Return to main article10 Great Places to Spend Christmas
Charleston
Why Go: - Pecans roasting on the fire instead of chestnuts. Where to Stay: The 21-room Wentworth Mansion (doubles from $385) dresses in subdued Victorian finery for the holidays with magnolia wreaths, old-world Santas, and two grand Christmas trees in the foyer. Every room has its own fireplace. On your pillow at turndown: chocolate truffles. Holiday Dinner: At Peninsula Grill (dinner for two $110), chef Robert Carter puts a radical spin on such low-country favorites as black-eyed pea, smoky tomato and okra soup with crawfish and sweet onion hash, and rack of New Zealand lamb with coconut-mint pesto. Stocking Stuffer: Sweet grass is gathered from low-country marshes and then woven into baskets, bracelets, pins, barrettes, and earrings by traditional weavers at Vera Manigault’s Family stand on Highway 17 North in Mount Pleasant. —Shane Mitchell
- Eggnog laced with bourbon.
- Choirs singing spirituals at Drayton Hall plantation.
