Where: Charleston, South Carolina
When: year-round
If you like: dining and drinks
Why you should go: Centuries ago, the peninsula now known as Charleston was a shell-strewn stretch of land called Oyster Point. But even in a city built on bivalves, the succulent delicacy has never been more popular than it is today—as evidenced by the crowds jockeying for bar stools at spots like 167 Raw Oyster Bar and Lowland at the Quinte and the jam-packed winter calendar of oyster roasts, including the world’s largest, February’s Lowcountry Oyster Festival. Thank goodness the region is also home to a top-tier example of sustainable oyster farming, the Lowcountry Oyster Company, which helps take pressure off wild stock. “Our whole goal is to feed as many people across America as we can on the smallest footprint,” founder Trey McMillan says. That it does, stocking restaurants and grocery stores and shipping directly to consumers nationwide. But for the freshest taste of their “Lowcountry Cups,” book an ecotour of their floating farm, located just outside the city in the scenic ACE Basin.
G&G tip: Keep an eye on the Instagram account of De Mare Raw Bar, a boat-to-table purveyor that pops up at local hangouts like Perch and Philosophers & Fools.
