Five romantic Lowcountry locations

Every year some travel magazine or Web site ranks Charleston as one of the most romantic destinations in the United States.

It comes as no surprise to locals, because it seems the Holy City has everything.

Beautiful streets and parks, perfect for moonlit strolls. Check.

Fine restaurants, made for intimate dinners. Check.

A breathtaking landscape, a natural palette for sunsets. Check.

But there is something more to it, an aura that can't be manufactured.

In honor of Valentine's Day, the Post and Courier asked some couples to name their favorite romantic places in the Lowcountry. Some folks like a walk along The Battery, the view from Mount Pleasant's waterfront or the isolated north end of Folly Beach.

Some people prefer the plantations or the Francis Beidler Forest. All are unique, and unquestionably romantic.

White Point Garden delivers magic ... twice

When Kira and Dewey Golub were married in June, they insisted on taking their wedding photos at the Battery, perhaps the most popular romantic spot in the city.

And a place with some special memories for them.

Throughout their courtship, Kira and Dewey took long walks through the Holy City, exploring downtown streets while admiring the architecture and the breathtaking views. All those strolls culminated at White Point Garden, a place where Kira has seen entire lifetimes unfold — including the one she envisions for herself.

'It's a wonderful place,' Kira said. 'I think it's an incredibly romantic spot. You see young couples in love, but you also see families there, and lots of elderly couples.'

Kira's affection for the spot — and the reason she insisted on having her wedding photos taken there — stems in part from a past photo session.

The couple had their engagement photos taken in the peninsula park, and were rewarded with the most gorgeous sunset Kira had ever seen. She knew it was where she wanted her wedding party posed, too, although she was under no illusion the past would repeat itself.

But that warm summer afternoon, Kira and Dewey arrived to find the Battery decorated just for them — with a rainbow over the harbor.

-- Brian Hicks

Beidler's splendor perfect setting

HARLEYVILLE — It's the quiet, the solitude under a giant cypress in the gleam of blackwater. At the Meeting Tree, a couple just naturally pulls close.

April and Michael Stallings

did. They used to stroll down the boardwalk at Francis Beidler Forest, looking for birds and critters in the saw palmetto, watching the light in the leaves. They always stopped at the benches where the walk circled the tree that's stood for a millennium, its bole so large a dozen people could fit inside.

The strolls became impromptu picnics. Then there was a ring.

The couple are outdoors people; they met hiking. April had been to a lot of outdoor weddings, and she found it distracting. The traffic, the noises, other people doing other things all around. A former Audubon employee, she loves Four Holes Swamp, the largest remaining virgin tupelo and cypress swamp forest in the word.

At the Audubon sanctuary in the heart of it, the boardwalk winds for nearly two miles among the trees and dark, cypress kneed pools, as summering tropical songbirds trill.

'I just love the peace of it,' Michael said.

In 2002 they married, there at the Meeting Tree, where April knew 'it would be just us.' As a dulcimer rang, she promenaded down the boardwalk in front of family and friends.

'The sun was hitting the top of the cypress trees. It was just perfect,' April said. They began their vows and a pileated woodpecker came out of its nest on one of the trees, rasping its raucous, laughlike call. The couple and the gathering broke into laughter.

'It was different, and in the middle of this beautiful scenery,' Michael said. 'It was about the coolest thing you could have.'

-- Bo Petersen

Music Hall proposal; Alhambra Hall wedding

Katherine and Brent Price chose the beauty of Alhambra Hall in Mount Pleasant for their wedding, but Brent popped the question on stage at a concert two years ago on Valentine's Day.

Alhambra sits on Charleston Harbor nestled amid the quaint charm of the Old Village. Weddings, receptions and rehearsal dinners are big business at the town-owned building. 'It's great. It's got a great view,' Katherine said.

Brent chose the Charleston Music Hall stage as the place to ask Katherine for her hand in marriage. Both were called to the microphone by Jay Clifford of Jump, Little Children. Brent was playing violin with members of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra backing the band. She was in the audience.

'I didn't mind being on stage. I knew so many people in the audience,' she said.

Katherine, 27, is a stylist at Stewart Laurence Hair Salon. She said the proposal was posted on YouTube. They had talked about getting married before Brent publicly declared his love for her, so his proposal wasn't a complete surprise. 'I didn't know but I had gotten kind of an idea. I had my suspicions,' she said.

They married last April.

Alhambra Hall has hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings and porches that wrap around three sides of the building. Katherine said she chose the location for her wedding because of its reputation.

-- Prentiss Findlay

Bride-to-be drawn to Middleton's beauty

For more than three centuries, live oaks have framed vistas of marsh and manmade gardens along the upper Ashley River.

Katrina Papadopoulos grew up in Mount Pleasant and has lived in Texas for years, but this is where she was drawn last fall to wed Chad Woolery.

They exchanged vows amid Middleton Plantation's butterfly lakes and curved terraces above the river, just part of this former rice plantation's stunning scenery, the oldest landscaped gardens in America.

'The combination of the river and the garden was just beautiful,' the new Mrs. Woolery said. 'We have some great pictures.'

Middleton averages more than a wedding a week, and they're held in a dozen different spots, usually late on a Saturday afternoon, as the day's visitors are trickling out.

Just downriver, one finds similar places for those who love history and natural beauty as well as one another.

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens offers venues with the Ashley River or its picturesque long white wooden bridge as a backdrop.

Another former plantation, Drayton Hall, also hosts weddings, but limits them to a dozen a year because of the unique demands of preserving its 1738 house.

-- Robert Behre

Lighthouse and Folly great combo

FOLLY BEACH — Who wouldn't want to propose marriage on the same spot where Rhett carried Scarlett from the sea, their wrecked boat and the Morris Island Lighthouse in the background?

The year was 1994 and producers of the 'Gone With the Wind' mini-series sequel 'Scarlett' used the island's northern tip as a backdrop for the South's most famous dysfunctional couple.

For the rest of modern-day Charleston, the site of the old abandoned Coast Guard station is long-known as an easy quick hit for a stolen smooch, a planned wedding proposal or a catch-the-mood photograph.

Recent newlywed and Folly Beach native Shannon Robinson shot her wedding photographs near the island's northern edge, saying there is no other spot in the world as meaningful to her in illustrating where she grew up. 'It's just the greatest view in Charleston, I think,' she said.

A special tradition in her family is that married couples receive a photograph of the lighthouse. It was taken by her father during a winter moment decades ago. The sunlight is captured shining through the structure's glassy upper tower.

Officially, the spot is known as Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve and is part of the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission system. There is no admission cost but there is a lengthy walk down to a waterfront that has been under the stress of severe erosion in recent times.

The area has become so popular as a destination for visitors that officials are considering putting up road signs directing people to the romantic view, city Administrator Toni Connor-Rooks said.

-- Schuyler Kropf