We just returned from a few days in Charleston, South Carolina. My first time to that city.
We found what we were looking for, what we always look for:
Natural beauty, informed history, exploration and exercise.
Nature: spanish moss, swampland, swampgrass, flowers (one with a lizard inside), egrets, alligators, snakes, banana spiders (!), “Angel Oak”–400 years old, waterfront, rivers, sunsets. . .
French Quarter (cobblestone streets, tunneled alleyways, balconies, churches, places where George Washington stayed … great food of course!)
Charles Towne Landing (1670, Brits with slaves and Bahamians)
Fort Sumter (in Charleston harbor where the first conflict of the War Over Slavery aka the Civil War began)
Magnolia Plantation (going inside slave cabins on the “Slavery to Freedom” tour led by a Black woman educator … oh, and alligators!)
The Old Slave Mart (huge numbers of human beings auctioned for sale; learned from a Black woman educator).
⇒This is Critical History (forget the smoke screen of “critical race theory” arguments … Teach History!)
“Democratic liberty exists solely because we have slaves … freedom is not possible without slavery.” (Richmond Enquirer, 1856)
Friendly Freethinker 
Hello from Canada again, Chris. I have been to Charleston several times usually when I was travelling from Washington DC to Florida or when I lived in Virginia Beach. I think it is one of the more interesting and varied cities in the South. One of the historical details I found very ironic was that the most small businesses owners of African-American was in Charleston before the Civil War. And even more perplexing was that a few actually fought for the South as they wanted to protect their interests and families. The old town on the island is a great place to stay with all the history which you also mentioned. Ironically, it was one of the more liberal and tolerant cities in the Confederacy and the decision to attack Fort Sumpter was a surprise to many of the residents.
Yes, Marty, quite a remarkable city and region, with islands of irony!