Mount Pleasant, SC

We spent a lot of our time across the Cooper River in Mount Pleasant. We found this lovely little park that was all roped off so we climbed the rope and headed for the boardwalk. It was roped off also. The gentleman just coming off the boardwalk is a member of the city council. So we learned the park will open on Tuesday but he gave us his unofficial permission to go ahead and use it.

We walked alongside Shem Creek towards the bay. This is a popular place and the creek is lined with restaurants, a seafood shop and kayak rental.

It had a nice view of the Ravenel Bridge in the distance that crosses the Cooper River on the east side of Charleston into Mount Pleasant.

Yes, I brought my kayak but chose not to kayak this day. This would be a perfect spot.

Critters were busy down in the marsh. We watched this crab crawl along looking for his breakfast.

One by one the pelicans flew off their perches. I am sure they think this boardwalk was built for them.

When the Ravenel Bridge was built a few years ago the Mayor of Charleston fought for a walking and bicycling path alongside the 8 lanes of traffic. It is amazing and really the only hill around that folks have an option to walk. It was crowded with bikes, strollers, runners and walkers and we went up to the far tower and then back.

Not far away I found my first shrimp and grits. Talk about some comfort food! I was sure glad I had taken a three mile walk.

Page's Okra Grill turned out to be one of our favorite finds and we did eat there three times.

They were all decorated for halloween when we visited for an omelette on our final morning in Charleston.

I guess you would say we got the full moon when we left!

Angel Oak

We crossed the Stono River outside of Charleston one afternoon to go see a tree on John's Island. As we got closer we realized everyone else had the same idea on a Friday afternoon...not to see the tree but to go to the coastal islands.

Down an out of the way dirt road on John's Island you can find tourists gawking at the perhaps largest Live Oak tree in America. We, of course, took our turn.

There is no way to get the entire tree in one picture.

Giant cables help to hold the limbs in place and lightening rods assure the tree won't be damaged. Leon is dwarfed under one of the limbs that arches to lie on the ground.

We took a different route back across the Stono reflecting upon how fun it was to find a geocache while visiting the Angel Oak.

Shirtless in Charleston

     On the day we arrived in Charleston we wasted no time in parking down along the bay and walking the streets south of Broad. We walked and looked and were having such a good time we perhaps did not realize it was getting dark so soon. I had grabbed an extra shirt when we began our walk, but soon took it off and stuffed part of it in my pocket. We asked someone if we were going the right direction to the park once it was dark and we were headed back to the truck,  and she suggested we travel along Tradd Street. So we took her advice not realizing that she was talking about a different park. We crossed East Bay (where we were parked) and turned left. Soon it was obvious to a woman out walking her dog that we were confused. She pointed us in the right direction and after a pleasant walk along the bay with a beautiful full moon we arrived back at the truck. But where is my shirt? We drove the path we had taken, approximately 2.62 miles, but in the dark no shirt revealed itself.

     The next afternoon we told Chloe, the GPS, to take us back to our campground and she directed us down Broad, one of the streets we walked on the night before. Before long I shouted, "Leon, stop!There is my shirt." And sure enough, someone had picked it up off the ground and hanged it on a post.  When I emailed my family that I lost my shirt on Broad Stree they were confused as to why I was shirtless in Charleston but that is my story and I am sticking to it!

Charleston, SC cont

Each morning we leave our parking spot at the Elks Lodge and drive over the Ashley River bridge to the peninsula. That is us back behind the Live Oaks and Sweet Gum trees. No neighbors, just us.

We usually find a spot along the battery south of Broad. This elevated walk follows the shore around the east side of the peninsula.

There are always folks walking or sitting and relaxing in this park while they are guarded from the yanks! Not far from this spot is Ft. Sumter where the Civil War began.

 I don't know how they get the ivy to grow on the fronts of the steps. Every place is so beautifully manicured and gardens are just everywhere.

As we strolled up Church Street we stopped at the Huguenot Church, the last independent Huguenot church in the nation. The first church was built here in 1687 and the present Gothic Revival building was complete in 1844.

