My girlfriend and I took a trip from California to visit Savannah and Charleston. Towards the end of our week vacation, we had a tour with Bill, who was funny, smart, passionate, and enthusiastic about the history of Charleston.
His attention to historical context, the time period things take place in, the social and economic implications of things all were factors of his tour. He's very clearly a brilliant minded man, and his passion and enthusiasm for historical accuracy and truth were contagious.
Now let me tell you, we did our share of touring that week. The tour we had with Bill was leagues ahead of them all. Don't wait until the end of your trip to take this tour. Make it your first stop. The knowledge you'll gain will shape the rest of your stay. All the opulence of Charleston will only make sense with the history shared on this tour.
Bill was not afraid to talk about the true history of Charleston--slavery. A topic that many other tours are more than happy to gloss over or mention as minimally as possible. And this is very important to talk about, as uncomfortable as it may be, because without slavery, there's no way Charleston (and our country) would have turned out the way it did.
But he did so in a very tactful way. One that leaves you feeling inspired, wowed, and all the better for the history lesson.