Charleston Real Estate Market

         We’re beginning to see the first hints of spring in the Lowcountry. It’s been an odd winter this year. How long since we had snow? Kids young and old enjoyed a brief flirtation with the white stuff. It didn’t stick around long enough to really get in the way, but the chance to build a snowman was one that very few folks could pass up. Remember Daylight Savings Time starts this month.     There’s a lot going on in March. The big blockbuster early this month is the BB&T Charleston Food + Wine Festival bringing together the best of the country’s chefs, authors and lots of incredible food and wine. It’s all happening the 4th-7th around Marion Square and benefitting  Louie’s Kids and Slow Food Charleston.     Fish Restaurant will be hosting their 100 Mile Dinners throughout the Festival. If you are more of a beer imbiber, you’ll want to ease up to Myrtle Beach for their Beer Fest on the 26th and 27th.     Alligator and Etoufee, anyone? Yes, it’s time for the Cajun Festival at James Island County Park on the 28th. Renofest Bluegrass Festival will be in Hartsville on the 26th. Now that’s a weekend even the kids will enjoy.

      It’s also time for the children’s favorite The Cat in the Hat as Dr Seuss never imagined. The Charleston Ballet brings the whole cast to life at the Black Box Theatre, 477 King St., on the 6th, 7th and 13th

      Dancing for clean water? The First Annual Water Ball will be on the 25th at the Aquarium. The Waterkeepers, a grass roots clean water movement, will host.

     Can’t get enough dancing? You can Shag on the Cooper at the Mt. P Pier on the 13th. Myrtle Beach will host the National Shag Championships the 11th-13th.

     The Moscow Festival Ballet, a combination of the Kirov and Bolshoi, will bring Sleeping Beauty to the Gaillard on the 8th while the Jitterbug will reign on the Yorktown on the 13th. The WWII Hanger Dance with guests in 40′s attire will honor the greatest generation. If you need to stretch out on the way, stop by the new Vibrant Living Yoga Studio in Ansonborough Square.     Who couldn’t use a laugh these days, especially a wickedly funny comedy. The Hat Ladies are sponsoring Five Women Wearing the Same Dress at the Footlight Players the 12th-28th.

     That surely won’t be the case when Charleston Fashion Week gears up for its fourth year. Local boutiques and emerging designers from the Southeast showcase their spring lines the 16th-20th.

     And right in the midst of fashion frenzy is St Patrick’s Day in all its green glory of parades and good old Irish fun on the 17th.

     If alpaca is you material of choice and you like your animals fleecy, visit the Palmetto Alpaca Classic Show on the 13th and 14th in North Augusta. But if you’re more partial to the strange and exotic, there’s a new inhabitant in the Backwater Swamp at the Aquarium. An albino alligator, one of fewer than 50 in the world, visits starting the 20th until mid May.

     Cypress Gardens is the site of the Berkeley Area Garden Clubs Spring Flower Show on the 6th and 7th. The public can bring their horticultural entries on the morning of the 5th. The SC Midlands Master Gardner Spring Symposium will be held in Columbia on March 18th.

     Looking for a free family event on the 26th-28th? Head to Summerville for “Flowertown Festival” held in Azalea Park.  This nationally acclaimed event is one of the Top 20 Events in the Southeast by the SE Tourism Society. There’s a Hummingbird Festival in Wofford on the 19th and 20th.

     Beaufort will hold their Spring Tour of Homes in the historic Old Point neighborhood on the 19th while 20 plantations around Georgetown will be available to see during the Plantation Tour of Prince George Winyah Parish  on the 26th and 27th. Yes, it is definitely the beginning of the season in the Lowcountry. 

     The Moscow Festival Ballet, a combination of the Kirov and Bolshoi, will bring Sleeping Beauty to the Gaillard on the 8th while the Jitterbug will reign on the Yorktown on the 13th. The WWII Hanger Dance with guests in 40′s attire will honor the greatest generation. If you need to stretch out on the way, stop by the new Vibrant Living Yoga Studio in Ansonborough Square.     Who couldn’t use a laugh these days, especially a wickedly funny comedy. The Hat Ladies are sponsoring Five Women Wearing the Same Dress at the Footlight Players the 12th-28th.

     That surely won’t be the case when Charleston Fashion Week gears up for its fourth year. Local boutiques and emerging designers from the Southeast showcase their spring lines the 16th-20th.

     And right in the midst of fashion frenzy is St Patrick’s Day in all its green glory of parades and good old Irish fun on the 17th.

     If alpaca is you material of choice and you like your animals fleecy, visit the Palmetto Alpaca Classic Show on the 13th and 14th in North Augusta. But if you’re more partial to the strange and exotic, there’s a new inhabitant in the Backwater Swamp at the Aquarium. An albino alligator, one of fewer than 50 in the world, visits starting the 20th until mid May.

     Cypress Gardens is the site of the Berkeley Area Garden Clubs Spring Flower Show on the 6th and 7th. The public can bring their horticultural entries on the morning of the 5th. The SC Midlands Master Gardner Spring Symposium will be held in Columbia on March 18th.

     Looking for a free family event on the 26th-28th? Head to Summerville for “Flowertown Festival” held in Azalea Park.  This nationally acclaimed event is one of the Top 20 Events in the Southeast by the SE Tourism Society. There’s a Hummingbird Festival in Wofford on the 19th and 20th.

     Beaufort will hold their Spring Tour of Homes in the historic Old Point neighborhood on the 19th while 20 plantations around Georgetown will be available to see during the Plantation Tour of Prince George Winyah Parish  on the 26th and 27th. Yes, it is definitely the beginning of the season in the Lowcountry. 

      A rare chance to visit one of Edisto Island’s most significant federal homes celebrates the 200th anniversary of the William Seabrook house. The Charleston Preservation Society fundraiser will be held on the 13th.

     March is the month to celebrate the architectural and landscape history of our home. The 63rd Annual Spring Festival of Houses and Gardens does just that. 150 of the city’s colonial and antebellum mansions and gardens are on display from the 18th to the 17th of April.

      Beginning the festival is the Charleston International Antiques Show with more than 30 of the country’s most prominent dealers with lots of period pieces to drool over on the19th-21st.

      The incredible American-made furniture collection of the Heyward Washington House will be showcased during the 18th century furniture tours on the18th-20th.

     On the 21st at 3pm the Circular Congregation Church will host “Jane Austen’s Music and Literary Society” with Chamber Music Charleston and the Actors Theater of S.C.

     Charleston Chamber Opera and the Gibbes will team up  for “Whistler’s Women- Songs Of a Life Well Traveled” on the 7th at 3pm in the rotunda to complement the exhibit.

      Cocktails for a Cause…Enjoy art, drinks and hors d’oeuvres at the Robert Lange Studio on the 12th to help the 2010 Women Build Project of Sea Island Habitat for Humanity.

     SC Maritime Foundation will host Spirit Night at the Love Me Again Clothing Shop at 183 Coming St on the 26th. Revamp your closet and support the Spirit of SC educational programs.

     My Sister’s House will benefit from the sales at Carolina Consigns on the 26th and 27th.

     For the equestrians in the house, it’s the Aiken Trials on the 13th, the 20th brings the Aiken Spring Steeplechase. Then on the 26th-28th the Aiken Horse Show will be held to benefit Hitchcock Woods, the largest urban forest in the country. 

     The Carolina Cup with steeplechase horse racing and elaborate tailgating parties will be held in Camden on the 27th.

Filed under: Around Town, Lowcountry Lifestyle on March 3rd, 2010