October’s Outdoor Living Edition
Charleston Magazine Encourages Residents to Get Out and Enjoy the Lowcountry

October 1, 2008 – Charleston, South Carolina – Charleston magazine’s October issue highlights a few of the Lowcountry’s finest outdoor adventures for the fall season. Editor-in-chief Darcy Shankland elaborates, “Fall promises more civilized temperatures, lower humidity, and the reduced risk of being carried off by mosquitoes—perfect conditions for getting out and enjoying the Lowcountry.”

Botany Bay Plantation, a 4,360-acre landscape surrounded by the Atlantic and marshland, is featured in “Shifting Sands” by Jim Hutchisson. With the support of the Department of Natural Resources, this treasured wilderness is now open to the public after being privately owned for 250 years. This new accessibility has raised local awareness to the vital task of maintaining and preserving our natural environs. Editor Darcy Shankland comments, “With the privilege of enjoying our public outdoor spaces comes the responsibility of every citizen to respect, nurture, and preserve them for the future generations.”

With temperatures dropping and gas prices rising, local residents are looking to other modes of transportation. In Jon Yarian’s “Pedal Pushers,” read about how the City of Charleston is becoming bicycle-friendly by encouraging locals to bike for transportation and fun. Senior editor Melissa Bigner contributed to the topic with her piece “Bicycle Diaries” - a witty essay chronicling her adventures on two wheels. The absence of a summer nuisance - pesky mosquitoes - allowed Bigner to continue her new series, Lowcountry Ramblings, as she spends the day beachcombing Edisto Beach State Park in “A Shore Thing.”

For a cultural pursuit, visit The Gibbes Museum of Art and their “Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art,” exhibit on the evolution of the sweetgrass basket. In the feature “Stitched in Time,” Gia McKenzie retells the history of the Lowcountry basket making tradition from its beginning hundreds of years ago in Africa to the recognized art form it is today.

With the fall weather comes football season and an abundance of tailgating opportunities. Aaron Deal, Executive Chef of Tristan, and Tory McPhail, of Commander’s Palace in New Orleans, impart tips for the best tailgate spreads from their new book, Commander’s Wild Side while Charleston magazine’s staffers share their favorite beer recipes.