Join First2Board In Charleston South Carolina

First2Board is very excited to welcome our readers and travel fans to Charleston, South Carolina during the weekend of September 6-8th for our first event – The Charleston City Sessions.   The idea is that we’ll hold “sessions” in different cities around the country each year.   The sessions are somewhere between DO and Seminar – the primary focus is on exploring the city!

Tickets will go on sale June 15th but you can sign up for VIP access  to registration. Check out this page now!

Famous “Rainbow Row” in historic downtown Charleston

Weekend Highlights:

This is a preliminary, high-level schedule. More details will be added before registration opens on June 15th.

Lunch will be served as grab-and-go so you can stay and enjoy or catch an early afternoon flight

The agenda is  subject to change and you will be notified via this site if changes are made

Charleston is rich in history. Charleston was rated the #1 city in the US for 2011 and 2012 by Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards. Here’s some facts you may, or may not, know:

• Charleston was settled by English settlers in 1670. It’s one of the older cities in America.
• The settlement was often attacked by sea and from land – like the 1706 failed expedition during Queen Anne’s War. The influence on the city can still be seen today – even restaurants have named themselves after these historical events. For example, diners can enjoy a meal at Queen Anne’s Revenge.
• The city was fortified to prevent against continued attacks. Two buildings remain from the Walled City, the Powder Magazine, where the city’s supply of gunpowder was stored, and the Pink House, believed to have been an old colonial tavern
• The first theatre building in America was built in Charleston in 1736, but was later replaced by the 19th-century Planter’s Hotel. The Planter’s hotel got its name from its guests – wealth farm owners who planted crops in the south’s rich soils.
• One of the first major establishments of African slavery in the American colonies occurred with the founding of Charles Town and South Carolina in 1670. The colony was founded mainly by planters from the overpopulated sugar island colony of Barbados, who brought relatively large numbers of African slaves from the island
• On December 20, 1860, the South Carolina General Assembly made the state the first to ever secede from the Union.
• On January 9, 1861, Citadel cadets fired the first shots of the American Civil War when they opened fire on the Union ship Star of the West entering Charleston’s harbour.
• The city under siege took control of Fort Sumter, became the centre for blockade running, and was the site of the first successful submarine warfare on February 17, 1864 when the H.L. Hunley made a night attack on the USS Housatonic. 
• On August 31, 1886, Charleston was nearly destroyed by an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale. It was felt as far away as Boston to the north, Chicago and Milwaukee to the northwest, as far west as New Orleans, as far south as Cuba, and as far east as Bermuda. It damaged 2,000 buildings in Charleston and caused $6 million worth of damage ($187 million (2010 USD)), while in the whole city the buildings were only valued at approximately $24 million ($590 million (2010 USD).
• Hurricane Hugo hit Charleston in 1989 and damaged three-quarters of the homes in Charleston’s historic district. The hurricane caused over $2.8 billion in damage.
• Charleston is a major tourist destination. Along the waterfront in an area known as Rainbow Row are many beautiful and historic pastel-coloured homes. The city is also an important port, boasting the second largest container seaport on the East Coast and the fourth largest container seaport in North America.

View of Charleston and the harbor

Here are some fun facts about the city:

• The first game of golf played in the United States took place in Charleston, South Carolina
• The TV Miniseries based on the trilogy of North and South, Love and War, Heaven & Hell: North & South were filmed at Calhoun Mansion at 16 Meeting St.
• TV Show Army Wives is filmed mostly at the old Naval Base and other areas around the city.
• Some of the Movies filmed in Charleston include: Ace Ventura: Nature Calls, Die Hard With A Vengeance, For The Boys, The Legend of Bagger Vance, The Notebook, The Patriot, The Prince of Tides, White Squall and Cold Mountain
• Some of the well known books set in Charleston include: Beach Music and South of Broad by Pat Conroy, The Alibi by Sandra Brown, Southern Lights by Danielle Steele
• George Gershwin composed his well known opera Porgy and Bess while living on Folly Beach
• North America’s longest cable-stayed bridge spans the Charleston Harbor, pictured above