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Events You Don’t Want to Miss in Charleston this Summer

Charleston Tours And Events

Events You Don’t Want to Miss in Charleston this Summer

Charleston, South Carolina continues to be one of the most cherished and beloved locations in all of the United States. Charming, beautiful, historic, breathtaking, choose your favorable adjective, and there’s a good chance it’s been ascribed to Charleston at some point. Voted America’s #1 small city six years and counting, it’s also been ranked as the “world’s best city” by Travel + Leisure magazine. Suffice to say that Charleston is a destination spot for travelers all over the world throughout the year.

Summer in Charleston is simply glorious. Warm temperatures by day lead to balmy evenings, with cool breezes off the Atlantic ocean always welcomed. If you’re visiting Charleston, or if you’re a local, there’s always a million things to do in Charleston in the summertime. Here’s a sample of events you don’t want to miss in Charleston this summer.

Charleston Jam on the Water Concert Series

Join Charleston Harbor Tours and Follywood Productions for an amazing two-hour cruise in Charleston Harbor featuring great local bands covering the music you know and love. This series runs from mid-April through early November and gives you not only great music but close-up views of some of the Holy City’s most famous and charming sights, including: Fort Sumter, the USS Yorktown, stately homes along the battery, and St. Michael’s Episcopal Church (a survivor of both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars).

Music featured in the Jam on the Water Concert Series includes the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, 80’s Tribute, Jimmy Buffett, Led Zepplin, and the Grateful Dead. Summer nights don’t get much better than drinking and dancing the night away on the beautiful waters of the Charleston Harbor.

Charleston River Dogs Baseball Games

From mid-April until early September, the Charleston River Dogs, the single-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, play home games at Joseph P. Riley Park. Minor league baseball games are one of the true treasures of summertime in the United States, and the River Dogs are no different, with fun, family-oriented promotions at nearly every home game. Come and see the River Dogs take on teams like the Kannapolis Intimidators, the Greensboro Grasshoppers, and the Hickory Crawdads. Nothing says “summer” quite like taking in a minor league baseball game!

Sunset Sail

It’s pretty hard to exaggerate how beautiful a sunset sail on Charleston Harbor is. The setting sun combines with the sparkling water to produce dazzling shades of pink, blue, orange, and yellow that will take your breath away. The Sunset Sail, put on by Charleston Harbor Tours and The Schooner Pride, is a glorious two-hour sail that happens nearly every night in the summer in Charleston. The Schooner Pride is an 84-foot, three-mast schooner modeled after the classic coastal trading schooners. Sights take in on this sail include the four forts of Charleston Harbor, including the famous Fort Sumter, which helped shape our nation’s history, the impressive Arthur Ravenal Jr. bridge, one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the Western hemisphere, and the historic 18th and 19th-century buildings that dot the Charleston skyline.

Weekend Brunch

Brunch might be a staple in many cities across the nation, but in Charleston, it’s a way of life! Brunch is so popular here that many restaurants serve it all day long, every day. From standard offerings like eggs and pancakes to more exotic staples like shrimp and grits, a Charleston brunch in the summer has it all. From Toast to The Park Café, or Hominy Grill to The Rarebit, fill yourself up on chicken and waffles, biscuits smothered in sausage and gravy and any other brunch staple you can think of along with an assortment of southern-style drinks that will please any palette, weekend brunch in Charleston is a must for any foodie’s bucket list.

City & Magnolia Plantation Tour

Get a true Lowcountry experience with Adventure Sightseeing and Charleston Harbor Tours with a guided tour of one of America’s first tourist attractions, the resplendent Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, followed by a 90-minute City Tour. Dating from 1676, this plantation and its world-famous gardens have been owned by the Drayton family for 15 generations. The Magnolia Plantation Tour brings you back in time during its 30-minute tour of the old southern mansion and then offers such wildlife as alligators, egrets, herons, and turtles on the nearly 600-acre plantation. The City Tour gives you an up-close look at all the landmarks in and around downtown Charleston including in-depth looks at the Citadel and the Old City Market, as well as many of the cities 210 churches.

The city of Charleston is just a little slice of paradise nestled in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Its charms are everywhere you look, but visitors and locals alike would be wise to put these activities on their “things-to-do list” in the summer.