One of the few remaining city markets left in the United States, Charleston's city market still sells everything from vegetables to Civil War memorabilia. In this market, visitors to the city have the best definition of what Charleston is really like.

While mush of the market has been turned into a tourists' bazaar, sometimes surprises find you. When browsing through the many stands, my family and I spotted a stall dedicated to the Confederacy, complete with rebel flags, Dixie shot glasses, and bumperstickers proclaiming, "If at first you don't Secede, Try Try Again." The man behind the stand was a scragly character with tobacco oozing from the side of his mouth and a Condeferate bandana wrapped around his head.

All in all, this wouldn't have been so astounding to us. We're from the South, so we have run into this type of "rebel" before. However, in the stall next to his was a black woman silently weaving baskets.

We stopped for a while to watch the elderly basketweaver who identified herself as Miss Willa. Miss Willa had spent her life making these baskets and using them in the fields. Her father was a sharecropper. "These are called fan-'em baskets, That's what we called them. You tossed the rice up in down in this fan-'em basket and let the wind blow the chaff away. Now y'all use them to store things on your table." She shook her head with a chuckle.

I finally got up the nerve to ask how she could work next to the Confederate bonanza, and she shrugged. "He can remember that war all he wants, so long as he remembers that his folks lost."

Other interesting facets of the Charleston City Market include antiques and food items of all kinds, including ( but not limited to) hot sauces, pecan wafers, honey roasted nuts, truffles, pralines, buttercreams, Belgian chocolate and salt water taffy. Score of recipe books available will teach you how to properly prepare southern cuisine.

My family spent hours browsing through all of the different goods for sale. When it looked like everyone had finally had their fill of the market, we ran across a stand dedicated to luchboxes featuring heros of the past few decades. I thought my 20-year old sister would hyperventilate over finding a lunchbox featuring the A-Team.

Ten mintues later, my family and the A-Team headed back to our hotel.

Charleston’s City Market is America’s only remaining complete market structure, and used to sell fish, meat and vegetables. It’s an alternative to King Street which sports the brand names everyone recognizes.

We went to the market twice, as the first time, it was nearing closing as the cold had most vendors folding their tables for the evening. The Market is a mélange of flea market/craft fair items, and my quest was to discover the things which reflected the character of Charleston.

Lowcountry artists take great pride in the color palette of the buildings and the vistas offered by the rivers hugging the Peninsula. The most outstanding example of civic pride came through in painted land and seascapes on bricks! Not very far from there was yet another first for me: painted scenes of the south on silver dollars and seashells in two sizes; some had been perforated at the top, and a slender satin ribbon had been pulled through to provide a "hanging" device. Also quite attractive, were similar scenes on light switchplates.

Sweetgrass baskets were on every open corridor between the covered sections of the market., with an African American demonstrating. They also make flowers with the grass which they claim will last a lifetime. Because of the season, many vendors displayed Noel wall hangings, snowflake ornaments, Santa Clauses in all sizes, and related themes. I never tire of seeing the cedar puzzle boxes that are so shiny and beautiful in their twisted designs.

And I can never get enough of bath soaps, lotions, eaux and creams; here, they capitalize on the scent of magnolia which is heavenly; gardenia is not far behind with lavender, rosemary and my favorite, "mango madness". Why is it that I always want to bite into this stuff? Then, we saw the famous Civil War dolls which are handmade and stitched by a woman called Ms. Barbara . Also commemorating history, was a watercolor entitled "Freedom Endures" a depiction of three firemen raising the American flag at Ground Zero in New York. As a matter of fact, this very image will be sculpted in commemorative statue as soon as feasible.

. Hot sauces, Gold Rice, Benne wafers, pecan wafers, honey roasted nuts of all sorts, truffles, pralines, buttercreams, Belgian chocolate and all sorts of colored candies. There is quite a repertoire of recipe books to teach you the secrets of southern cuisine.

Aside from straight and looping bamoo plants were the miniature bonsai trees which need so much tender loving care. Also, rugs with duck motifs and palmettos hung from the ceiling; fleece jackets were in view and very a propos for the cold weather. There was also a glorious collection of lunch boxes and other collectibles sporting the faces of Lucy, Betty Boop, Elvis, Charlie Brown and other American icons. I fell in love with some huge baskets which would have made great magazine holders, but would have been murder to tote back to New York.

I found this to be the ideal place to pick up a few gifts for family and friends. The array of products is great, including crafts, toys, jewelry, clothing, books, pottery, and plants. This is a covered, outdoor market stretching several blocks in the heart of town and a good place to wait out a rain, or relax a bit.

This is the type of thing I live for and my husband cringes away from. "Not Similar to the French Market in New Orleans, but not as many bargains to be had.

I just ended up getting some Christmas Ornaments and refrigerator magnets. I saw a very nice wreath but didn't think I wanted to deal with taking it on the plane. This is the type of place that you can walk around for 1-2 hours just looking at the vendors and people, spending a lot or a little.

The second time we came in 2004 we really spent a lot of time walking around since we wre staying downtown, again lots and lots to see and buy but since we were flying back we didnt get a lot but found some bargains on things like T-Shirts and sunglasses. Anything for cooking sauces and cookbooks are a nice present and not to expensive or bulky to bring back.

The Old City Market was deeded to the city with a codicil that it must always remain a market. The building is an open air market and just packed with wonderful artists and their wares. For Charleston baskets traditional to the area, you'll find the basket weavers on the street. These baskets are woven of palmetto leaves and pine needles.