Forget the reservations in this bikable capital city in the shadow of the Appalachians, full of creative chefs and artists — and devoid of teeming masses.

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A city that has time for you is a win. In Charleston, W.Va., you can park your car all day for $3, catch free live music almost every night and be seated right away — sans reservations — at the city’s best restaurant. Servers and shopkeepers have the time to exceed expectations, often in delightful ways: The owner of Swiftwater Cafe designed me a custom sandwich, and the owner of Elk City Records, after we bantered about dogs, asked, “Ever heard Portuguese music?” Seconds later, a record spun and a gorgeous sound emanated from the speakers.

I’ve visited three times in the last four years, taking small detours from road trips to eat at one of my favorite restaurants in the region, Bluegrass Kitchen. This time, I cast a wider net. Located on the banks of the Kanawha River, this bikable capital city has visible scars from its economic struggles: boarded-up houses and vacant storefronts in the middle of town. As I wheeled around, I had the recurring thought that the city was far short of capacity, both in people and businesses. But that means it’s a welcoming (read: affordable) place for artists, small businesses and visitors escaping big-city prices and crowds.

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Go

Local Faves

Little in Charleston impressed me more than 1Live on the Levee 1Live on the Levee Google Map: 600 Kanawha Blvd. East Website: liveontheleveecharleston.com no phone , and it wasn’t the music. The city comes out of the woodwork for this free and weekly outdoor concert series in Haddad Riverfront Park — bikers in cowboy boots, teenage girls in too-high heels, hippies, canoodlers, dancers, smokers, dogs, strollers, young and old. In the lineup: 10,000 Maniacs in July and Tusk: the Ultimate Fleetwood Mac Tribute in August.

One morning, I biked across the Kanawha River and found myself in a wooded haven, the 2Sunrise Carriage Trail 2Sunrise Carriage Trail Google Map: 746 Myrtle Road Website: charlestonwv.com/listing/sunrise-carriage-trail.aspx 304-344-5075 . I walked a .65-mile zigzagging path up 180 feet to a spot that offers a generous view of the city when trees are bare. The path was built in 1905, when horse-drawn vehicles hauled material to build the hilltop estate of Gov. William MacCorkle. Today, it houses a law firm.

The South Side Bridge over the Kanawha River in Charleston, W.Va., is one of many bridges that connect the sides of a city separated by water. A pair of fans of wine and music dance to the High & Mighty brass Band at the Wine & All That Jazz festival at the University of Charleston. The Sunrise Carriage Trail gently zigzags just more than a half-mile and descends 180 feet from the Sunrise Mansion to Justice Row. (Caleb Chancey/For The Washington Post)

Guidebook Musts

On the East End of town, I joined a fourth-grade class at the 3Capitol Complex 3Capitol Complex Google Map: 1900 Kanawha Blvd. E. Website: www.wvculture.org/agency/capitol.html 304-558-4839 for free tours of the Capitol building and Governor’s Mansion. (Also in the complex: the West Virginia State Museum, where you can see the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd’s 1978 LP, “Mountain Fiddler.”) Our guide, Grace, pointed out the mansion’s West Virginia-shaped raised garden bed and the Dutch clock that plays seven baroque arias. A kid asked Grace if she had met the governor. “I have. He’s a very nice man. Very tall,” she deadpanned, adding that he sleeps in an extra long bed. We had no choice but to believe her — the upstairs was off-limits.

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Open year-round, 4Capitol Market 4Capitol Market Google Map: 800 Smith St. Website: capitolmarket.net 304-344-1905 is where locals meet for coffee and tourists look quizzically at items like chowchow (a regional relish). Inside, you can buy meat, seafood, chocolate, wine, grains and spices. Outside, the fresh produce is irresistible. I bought a small jar of locally harvested J.Q. Dickson salt and avoided the spicy offerings — Uncle Bunk’s 14-day sweet hot pickles, Yoder’s jalapeño pickled eggs and Ordinary Evelyn’s hot pepper butter.

Eat

Local Faves

If dining at 5Mi Cocina de Amor 5Mi Cocina de Amor Google Map: 711 Bigley Ave. Website: wvmexicanfood.com 304-205-5461 feels like sitting in your Mexican grandmother’s kitchen, owner and chef Frank Gonzales has done his job. Using generations of recipes from his family, he opened this Elk City spot, which has become a favorite of locals. For a laugh: the Bad Hombre Tacos. For a deal: Margarita Monday or Taco Tuesday. For a West Virginia spin on beverages: peach moonshine margaritas and Appalachian iced tea. Keep an eye out for Gonzales’s next neighborhood joint, Gonzoburger, opening this summer.

