Founded in 1670 by English colonists and named for King Charles II, this patrician city sits on a sea-level peninsula where the Ashley and Cooper rivers meet the Atlantic Ocean. The entire palmetto-shaded core of Charleston is a National Historic Landmark, with narrow cobblestone streets lined by a living museum of more than a thousand carefully restored structures, including antebellum mansions ringed with piazzas and ornamental ironwork. The city has long drawn Civil War buffs — Fort Sumter is a 30-minute ferry ride from Liberty Square — but more recently, it has blossomed into a major culinary destination.  Yet even in the face of increasing tourist crowds, the streets retain an air of elegance. And although the city has a dark side to its history — many of its grand mansions were built, directly or indirectly, through the labor of enslaved African Americans — Charleston doesn’t shy away from this aspect of its heritage.