Inside Charleston
with Jessica B. Harris
Charleston, South Carolina
Registration opens to the general public October 12, 2026.
Explore America’s Colonial Crossroads
Charleston, South Carolina: A breathtaking coastal city famed for its beautifully preserved historic architecture and Southern hospitality. Framed by scenic harbor views and cobblestone streets, the city’s living history stretches from its pre-Revolutionary roots to its pivotal role in the American story.
As a historic colonial port, Charleston evolved at the crossroads of culture and politics: European, West African and Indigenous influences have merged over centuries to shape the unique identity of this part of the American South. This rich tapestry of history comes alive at every turn—woven into the city’s ironwork gates, preserved in its living traditions, and savored in its world-class food scene.
The Historic New Orleans Collection invites you to join celebrated food author and historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris for an unforgettable four-day tour of Charleston, South Carolina. Explore the city’s complex history through exclusive visits to its most profound museums and historic estates.
Enjoy private receptions at some of the city’s most iconic institutions and dine on a curated selection of the region’s most celebrated dishes. Accommodations will be at the French Quarter Inn, an elegant boutique hotel in the heart of the historic district, renowned for their personalized, high-touch Southern hospitality.
Join Us!
Registration opens to the general public on October 12, 2026.
Interested in HNOC Travel? Read our detailed itinerary below and contact Amanda McFillen, director of audience engagement, via our contact form on this page.
Trip Highlights
Embark on a leisurely guided walking tour through old town Charleston, down the historic cobblestones of Chalmers Street and through the charming French Quarter and the beautifully restored row of 18th-century Georgian townhouses known as Rainbow Row.
Enjoy an exclusive tour of the Nathaniel Russell House, one of America’s most significant examples of Federal-style neoclassical architecture. Discover the complex, geometric interior featuring a breathtaking free-flying staircase and beautifully landscaped formal gardens.
Built for Nathaniel Russell, a wealthy merchant and slave trader, the landmark stands as a testament to the stark divide between early American opulence and the reality of forced labor.
Take our private coach to Middleton Place, a sweeping 110-acre property situated along the Ashley River that features America’s oldest landscaped European gardens and a preserved 18th-century residential wing. Through the property’s Conversations of Freedom exhibition and Beyond the Fields program, we will confront the Middleton family’s grandeur and wealth that was created by the labor of hundreds of enslaved men and women at this site.
Explore America’s oldest museum, the Charleston Museum, founded in 1773. From prehistoric dinosaur fossils and Native American history to the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, the museum is an essential repository of the physical artifacts that shaped early American history.
We will also explore Charleston’s newest museum, the International African American Museum (IAAM), built on the historic Gadsden’s Wharf, the arrival point for nearly half of all enslaved Africans brought to North America.
Meet Your Host
Dr. Jessica B. Harris
Dr. Jessica B. Harris
Dr. Jessica B. Harris is a culinary historian and the author of twelve critically acclaimed books documenting the foods and foodways of the African Diaspora, including High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America, which was transformed into a four-part Netflix docuseries in 2021. My Soul Looks Back: A Memoir was a finalist for the PEN Open Book Award. Her most recent book is Vintage Postcards from the African World: In the Dignity of their Work and the Joy of Their Play. Harris is professor emerita at Queens College, CUNY, and holds an AB from Bryn Mawr College; an MA in French literature from Queens College, CUNY; a Licence ès Lettres from the Université de Nancy, France; and a doctorate in performance studies from New York University. She was the inaugural scholar in residence in the Ray Charles Chair at Dillard University in New Orleans. Harris has received many honors, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Southern Foodways Alliance, the Amelia Award from the New York Culinary Historians, and the Carol DeMasters Service to Food Journalism Award from the Association of Food Journalists. Harris was named to the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America in 2010, her cookbooks were inducted into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame in 2019, and in 2020 she was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the same organization. Harris was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2021 by TIME magazine.
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