Spring ends with a dramatic flair each year in Charleston, with the annual Spoleto USA festival. Opening May 25th and running to its grand Middleton Place fireworks finale June 17th, this acclaimed international arts festival offers 125 series of shows of music, theater, dance, opera, and visual arts at a wide variety of charming venues. One of the most heralded attractions each year is the chamber music series at Charleston's famed Dock Street Theatre. Other features this year are theatrical's performances of Noel Coward's always-popular "Hay Fever", the award-winning Alvin Ailey Dance troupe, and the unique American sound of Ketch and Critter of Old Crow Medicine Show. For performance dates, information and tickets, call 843-579-3100 or go online at infor@spoletousa.org.

Complementing the Spoleto USA festival for the 32nd year will be the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, from May 25th to June 10th, featuring 700 events in the visual, performing and literary arts. This is a more regional-focused event on the music, jazz, dance, poetry readings and visual arts of the Southeast. For more information contact the City of Charleston office of cultural affairs at 843-724-7305 or online at CulturalAffairs@charleston-sc.gov.

Theater 99 is one of Charleston's newest venues and totally devoted to improve comedy. With shows every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday night, Theater 99 showcases Charleston's long-standing tradition and talent for laughing at itself. Theater 99 also offers classes for budding entertainers, featuring 90-minute sessions at $10 each to help develop stage presence, material conception, as well as learning hands-on with touring comedians. For more information, call 853-6687 or e-mail info@theater99.com.

A visit to the Firefly Distillery and Charleston Tea Plantation on Wadmalaw Island is a unique idea for Charleston activity. Located in a former winery on the island, 30 minutes south of Charleston, the rustic setting among ancient oaks offers insight into the making of Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka, which is hugely popular as a warm-weather libation. The combination of fresh distilled vodka mixed with sweet tea seemed natural considering that America's only active tea grower at the Charleston Tea Plantation just down the road, where more than 320 varieties of tea are grown on fertile soil where tea plants were introduced in colonial times. For tasting times at the distillery, call 843-557-1405, and for tours and hours at the tea plantation call 843-559-0383, ext. 206.

Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission's Outdoor Adventure Program offers a variety of ways to explore and enjoy the natural bounty of South Carolina's coastal plain. One big favorite is paddlesports, in which a variety of skills classes and day trips are offered to those who range from beginner to expert in both kayaks and canoes. Late Spring is a time when wading and shorebirds flock to coastal rookeries to hatch new generations, and paddlers can enjoy the wonder of swarming wings of herons, egrets, seagulls, terns, and ibis. Another growing interest is the paddleboard, which is handled from a standing position and a longer, sweeping stroke. This affords a combination of excellent cardiovascular training along with the benefits of a quiet, peaceful way to wander the creeks and bays near Charleston.

The PRC also operates three water parks at James Island County Park, Palmetto Islands County Park, and at Wannamaker County Park, where youngsters can enjoy an exhilarating splash and families can rent for private parties. Palmetto Islands Park and Wannamaker Park also feature hiking trails along pristine waterfront areas where osprey dive and dolphins splash. James Island County Park is a favorite for climbing buffs, with a 50-foot state-of-the art climbing wall and 4500 square feet of challenging climbing terrain.

Perhaps the most natural of the county park setting is the extensive Caw Caw Interpretive Center located 20 minutes from downtown Charleston near Ravenel, South Carolina. This former home of coastal rice plantations features six miles of trails and boardwalks through some of the area's most enchanting wetlands and forests.

For information on all park locations and programs, contact the PRC at 843-795-4386 get updated information by e-mailing customerservice@ccprc.com.

Somewhat different than you're everyday coastal experience is a jaunt down to the "edge of America" on Folly Beach. This thin sliver of land less than four miles long has a compelling history and extremely laid-back atmosphere today. The name folly comes from the old English term for a wooded isle, and Folly's forested areas are filled with giant oaks that date back centuries. Originally used by native tribes such as the Cussabo to gather shells and fish, Folly was later inhabited mostly by cattle, and harvested for its wood in the colonial period. A distance from early Charleston by road, the island nevertheless borders Morris Island, which overlooks the entrance to the city's harbor. For that reason, Northern troops landed here in 1862 to begin the siege of Charleston in the Civil War. Still remote in the 1930's, it was Folly Beach that George Gershwin chose as his retreat to write the operatic score for "Porgy and Bess", and the island did not become a regular recreational location until after World War II. Always slow-paced and typically inhabited by those who preferred an alternative lifestyle, Folly Beach became famous for its ramshackle 1950's pier where cars parked in the sand.

The old pier and beach cars are long gone, but these days, the "washout" area is known up and down the Atlantic coast as a surfer's delight, and the bistros, cafes and bars open into casual streets and a flip-flop lifestyle that beckons brightly today.

  Charleston Architecture - The cupola is a distinctive architectural design that graces a number of Charleston's colonial-era buildings. The name means "little cup" in Italian, and is an example of classical emphasis on style that was as ornamental as it was functional. The cupola crowns buildings such as the Old Exchange, the Josiah Smith house, and the John Ashe house with an exquisite and delicate look, much like a dome. It functions as a heat-release, however, as warm air escaped upward through the building when cupola windows are opened. Anything that could help structures cool was considered a good idea in Charleston's tropical climate, but few could afford such a luxurious statement as the cupola. John Ashe and Josiah Smith were very rich merchants, and the Old Exchange was the jewel of the city when opened in 1771, so the little cup made a big impression on ships entering Charleston during that period. The Old Exchange cupola was destroyed by storm in 1817 and not replaced until 1835, with a design that was less than impressive to one writer who called it "a pepper box on a terrapin's back." Removed again after the 1886 earthquake, the Exchange was cupola-less until extensive renovation in 1979 that restored the original design.

  Bet You Did Not Know - Two of the most feared names in pirate history, Blackbeard and Stede Bonnet, once terrorized Charleston with their bold escapades along the southern coast. Blackbeard, whose real name was Edward Teach, was born to poor English parents, while Bonnet came from a much wealthier background. Both went to sea as young men and quickly found that stealing from others paid much better than a sailor's wages. Using small swift ships with shallow drafts, these pirates lurked in creeks and bays along the Carolina coast, emerging quickly to strike lumbering freight and passenger vessels en route to Charleston. Both became so daring that they would linger just beyond the harbor entrance, daring any ship to pass or to fight. Both were known for intimidating tactics that added immensely to their fame - Blackbeard for placing fiery embers in his beard as he boarded fleeing ship, and Bonnet for making those who resisted "walk the plank" overboard to drown. Both would die the same year (1718) in violent deaths - Blackbeard in a naval battle on the North Carolina coast, and Bonnet by hanging at Charlston's Oyster Point (now White Point Garden).

  Charleston Market Report - May 2012

CHARLESTON, SC—(May 11, 2012) According to preliminary data released today by the Charleston Trident Association of REALTORS® (CTAR), 831 homes sold at a median price of $183,000 in April. There were 24,213 property showings recorded by the MLS in April.

Last April, preliminary figures showed 776 homes sold at a median price of $175,000, following an almost equal number of property tours.

“The number of showings our REALTORS® are completing in 2012 is almost equal to the number of showings we saw in 2009, when the market was significantly depressed, but inventory was much higher. This tells us that the prospective buyers in today’s market aren’t just looking. They are serious buyers, making offers and closing transactions” said 2012 CTAR President, Herb Koger.