I walked out the entrance of the
historic Mills House Hotel and onto
Meeting Street. You meet a lot of
interesting people on Meeting St. —
located in the heart of this, America’s
most historic and beautiful city — like
the elderly woman carrying a basket
of straw in one hand and an umbrella
in the other.

“Good morning,” the grandmotherly
type greeted me. “It will be a hot one
today. You’ll be needin’ a straw hat to keep the sun off so come and see me; I’ll be working on the corner.”

“Do you make straw golf caps because I’ll be playing golf later today,” I responded.
“I can make you a hat like that Shark fellow (Greg Norman) wears but no caps,” said the woman in a southern drawl as sweet as the scents coming from the surrounding gardens.

There was time to kill before heading to nearby Kiawah Island Resort for a long-anticipated game with friends on the famed Ocean Course, so I decided to stroll the charming streets of Charleston while my golfing buddies slept off the good time we had the night before visiting the city’s vibrant entertainment district.

Just a few blocks away from the charming Mills House, where Robert E. Lee and other historic icons of the Old South slept, is Broad St., one of the old city’s major thoroughfares, which leads to the port that made this one of America’s most important and richest cities 300 years ago.

It was at the corner of Broad and Meeting where I again met the elderly woman who had greeted me earlier.

“Did you make me that straw golf cap?” I asked the moon-faced woman who answered my question with a hearty laugh.

The woman is one of Charleston’s best ambassadors — artisans who make coiled sweet-grass baskets on the streets or in the market off Market St., and fill visitors in on the city’s history as they toil under the shade of their umbrellas. The woman told me I was in an area known as South of Broad, the city’s most historic district where period homes have been preserved and are the basis for what makes this city so attractive to travelers.

A stroll along Charleston’s handsome cobbled streets (the cobblestones here look more like boulders) and you quickly understand why Conde Nast Traveler and Travel+Leisure magazines rank this amazing coastal city located approximately 100 miles to the north of Hilton Head and about the same distance to the south of Myrtle Beach among their Top North American destinations. It’s my favourite!

If you’re a golfer, Charleston goes right to the top of your list with its offering of world class courses wrapped around exquisite resorts that offer the best of everything, including sea views that are just awesome.  In fact, what is now the downtown area was the site of one of the oldest golf “clubs” in North America - Harleston Green, circa 1786.
Today, the courses near Charleston are designed by the greatest names in the game — Tom Fazio, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Rees Jones, Arthur Hills, Pete Dye, Gary Player, etc., etc.

And after each game, there’s always Charleston to return to and enjoy. Which is what I’m doing on this sunny summer morning on streets lined with ancient trees that shade red stone buildings that date back to America’s colonial era.

My mini-tour included stops at St. Philip’s Church, established in 1680, and its well-preserved cemetery where the city’s most prominent families are huddled together under moss-covered tomb stones.

The straw lady made me promise to pay attention to the homes on my tour, especially the ones with the steel bolts and plaques holding up their walls. The supports are leftovers from the 1886 earthquake that rocked the city and caused much damage to the buildings here.

I later ambled into the Old City Market and wandered amongst stalls where souvenirs, water color paintings, photographs and lots of sweet-grass baskets were being offered.
The buildings surrounding the Old City Market, which at one time served as warehouses, have mostly been transformed into chic eateries offering up everything from down home cookin’ to exotic Asian dishes.

The city’s pastel colored houses and hidden gardens are why over 4 million visitors come here each year but it’s the golf courses offered here that keep them coming back. High on top of that list, as far as this duffer is concerned, is the Ocean Course, which formerly hosted the Ryder Cup and is slated to host the 2012 PGA Championship. This golf Mecca has also played host to the Senior PGA Championship — 2007 — and just down the road at the RiverTowne Country club is where the LPGA played its inaugural Ginn Tribute event in 2007.

That speaks to the quality of courses you’ll find in the Charleston area, which also welcomes us mere mortals of the golf world.

Besides the Ocean Course – the best golf course you’ll play anywhere in the U.S. as far as I’m concerned — Kiawah offers some other outstanding tests like Cougar Point, Osprey Point, Turtle Point and Oak Point.  By now you should have gotten the “point” that this is a treasured island for golfers. Nearby is the Wild Dunes resort and its double helping of golf goodness in the form of the Links Course and the Harbour Course — both sweet treats.

If you’re not golfed out by now, there’s plenty of other great courses in the area to play, like Seabrook Island Resort’s Crooked Oaks and Ocean Winds; Charleston National and Dunes West to name a few.  

Getting to the Charleston area is pretty easy whether you are driving or flying.  Delta, US Airways, Air Tran and Continental are some of the airlines that fly in and out of the Charleston International Airport daily.

Regardless of your budget, Charleston Golf Inc. can customize a golf vacation that will suit you to a tee!  The Charleston area offers a wide range of accommodations from affordable to luxury hotels and as well as beach villas.

Their on-line quote module makes it easy to create and price a custom package in real time – and to make as many changes as you’d like.  There’s no need to wait around for a return call or e-mail to get a price quote! 

Check them out at www.golfguidecharleston.com or give them a call at 1 800 774 4444.

_________________________________________________________________________________