00That's a great question. It really is evolving and you know, history's in the past obviously, but there's always, um, you know, people gain insight. There'll be a book that, you know, none of us had discovered that somebody will find in a, an old library or their aunt's basement or something like that. And like, wow, we never knew this fact about whatever that the house, the landmark, the building is. Uh, so it's, kind of always evolving. And I'm as excited about Charleston history and food and ghosts today as I was 30 years ago. It just, you know, Charleston gets better and better. The food here is second to none. The gardens are spectacular. It's very well preserved. And one thing I love about it is the scale of Charleston. You can park your car here. If you bring a car and you get out and walk wherever you want to go, walk to the restaurants, walk to the museum homes, to the art gallery to where you're going to lunch, breakfast, your hotel, and that makes for kind of a neat experience.
SPEAKER_03Do you have a favorite spot or a favorite story? And I know we're probably short for time because our tour is almost leaving.
SPEAKER_00That's a great question. It kind of changes day by day. When I was young, I loved all the kind of true crime and the gritty stories about Charleston during Prohibition and all that stuff. And then, I don't know, there was a period of my life where I loved the garden gardens and just kind of submerged myself into learning everything about all the landscape architects that helped make Charleston Gardens what they are today. And then there was a period where I loved the architecture. There's something new every day. I walk the same streets day after day, year after year, and it seems like I'm always noticing a detail that like, well, I didn't know that that existed. As far as one single story, no, I kind of just get lost in, and this sounds hokey coming from a tour guide, but just really the magic, the charm, the uniqueness of Charleston. When you walk these streets and these alleyways, you can sense the historical weight that surrounds you. You know that these houses had been, many of them, some of the same families that have been there for eight, nine generations at this point, they're still living in the same houses as their forefathers did. that Charleston had in our country's history. whether the first shots of the Civil War, one of the first major victories of the Revolutionary War was all here. And knowing that, wow, these are where some of our textbook heroes, George Washington, he walked these streets, or Francis Marion, the founder of guerrilla warfare, who was, they've made movies and TV shows about that guy. And just to be surrounded by history and beauty and just ever-changing landscapes, I just feel very fortunate to do what I do.
SPEAKER_03John Laverne is the the founder, boss man of Bulldog Tours. You can find all their tours on their website, bulldogtours.com. I do appreciate your time. Anything you want
SPEAKER_00to add? Randy, I appreciate you and your wife coming to visit us. I know you all came a long way from here, but I'm just glad that you ended up in Charleston, and I hope you come back. That is
SPEAKER_03our show for this week featuring our time in Charleston, South Carolina. It's a beautiful area of the southern U.S. We want to say thanks to Visit Charleston for all their help in organizing our visit. Thanks also to the friendly staff of the Charleston Place Hotel for hosting us. We had an amazing time. If you have comments or questions, we'd love to hear from you. If you have a show idea, send that along as well. My email address is randy at theinformedtraveler.org and if you like what you heard, tell a friend You can check out our website too, theinformedtraveler.org. In the meantime, thanks for listening. Travel safe and be an informed traveler.