There is Nothing Like It

I had a delightful stroll through the city this morning with a gentleman from Switzerland. Although he'd been to "America" many times in the past, he had never been to Charleston. I love when I have the opportunity to take first-time visitors on a tour through the city, but when the visitor is from Europe, it is particularly pleasant for me. Europeans have a different, more objective, perspective on things and are generally excited to learn about all things American. The comment that this gentleman made that really struck me was that he'd been all over America but he'd never seen anything like Charleston. Yes, I told him. We have a city that is undoubtedly one-of-a-kind. The city has one foot in the past and one in the present. We enjoy all the modern conveniences of today set within the backdrop of an earlier time. Unlike in most American cities, the old wasn't thrown out with the new in Charleston. In fact, it was cherished. So thanks to our ancestors who built this city and more recent generations who held onto it for us, we have a very special place - "unlike any other."