Autumn Years Spring 2024

I t is a city that played a key role in America’s Revolutionary War, ig nited the Civil War, and has sur vived earthquakes and epic hurricanes alike. It is a city rich in history working to embrace and confront the truth of its past as home to the largest slave trading wharf in the country. Charleston is not showy or boastful. It is a city where handwritten notes of thanks are still commonplace and where politeness and courtesy always matter. It is welcoming. It is therefore no sur prise that Charleston, nicknamed The Holy City for the church steeples that define its skyline, is consistently ranked as a top tourist destination that attracts

times or are planning your first trip, to truly appreciate the beauty and vibrancy of modern Charleston, you need to un derstand a bit about the man who trans formed it, Joe Riley. Joseph P. Riley, Jr. served an unprec edented 10 consecutive terms or 40 years as Mayor of Charleston, from 1975-2016 (a headline in a New York Times opinion piece read “Is Joe Riley of Charleston the Most Loved Politician in America?”). The printed program for a 2015 tribute event to Mayor Riley presented by Charleston’s newspaper, The Post and Courier , includ ed the following quote from author Pat Conroy, “Until the arrival of Joe Riley, Charleston was a sleep-walking, under

some seven million visitors a year. For the eleventh year in a row, Travel + Leisure readers in 2023 named Charles ton the Best City in the United States and included Charleston in its list of 25 Favorite Cities in the World. Charles ton also earned the top spot in the 2023 Condé Nast Traveler Reader’s Choice Awards for the Best Cities in the United States. And these recent accolades are merely a representative sampling of the many attestations to Charleston’s broad and worldwide appeal. Indeed, Charleston’s history, culture, beauty and walkable size make it a fas cinating place to experience and explore. However, whether you have visited many

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Broad Street in Charleston.

54 AUTUMN YEARS I SPRING 2024