After biking up steep Bridge Road, I needed to refuel and stumbled upon a restaurant in a converted, century-old house: 6Lola’s 6Lola's Google Map: 1038 Bridge Rd. Website: lolaswv.com 304-343-5652 . Funky art adorned the walls, and the Supremes wafted through the speakers. I settled on a large, purple-cushioned bench in a sunny room. Lola’s is known for handcrafted artisan pizza and locally made Ellen’s ice cream. A beet salad with goat cheese and candied walnuts hit the spot, and general manager Mike offered me shopping tips on the West Side.

Mi Cocina de Amor restaurant — which offers a margarita made with moonshine — is located in the Elk City neighborhood. An appetizer plate with pickled ramps, onions, blue cheese and stone-ground mustard at Bluegrass Kitchen. A dining room in the century-old converted home that houses Lola’s features the works of artist Charles Jupiter Hamilton. (Caleb Chancey/For The Washington Post)

Guidebook Musts

7 Bluegrass Kitchen 7Bluegrass Kitchen Google Map: 1600 Washington St. E. Website: bluegrasswv.com 304-346-2871 stands out in a city where Tudor’s Biscuit World (fast food in biscuit form) is often named as a favorite restaurant. But it also has been celebrated far beyond the city, and for good reason. For 12 years, the owners have been putting an upscale, eclectic spin on comfort food, celebrating the state’s Appalachian heritage with a menu that changes daily. At Bluegrass, you can wear flip-flops, chat with locals and eat sustainably and organically. And there’s more: kitschy vinyl tablecloths, pressed tin ceilings, live music nightly, house-pickled ramps and dilly beans, creative cocktails and plenty of vegetarian options. This time, I ordered the mock chicken and herb dumplings. The blueberry buttermilk pie with vanilla bean whipped cream? I order that every time.

Located downtown, 8Black Sheep Burrito & Brews 8Black Sheep Burrito & Brews Google Map: 702 Quarrier St. Website: blacksheepwv.com 304-343-2739 was perfectly situated after a long morning of shopping. I sat at the bar, with a front-seat view through the glass-walled Bad Shepherd Brewery next door and ordered a flock of tacos new to my palette, including one with tempura avocado and another with fresh roasted beets. They arrived on aluminum plates, individually wrapped in foil. The restaurant serves four types of sangria and beers with names like Bad Shepherd Milk Stout and Why Ewe Whining.

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Shop

Local Faves

9Kin Ship Goods 9Kin Ship Goods Google Map: 613 Tennessee Ave. Website: kinshipgoods.com/pages/about-us no phone had me at the Charlie Brown turntable and the retro camping trailer socks. That’s a lie — the shop’s resident beagles lured me in. Located in a space with exposed brick walls, it’s the kind of store in which you start justifying gifts; after all, you know the perfect recipient for the toy wooden banjolele, the “Ask me about my dog” tee and that set of lumberjack-tool temporary tattoos. The owners hold occasional workshops and talks with artists and musicians. T-shirts are printed on-site.

One of two record shops in town, 10Sullivan’s Records 10Sullivan's Records Google Map: 1588 Washington St. E. Website: facebook.com/SullivansRecords/ 304-344-4355 has a robust selection of vinyl, from Fleet Foxes to Flaming Lips, Bach to Billie Holiday. Shop owner Sam also sells turntables and band posters that took me back to the ’80s (the Clash, the Smiths). I donned headphones to sample an Earl Scruggs album. Homeward Bound Books recently opened in the back, with enough inventory to have a section on sex, directly above the section called “Wrestling with God.” On my way out, an older gentleman asked Sam if he had any Dire Straits. “I miss it,” he said. “Money for nothin’ and chicks for free.”

Zoe Dorst enjoys some quiet time at Taylor Books, a popular independent shop with tomes on local themes. Sullivan's Records features a great selection of vinyl as well as posters of musical legends from several eras. The Purple Moon shop specializes in retro accoutrements, such as colored glass and mid-century modern furniture. (Caleb Chancey/For The Washington Post)

Guidebook Musts

Every time I visit Charleston, I spend more of my time at 11 Taylor Books 11Taylor Books Google Map: 226 Capitol St. Website: taylorbooks.com 304-342-1461 . Important for its fine selection of Appalachian titles (“Mountain Measures: A Collection of West Virginia Recipes” for adults and “A is for Appalachia” for kids), beloved for its welcoming coffee shop that sells no-bakes (a sweet regional favorite) and surprising for its adjacent gallery of local art and basement screening room, Taylor is an institution. This visit, I discovered the large used-book section in the back. Next time, I’ll stay for live music.

