Charming Charleston January 29, 2017

Today is our last full day in Charleston. We spent it meandering the charming old lanes and alleys, discovering coffee shops and fountains, and admiring its architecture. Charleston is a lovely place. We had a great time just being here. The city is easy to navigate, safe to walk, and full of sights and history. Next we make our way down to Savannah, GA, a couple hours south of here. We're stopping in a town called Beaufort tonight that is between the two and is said to have its own charm.

USS Yorktown January 28, 2017

We visited the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier / museum in Mount Pleasant, just across the harbor from Charleston. This ship was commissioned in 1943 and named after one sunk at the battle of Midway in WWII. It also served in WWII and Vietnam. Surprising just how big these ships are. We wandered around for a couple hours watching WWII films and taking walking tours of various parts of the ship. Interesting to see how they handled the needs of daily

life like food prep, barber, dentist, doctor, etc. The ship was a floating city with 3500 inhabitants.

Fort Sumter January 27, 2017

The Civil War began here. The first shots were fired by the Confederate forces as they felt the Federal troops at Fort Sumter were an encroachment into their territory. Fort Sumter sits on an island in Charleston harbor. We took a 30 minute boat ride to and from the Fort. Some interesting artifacts and well presented history of the clash are on display. The Confederate troops held the Fort for 4 years. Due to the bombardment during the time, much of the fort was destroyed and what remained was a heap of rubble. On our way out we saw the dolphins we were looking for the other day. Cool!

Boone Hall Plantation 1/26/17

We ventured out to Mount Pleasant, a suburb north of Charleston. There we encountered the Boone Hall Plantation, a 330 year old plantation and currently operating farm and tourist site. This was a cotton plantation. Since they didn't rotate crops back then, eventually the cotton yield began to decline. So, they diversified and began making bricks from clay from the banks of the adjacent river and then sold them to builders building the City of Charleston. There are some slave cabins constructed between 1790 and 1810 of the brick made on the plantation (see photo). Each one has been transformed into a history lesson with video and other interpretive materials telling the chronological story of the end of slavery. I can't imagine how difficult their lives must have been. The plantation is approached by a 3/4 mile "avenue of the oaks" creating a truly southern scene of a cathedral type entrance to the property. Many movies and tv miniseries have used these grounds for filming. Temps in the mid 60's made for a pleasant day.

Wednesday January 25th

We're starting to get to know the ropes. There is a local bus service that is a free hop on hop off kind of deal. There are 3 routes that can get you to just about anywhere in the downtown area. We wandered a bit, made it back to the visitor center where we took in a 38 minute film on the history of Charleston. From there it was to the local market, a very touristy arts and crafts type thing. Completely uninspiring. We bailed out on that and found a patisserie run by a native Frenchmen from Toulouse. Real croissants! Then, off to the waterfront to try to spy the dolphins in the bay. They did not put on a show for us. Never mind. Off again to another local coffee and craft beer restaurant in a courtyard patio. Sunny skies and temps in the upper 60's.

not on the road again

We've survived 3 long road days (it's harder than it used to be to sit in the car for that long)and have arrived in Charleston, S.C.. Yesterday (Tuesday) was our first full day here. 60's and sunny. We're trying to get the feel of things and figure out our next steps. We did some wandering around, found the visitor info center, took a tour of the city and generally got familiar with our surroundings.