Tag Archives: Charleston

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On the way to where it all began.

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On day 6 we headed back to Charleston.

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Or more precisely over the locally famous Ravenel bridge …

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To Patriots Point where we had tickets for a ferry. We arrived early as traffic can be tricky and stumbled on a press conference in the parking lot with the USS Yorktown in the background.

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The mayor and two other officials were rambling on about an upcoming spring yacht race…

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Which we wouldn’t be in the area for nor cared anything about, but my husband being my husband…

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Had to stand there and listen to the whole thing because at the end there was a question and answer period and he asked a question. Why? Because the man has to talk.

While he was doing that I looked around and took photos…

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The bridge from Patriots Point.

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The memorial and half of the Yorktown. I wish I’d known the ship was here, I would have scheduled time to tour her.

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Our ferry.

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The harbor.

And since my husband was still standing at the press conference? I checked out the gift store.

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Where the gifts were decidedly low brow.

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As well as deadly.

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This was absolutely bizarre to me. You’d never see ammunition for sale like this in Maine. It was just sitting there on the floor, in open boxes… where any child could take one.

WTH?

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Press conference over, we boarded our ferry.

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Under the watchful gaze of some pelicans.

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Who pose quite nicely for tourists.

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The ferry had two decks but it was a cold and windy afternoon so we went downstairs to cut the breeze.

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Charleston.

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A U.S. Park ranger gave an interesting lecture on the history of the place we were going to see.

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And though it was an overcast sky…

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It was still a lovely ride once I dragged my wind beaten spouse upstairs to the open deck.

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After 20 minutes…

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There it was.

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Sitting at the mouth of Charleston harbor.

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We disembarked…

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And walked on the very ground where the Civil War began.

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On Southern Living’s advice….

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After our walking tour of Charleston we realized we’d skipped lunch and were starving. As it was too early for dinner, I did a little phone research and found a seafood place highly recommended by Southern Living magazine. They said the food was superb and to ignore the fact that the restaurant itself was a “dive”.

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Clearly their idea of “dive” and mine differ greatly because while admittedly this place wasn’t the Ritz Carlton, I’ve been in a helluva lot worse.

😉

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Naturally my husband wanted to sit at the bar.

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I’ve never had a strawberry daiquiri served in a mason jar before, but maybe that’s part of their dive-y charm.

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The hushpuppies? Meh.

Not great, not awful.

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My she crab soup?

Mama mia! It may not have photographed well but it was thickest, richest, creamiest crab filled thing I’ve ever had.

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To be honest I was pretty full after just that, but I was on vacation in the low country and couldn’t pass up an opportunity for shrimp and grits.

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I couldn’t…. but I should have, because it was awful. Yes, the shrimp were large and flavorful but the rest was simply a big bowl of slop. Too much pasty gravy, too soupy a consistency… blech.

I ate the shrimp and left the rest.

The husband? He had some type of inferior fish which was dry as a bone.

So much for taking Southern Living’s advice.

Aside from the soup the only thing that made me smile at this place was the poster in the rest room.

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😉

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The dark heart of Charleston.

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Our next stop in Charleston was a hard one but I’m glad we went.

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An innocuous looking building, no?

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Perhaps from the outside .

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But its history was written in blood.

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It’s a small museum, but haunting.

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The building exists because this genteel city had to move its shameful business inside.

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There are disturbing artifacts…

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Each one worse than the last.

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And a few eye opening facts.

What are you worth?

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A guest speaker was upstairs when we were there and we sat in on her fascinating lecture.

I wish I’d thought to video it because though most of it made my jaw drop in horror, it’s our country’s history and we should all be made aware that slavery was more than the dehumanizing of a people and forced labor.

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It was a profitable business and the vast array of people who reaped the economic rewards surprised even me.

😰

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Strolling through Charleston’s past…

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As I said before, Charleston is a city you need to walk. We ambled randomly after the French Quarter and still managed to find some interesting spots.

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Early settlements did love their walls.

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This is a charming southern city with a laid back atmosphere.

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And some ankle turning cobblestone streets.

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On one of those streets?

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A disturbing but important reminder of what went on here.

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Admittedly you have to view history through the lens of the day, but still. The horror brought me up short.

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Beautiful, yes.

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Interesting buildings? Sure.

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Quirky garden frogs hidden behind a wall of shrubbery?

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That too, but this is the south.

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Where monuments to slave holders still stand.

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It’s hard not to be affected by that, at least for me.

