Late Spring offers some of Charleston most famous sights and sounds, as gardens peak with glorious shades of color, and the city comes alive with the splendor of fine arts and the roar of Civil War cannons.

The Family Circle Cup – The Family Circle Cup marks its 11th year on Daniel Island Tennis Center, April 2 -10, featuring international stars in women’s tennis. Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, Justine Henin, and Martina Hingis are among the gifted professionals who have displayed their skills in this stunning outdoor setting on one of the famed historic islands of coastal South Carolina.

World Team Tennis - Tickets for the WTT Finals Weekend presented by GEICO go on sale April 4 at 10 a.m. ET. Weekend packages range from $50 to $150, with single session tickets $15-$55.  Finals in Charleston - July 22-24, 2011

Tour of Homes and Gardens - Luxurious gardens are still sprouting and on display with the historic Charleston Foundation’s tour of homes and gardens through April 16th. Daily tours feature historic homes and gardens from the 18th and 19th centuries. For tickets call 843-722-3405 or online at www.historiccharleston.org.

World Grits Festival -  It doesn’t get any tastier or more Southern than the annual World Grits Festival held in St. George, April 8-12.  This famous staple of Southern cooking is ground from corn into the fluffy favorite called grits, and besides cooking contests and grits recipe delights, the county seat of Dorchester county gives a full flavor of hospitality with live music, parades, and the “rolling in the grits” competition.

Civil War Festivities - Civil War sesquicentennial celebrations will be highlighted throughout Charleston from April 10 – 12, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter. Reenactors will feature encampments at Patriots Point Maritime Museum, and will recreate the 34-hour bombardment with guns firing from various points around the harbor.

At Memminger Auditorium, actors will relive the true stories of those who lived through the war in the stage production “Civil War voices”, featuring orginal music of the period. Ticket information for the daily performances can be obtained by calling 276-638-3991, ext. 406, or e-mail at groupsalesrep@bartertheatre.com.

Add the roar of the famed U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds to the Civil War festivities, with the Charleston Air Expo, April 9th at the Charleston Air Force Base.  Besides the famed precision flight team flying their incredible F-16’s, there will be various military aircraft on ground display. All events are free to the public and gates open at 8am.

The flower town of Summerville is a relatively unknown gem near Charleston. On April 2nd, thousands of visitors will descend on the small community for the annual “Flowertown Festival”, in which outdoor music and displays are accented by the area’s famous banks of blooming azaleas. Summerville became a notable place to visit in the late 19th century, and was briefly an international destination prized for the recuperative powers of its pristine surroundings. The azaleas, however, weren’t the center of attention in the old “spa” days, but instead, the aroma of its vast acres of pine trees. Pine resin was once believed to have a medicinal healing effect when absorbed through the nasal passages. Summerville got its nickname “Flowertown in the Pines” primarily for its great trees, with the blooming azaleas an afterthought originally, that now are one of the town’s most noteworthy attractions.

Charleston’s grandest show comes May 27 –June11, with the 35th annual Spoleto USA Festival and its companion Piccolo Spoleto Festival. Spoleto USA is internationally-respected for its world-class performing talent displayed in theater, dance, music and the performing arts. Famed artists who have graced Spoleto include Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Renee Fleming, and Emanuel Ax, and each year includes world premieres of the some of the finest in ballet, chamber music, opera, jazz, chorus and drama. Settings for more than 700 events during the festival include the famed Dock Street Theater, the romantic College of Charleston cistern yard, historic Memminger Auditorium and beautiful Simons Recital Hall. The accompanying Piccolo festival offers regional talent in art exhibits, classical music, poetry readings, choral music and children’s activities. For Spoleto USA ticket information, call 843-579-3100 or go online a www.spoletousa. For Piccolo ticket information, go online at www.piccolospoleto.com

  Charleston Architecture - Charleston’s West Point rice mill was once the largest rice-refining establishment in the world, and still stands magnificently today overlooking the banks of the Ashley River, where sailing ships once docked to load its “white gold”. Rice was grown extensively throughout the coastal plain, and giant mills were needed to crush the husks and polish the kernels of tons of grain shipped overseas each year. The West Point Mill was built in 1859 in a Greek Revival style that featured plaster pilasters accentuating its brick façade. Four floors of machinery, storage areas, workshops and living spaces included giant threshing and winnowing machines to separate chaff from husks, as well as massive steam-powered grinding stones to mill kernels and rice flour. The rice industry suffered from the savage 1911 hurricane, and within that decade the West Point Mill closed. In 1925, Henry Ford visited Charleston, and purchased the mill machinery for his museum in Dearborn Michigan, where it remains today. The old mill has since seen service as a restaurant, a marina headquarters and as city offices.

  Bet You Did Not Know - The historic formal gardens of downtown Charleston had largely faded into obscurity following the Civil War, and many became overgrown and poorly kept. The grand image of these formal spaces underwent a revival, however, with the arrival of New York landscape architect Loutrell Briggs in the 1920’s. Briggs had already achieved a reputation for his landscapes and quickly became of favorite of Charlestonians who hoped to restore the grace and charm of their green spaces. Briggs became part of the “Charleston Rennaissance” of the 1930’s, during which the faded luster of the historic city was brought back to a shining glory. Briggs revamped formal gardens with varieties of shapes, sizes and colors or blooms, trees, and sculpture, creating distinctive parts in each garden – called “rooms” – that graced the architecture of the adjoining house and evoked a palate of sensory pleasures in the visual amalgamation.

  Charleston Market Report - March 2011