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Charleston
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zammis and I did have a lovely trip to Charleston, SC last month..
Day 1
An uneventful flight down and we arrive in the afternoon. Due to the exorbitant prices of hotels downtown, we're actually staying in Mt. Pleasant, just across the river and near Patriots Point, home of the U.S.S. Yorktown. We start off our adventures with a trip to Ft. Sumter, the fort is on an island in Chareston’s harbor with a ferry leaving from near the hotel. On the ride over we get lovely views of the Yorktown the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, the fort itself, and our one and only dolphin sighting of the trip.
The fort itself was interesting, famous for being the site of the first shots off the civil war. A 3 story fortification before the war, it was reducing to rubble, the 1 story structure there now mostly built after the war. Views from the fort are awesome. After the fort we hit a BBQ place for dinner and then not quite ready to call it a night we go see Avengers (which is awesome).
Day 2
Time to go into Charleston itself. First we fortify ourselves at the local coffee shop and then go find an overpriced parking spot to leave our car for the day. We start off with a bit of shopping at The Market. Then, for an orientation to the city we decide to go for one of the horse-drawn carriage tours. There are lots of surviving colonial era buildings for us to ooh and aah over and interesting antebellum architecture as well. Our guide fills us in on the history and the weather is exceeding pleasant, plus the carriage goes slow enough for me to hack all the Ingress portals :-) Some very tasty seafood for lunch.
After lunch we check out The Exchange which has a museum focusing on the colonial era, also pirates!
Because we are crazy and our feet aren’t quite dead we decide to stay downtown and do a pub tour in the evening. Means we have a few hours to kill so we Ingress a bit, hang out at the park along the riverfront and discover a fabulous dessert bar (which by the way the very concept of a dessert bar is awesome, a place that just serves booze and dessert! Sign me up, I want one.) The pub tour is fun and we have a definite Character (tm) as a guide, some overlap with the carriage tour, but we got some new stories (perhaps my favorite, the story behind the Blind Tiger) and tasty drinks and snacks at the various stops, ending at a Irish pub with a musician singing familiar songs and Guinness on the appetizer menu. Eventually we make it back to the hotel and collapse.
St. Philips Church
Huguenot Church
Cobblestone street
The Exchange
Riverfront
Riverfront fountain
Day 3
In the morning we stay on the Mt. Pleasant side of the river, some delicious crepes from breakfast and then over to Ft. Moultrie. Moultrie started out as a revolutionary war fort and has been in service through WWII. Lots of history, lots of Ingress portals, and more fantastic views of Charleston harbor. We do lunch in Isle of Palms at a little beachfront bar with some live music as a bonus.
For the afternoon we head to Kiawah Island which is southwest of the city a ways with the hope of getting in some South Carolina countryside. Not really successful in that as it stays pretty suburban the whole way, but Kiawah does have a very fine beach that we walk along and watch the pelicans. For dinner, not looking for anything special we stumble upon Angel Oak and enter food heaven, btw, in case you didn’t know Charleston is a bit of a foodie paradise, this whole trip we eat very well, but I think this was the highlight, mostly southern style dishes done perfectly.
Us with the grave of General Moultrie behind us
Kiawah
Day 4
Most of today is spent at Charles Towne Landing, a tourist attraction set up very similar to Jamestown Settlement. A bit upriver from downtown this site was settled while it was deemed more important to be able to hide from the Spanish and French than being able to take advantage of Charleston’s natural harbor, the colony moved a couple of years later once the settlers were more secure in their position. Also at the site is a small zoo of wildlife native to the area, unfortunately the otters are hiding, but the turkeys are happy to show off their gobbling ability.
Stopping at a little diner for lunch, we can not escape the great food, eggs benedict over green tomatoes, yum! After that we go back into the city to do one of the house museums we had seen from the carriage tour - the Nathaniel Russell House, a very fine house that shows off what being a successful slaver could buy in 1808. Also I learn that painting plaster to look like wood was a thing. We do some more just wandering about downtown and hang out at the park at the convergence of the two rivers that form the harbor. Dinner was at a nice brewpub called The Craftsman. We close out the day with a stop at one of the many candy shops on Market St. (putting a sign in your shop window that says “free pralines” will work on us).
