Isle of Palms

Just seven miles long and one mile wide, the Isle of Palms is a barrier island separated from Mount Pleasant by the Intracoastal Waterway. With six miles of beach along the coastline, every house on the island is within steps of sand and surf. The town is a popular vacation destination, as well as a favorite spot for second homes, but there’s also a steady population of permanent residents. For those that live in this beach town during the off-season, daily life involves all the summer favorites without the crowds: a morning walk on the beach, a concert at legendary music venue The Windjammer, or a meal of Lowcounty cuisine at a beachfront restaurant. It’s about a half-hour drive to downtown Charleston, so it’s easy to stop in the city for anything not available on the island or even as a regular commute.

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Living in Charleston

Greater Charleston, which includes the city’s suburban neighbor of Mount Pleasant as well as the nearby barrier islands, is the epitome of southern charm. Charleston has a place for every mood, with relaxed beach towns just across the water from historic neighborhoods boasting cobblestone streets and colorful row houses. The subtropical climate of the South Carolina Lowcountry is a heaven for plant lovers, with a distinct fragrance perfumed by the abundant jasmine and gardenia shrubs as well as the smell of the surrounding marshes’ pluff mud. To outsiders, the latter might seem like an odd thing to love—it’s made of decomposing swamp grass and sea life—but Charlestonians know that the oozy goo and its scent is as central to the city’s identity as the famously delicious oysters that live in it. That’s Charleston for you—a city where the locals are passionate about their idiosyncratic and layered history.