I had heard that there was a plaque with one of my grandfather's names on it and sure enough. The walls are adorned with plaques in honor of men who gave money to the church for its reconstruction after the Civil War.

The market is always an interesting place to visit. It was quite crowded but that is my idea of a real arts and crafts fair. 

 Here you will find plenty of women making the famous sweetgrass baskets that are anything but cheap.

The city hall was built in 1801 and is a most handsome building that has survived an earthquake, tornadoes, and hurricanes. It has been refurbished as has so much of Charleston.

We especially enjoyed seeing the John Trumbull 1791 painting of George Washington. At the far end of the city council meeting room full of old desks and cane chairs is the Samuel F.B. Morse painting of James Monroe.

This is supposedly the oldest house in Charleston according to the artist who has his shop there. It is three story and also had a basement as did many houses. It had been a lawyer's office for years and is now owned by a lady in Charlotte.

These cane chairs were in many of the pews in one of the old churches. Look familiar, Kay?

The Douxsaint House is one of many listed on the national register of historic properties in Charleston. This one is in a part of town called the French Quarter. It has a single front with the porch or piazza on the side of the house as is typical with many houses here. This was done possibly to pay fewer taxes due to the amount of your house on the street or to perhaps avoid the sun and have cooler breezes.

On this 3 story building you can see the crosses that are part of the bolts that run through the attics of the houses to prevent damage during an earthquake.

This is so typical of how well manicured and beautiful much of Charleston is.

Charleston began as Charles Town in 1670 on the east side of the peninsula alongside the Cooper River. Much of the town was walled off to prevent invasion by Indians and others.

The Powder Magazine is the oldest public building in Charleston. It was built in 1713 as a place to store their gunpowder supplies.

There are so many ways to see Charleston if you choose to neither drive nor walk. These folks were taking one of the easy and informative rides.

Further down Chalmers Street we came to the old fire station and the old slave mart, now a museum.  It was built in 1859 as a city ordinance in 1856 prohibited the public sale of slaves. It is now a museum.

Walking is not easy in the older parts of town. The cobblestone or brick streets and sidewalks with bricks or mostly large rock squares make it difficult. We best get out of town before we trip and break something.

Folks with nice houses often have nice cars. This is a more modern Rolls Royce than another we saw.  This is not us leaving town!

One of the last places we visited in Charleston was the park alongside the Cooper River off Concord. It was the weekend and tourists were just everywhere. 

And not far from there we found Noisy Oysters on N Market Street. I know that nobody cares what I ate for lunch but it explains why I look like I do. Oysters, fried tomatoes and grits. Why not?

And I probably have 200 more photos of Charleston. I won't bore you any longer but I learned long ago that when it comes to taking pictures that buildings are my passion.

Charleston, SC

We arrived at the Elks before the employees and waited until they opened at 4 to select our spacious home for a couple of days. After the five o'clock traffic settled we took off for South of Broad on the peninsula.

 

The Edmonston Alston House was built on the High Battery in 1825 and enhanced in 1838.It is a fine example of Charleston's commitment to elegance, style, and comfort. It is one of many we chose not to tour. We would just gawk as we walked.

The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon was built in 1771. Here Stede Bonnet "The Gentleman Pirate" and his crew were imprisoned prior to their hanging. This is also where the British held prisoners in the cellar in 1780. Washington visited several times during his Southern tour.

A visit with this pirate was nice but we opted not to take his $8 tour of the dungeon.

We walked along Broad Street, lined with art galleries.

No matter where we went the steeple of this Episcopal Church caught my eye. It is on Church Street in an older section of town.

Rainbow Row is a popular artist subject and tourist attraction on East Bay.

I imagine there is more iron in Charleston than anywhere. There are iron gates, dodads, light posts, hitching posts, boot scrapers, and the list goes on.

As dusk settled in someone steered us wrong on some directions as we were headed back to the truck and it almost turned into a fiasco. But we saw a beautiful moonrise over the water in Charleston Bay, many iron gates, lots of big houses, louvred and solid shutters. I am not sure south of Broad is how Leon referred to our 2.62 mile walk.