In the November issue of GQ, Charleston is named as one of the “Coolest Small Cities in America.” GQ describes various attractions in Charleston, including:

Food at FIG, Squire Fox

To wake up under the ornate fourteen-foot ceilings of the Wentworth Mansion is to wonder if some southern heiress took you home with her the night before. The stately digs were once the city’s finest home, and they make you feel not like you live in Charleston but like you own it.

Plus, you’re within walking distance of the Hominy Grill and its unparalleled shrimp ‘n’ grits—a dish that earns its place on breakfast, brunch, and lunch/dinner menus, and makes you want to stretch out on your daybed at the Mansion.

Instead, follow signs to Folly Beach and keep heading east along the water until you’re past the cars parked under the palmetto trees. You can sleep off breakfast in the sun, but between the temperate climate and generally mellow swell, it’s a good place to pick up surfing—or to shred if you can. Southern hospitality extends to the water: You won’t find friendlier locals on the East Coast.

Once you get your appetite back, return your rented longboard at McKevlin’s Surf Shop and cross the street to Taco Boy, where the Baja-style mahimahi taco uses local fish to transport you to Southern California.

The best reason to head back to town is dinner at Fig. It’s a place that makes you want to gnaw on Spanish moss; once you see what they’ve done with local products, you imagine that everything around you tastes as good as their flawless pork trotters and local crab-topped flounder. After some sorghum pudding, it’s back to the Mansion.