Among Charleston’s several vintage and antique retailers, 12the Purple Moon 12The Purple Moon Google Map: 906 Quarrier St. Website: thepurplemoon.com 304-345-0123 takes the cake — and probably serves it on a fab midcentury modern platter. The shop’s rooms are tastefully filled with stylish furniture, lighting and glassware, from a mod spaceship desk lamp to a West German pottery vase. The owner, Connie, stood by a thoughtfully curated collection of vintage glass and briefed me on regional handblown items from pioneering companies like Blenko and Fenton. Purple Moon is part of downtown’s ArtWalk, held the third Thursday of every month.

Stay

Local Faves

Just a block from the Capitol Complex, the 13Brass Pineapple Inn 13Brass Pineapple Inn Google Map: 1611 Virginia St E. Website: brasspineapple.com/Brass_Pineapple/Welcome.html 304-344-0748 was built in 1907, well before construction of the new state Capitol building. Operating as a bed-and-breakfast since 1989 — with obligatory floral prints, four-poster beds and antique claw-foot tubs — the inn sits among late-Victorian residences on a tree-lined street in the city’s historic East End. Every spring for a quarter-century, the neighborhood has hosted what is supposedly the state’s largest one-day community yard sale.

The Brass Pineapple Inn bed-and-breakfast, built in 1907, is a stone’s throw from the state Capitol building, which it well predates. Haddad Riverfront Park and Pavilion is situated just outside the Four Points by Sheraton Charleston hotel. (Caleb Chancey/For The Washington Post)

Guidebook Musts

At the 14Four Points by Sheraton Charleston 14Four Points by Sheraton Charleston Google Map: 600 Kanawha Boulevard E. Website: starwoodhotels.com/fourpoints/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=3901 304-344-4092 , you’ll have the best views, the best goings-on on your front porch and perhaps the best happy hour in town. Rising above the river, the Sheraton is front row for Live on the Levee and big festivals such as Biker Bash, a motorcycle rally in June; and Rod Run Doo Wop, a classic-car show in October. Every Wednesday is Brews and BBQ (free samples of local craft beer and barbecue) for lobby bar patrons. Tip: Ask for river view on the east end of the ninth or 10th floor to see the dome.

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Explore

Local Faves

Like a dream come true, every shop I entered in the 15Elk City Historic District 15Elk City Historic District Google Map: Washington Street between Pennsylvania and Ohio avenues, specifically Washington and Tennessee Website: charlestonwestside.org no phone on the West Side had a shop dog. Take Calvin the hound mix at Elk City Records, whose title is director of security and morale. But I also saw a neighborhood beginning its renaissance. Thanks to affordable commercial space and a rebranding campaign, the creative class has set up shop here. Base Camp Printing, next door to Kin Ship Goods, is a storefront letterpress print shop. Nearby: Mi Cocina de Amor and Bully Trap, a walk-in only, cash-only barber shop. At Calvin’s shop, owner and retired lawyer Phil Melick is hardly a starving artist, but he shares the passion and energy of other small business owners here. Plus, he has a mighty fine collection of records for Calvin to protect.

One of the colorful murals in the Elk City Historic District, which is full of edgy, artsy flavor. The wares of the hilltop Bridge Road Shops, a collection of clothing boutiques, salons and restaurants. A mural in the Elk City Historic District is illuminated in the golden hour. (Caleb Chancey/For The Washington Post)

Guidebook Musts

One afternoon, I pedaled over the river and up to the 16South Hills 16South Hills Google Map: Bridge Road in South Hills, specifically Bridge and Walnut Website: bridgeroad.org no phone neighborhood. And up. And up. I wasn’t prepared for the steepness of the hill. But I was pleased at the top to find the Bridge Road Shops, a little hilltop destination of clothing boutiques, salons and restaurants, a respite from the gritty downtown. Eclectics sells locally made accessories and gifts; Sarah’s Bakery has sweet and savory pies; and Lola’s has a charming patio for dining alfresco. The Folded Leaf yoga studio offers donation-based community classes on Sundays. Opening this summer: gelateria Caffe Romeo.

Kaplan is a freelance writer based in the District. Her website is melaniedgkaplan.com. Find her on Twitter: @melaniedgkaplan.