Day 5
Our last day, don’t have a whole lot of time, but we do get one more excellent brunch at a diner and then go for a walk and some Ingress at the nearby Shem Creek Park which gives us a last look at the harbor. Farewell Charleston, thanks for all the tasty food!
zammis and I did have a lovely trip to Charleston, SC last month..Day 1
An uneventful flight down and we arrive in the afternoon. Due to the exorbitant prices of hotels downtown, we're actually staying in Mt. Pleasant, just across the river and near Patriots Point, home of the U.S.S. Yorktown. We start off our adventures with a trip to Ft. Sumter, the fort is on an island in Chareston’s harbor with a ferry leaving from near the hotel. On the ride over we get lovely views of the Yorktown the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, the fort itself, and our one and only dolphin sighting of the trip.
The fort itself was interesting, famous for being the site of the first shots off the civil war. A 3 story fortification before the war, it was reducing to rubble, the 1 story structure there now mostly built after the war. Views from the fort are awesome. After the fort we hit a BBQ place for dinner and then not quite ready to call it a night we go see Avengers (which is awesome).
Day 2
Time to go into Charleston itself. First we fortify ourselves at the local coffee shop and then go find an overpriced parking spot to leave our car for the day. We start off with a bit of shopping at The Market. Then, for an orientation to the city we decide to go for one of the horse-drawn carriage tours. There are lots of surviving colonial era buildings for us to ooh and aah over and interesting antebellum architecture as well. Our guide fills us in on the history and the weather is exceeding pleasant, plus the carriage goes slow enough for me to hack all the Ingress portals :-) Some very tasty seafood for lunch.
After lunch we check out The Exchange which has a museum focusing on the colonial era, also pirates!
Because we are crazy and our feet aren’t quite dead we decide to stay downtown and do a pub tour in the evening. Means we have a few hours to kill so we Ingress a bit, hang out at the park along the riverfront and discover a fabulous dessert bar (which by the way the very concept of a dessert bar is awesome, a place that just serves booze and dessert! Sign me up, I want one.) The pub tour is fun and we have a definite Character (tm) as a guide, some overlap with the carriage tour, but we got some new stories (perhaps my favorite, the story behind the Blind Tiger) and tasty drinks and snacks at the various stops, ending at a Irish pub with a musician singing familiar songs and Guinness on the appetizer menu. Eventually we make it back to the hotel and collapse.
St. Philips Church Huguenot Church Cobblestone street The Exchange Riverfront Riverfront fountainDay 3
In the morning we stay on the Mt. Pleasant side of the river, some delicious crepes from breakfast and then over to Ft. Moultrie. Moultrie started out as a revolutionary war fort and has been in service through WWII. Lots of history, lots of Ingress portals, and more fantastic views of Charleston harbor. We do lunch in Isle of Palms at a little beachfront bar with some live music as a bonus.
For the afternoon we head to Kiawah Island which is southwest of the city a ways with the hope of getting in some South Carolina countryside. Not really successful in that as it stays pretty suburban the whole way, but Kiawah does have a very fine beach that we walk along and watch the pelicans. For dinner, not looking for anything special we stumble upon Angel Oak and enter food heaven, btw, in case you didn’t know Charleston is a bit of a foodie paradise, this whole trip we eat very well, but I think this was the highlight, mostly southern style dishes done perfectly.
Us with the grave of General Moultrie behind us KiawahDay 4
Most of today is spent at Charles Towne Landing, a tourist attraction set up very similar to Jamestown Settlement. A bit upriver from downtown this site was settled while it was deemed more important to be able to hide from the Spanish and French than being able to take advantage of Charleston’s natural harbor, the colony moved a couple of years later once the settlers were more secure in their position. Also at the site is a small zoo of wildlife native to the area, unfortunately the otters are hiding, but the turkeys are happy to show off their gobbling ability.
Stopping at a little diner for lunch, we can not escape the great food, eggs benedict over green tomatoes, yum! After that we go back into the city to do one of the house museums we had seen from the carriage tour - the Nathaniel Russell House, a very fine house that shows off what being a successful slaver could buy in 1808. Also I learn that painting plaster to look like wood was a thing. We do some more just wandering about downtown and hang out at the park at the convergence of the two rivers that form the harbor. Dinner was at a nice brewpub called The Craftsman. We close out the day with a stop at one of the many candy shops on Market St. (putting a sign in your shop window that says “free pralines” will work on us).
Day 5
Our last day, don’t have a whole lot of time, but we do get one more excellent brunch at a diner and then go for a walk and some Ingress at the nearby Shem Creek Park which gives us a last look at the harbor. Farewell Charleston, thanks for all the tasty food!
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