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So we soaked it all in and continued to explore.

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Marveling at how such a beautiful place could harbor such darkness.

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Because we all need more rainbows in our lives.

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Rainbow Row… Charleston, South Carolina.

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No commentary necessary…

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Just stroll along with us for a while.

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I’d like to say you know it’s special if my husband is taking pictures…

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But the man was photographing a gutter downspout.

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Horse drawn carriage tour was my first choice…

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But we did one of those in Beaufort and the husband wasn’t on board for another.

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And Charleston said, let there be a rainbow.

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You can’t visit Charleston without strolling the French Quarter’s Rainbow Row.

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Rainbow Row represents the longest cluster of intact Georgian row houses in the United States. The earliest structures on this portion of East Bay Street, between Tradd and Elliott Street, were built by-1680. The buildings were constructed on lots 7 to 10 of the Grand Modell, a city plan developed between 1670-1680.
Over the years, the buildings served as the shops and residences of notable merchants and planters, and fronted a cluster of wharves on the Cooper River waterfront. The buildings also fronted a segment of the eastern boundary of the fortification wall constructed circa 1704 to surround the city.
Some of the houses were damaged or destroyed by fire, and the present structures date from circa 1720 to circa 1790. The homes suffered slight damage by Union artillery bombardment during the War between the States. After the war and decades of neglect, the buildings deteriorated into slums. Susan Pringle Frost, founder of the Society for the Preservation of Old Dwellings, now the Preservation Society of Charleston, began her important preservation and rehabilitation efforts by purchasing some of these properties in the 1920s in order to prevent their demolition. The name Rainbow Row was coined after the pastel colors they were painted as they were restored in the 1930s and 1940s. The rear facades and gardens of 93-101 East Bay were also used as a model for the original 1935 stage setting of George Gershwin and DuBose Heyward’s opera, Porgy and Bess.
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In a word? Fabulous.

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The colors, the wrought iron, the charm…

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It’s selfie heaven even if your arms are too short to capture much background.

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Space is at a premium but all the homeowners take pride of place.

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History?

It’s got that too.

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It’s hard to imagine this lovely neighborhood ever being a slum.

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Peek through the iron gates when you’re there.

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Take your time.

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And enjoy.

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We did.

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Toogoodoo and a giant pineapple.

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Day 5 of our 40th anniversary trip dawned sunny and warmer.

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Which was such a welcome change I actually got the husband to participate in … and (half) smile … for a morning balcony selfie.

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On the itinerary that day? Charleston.

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By way of Toogoodoo.

At first I thought the nav system in the overpriced Lincoln was drunk…

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But no, the road exists.

Toogoodoo: The name given to the creek and the area by the Bantu (African) slaves who worked the sea island plantations surrounding it. The word translates loosely as “I have plenty/ My life is bountiful”.

A sentiment that resonated with me all day.

Charleston is a southern city I’ve always wanted to visit and in a little over an hour, we were there.

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We skirted the harbor…

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And drove down one of the most famous neighborhoods.

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Filled with lovely homes…

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All facing the water.

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Unfortunately right after we started driving we ran into a detour due to storm damage from the night before. So we zigged and we zagged in our giant monster rental and elected to ditch the traffic for a walk.

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This is the most popular park in town and thankfully pretty deserted off season.

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It sits right at the mouth of the busy deep water harbor…

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And don’t you dare let Fido off his leash.

$1087 seems like an arbitrary sum, but whatever.

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We hopped over puddles and made our way to the park’s most popular tourist attraction.

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The pineapple fountain.

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Pineapples are a symbol of hospitality and you’ll find them everywhere in this friendly city.

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This is probably a beautiful shot in summer when the sun is high…

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But I couldn’t quite capture the canopy angle properly this time of year.

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Done with the park, we strolled.

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Charleston is an old city with beaucoup traffic and very little parking. Take my advice, put on a pair of comfortable shoes and walk…

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It’s the only way you’ll get a real feel for the place.

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We were headed for the French Quarter and the magnificent Rainbow Row so beloved by Instagrammers.

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I couldn’t wait to explore, so of course my husband had to strike up a half hour conversation with this nice gentleman who had a strange car.

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In case you’re wondering, it’s a Figaro built by Nissan in the early ‘90’s. Only 20,000 were made and he said his wife had to have one. It’s a tiny little thing but after battling the in town traffic with our luxury behemoth rental, I’m sure it’s perfectly suited to life in Charleston.

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