I decided that I would like to incorporate some of my famous ‘sightseeing-vacation’ tendencies with the ‘relaxing-vacation’ theme of our trip to Myrtle Beach. In other words, I wanted to get out and actually do something – and visit a place where I could actually purchase a magnet or two to put on my refrigerator! So I talked my Mom and Denise into taking a trek into Charleston on Thursday, March 22. We got a relatively late start on Thursday morning, so after the ninety-minute drive to Charleston it was about 11:30am when we arrived. Mom, Denise, Ashleigh, Adam, and I made the trek. The Eds had other plans, mostly shopping for toys.
Our first stop was at the Charleston visitors center. Since we didn’t know exactly where we wanted to go or what exactly we wanted to see, we needed to get the skinny on what was going on in this town. The two main objectives I was hoping to accomplish was to take a horse-drawn carriage trip through Charleston to see some of the highlights and to visit Fort Sumter. The desk clerk at the vistors center advised us that we probably couldn’t fit both into the day. I disagreed. 
We were, however, under some severe time constraints. We quicky walked about ten blocks south to locate the nearest carriage ride, which took off at 12:30. Incidently, the last ferry to Fort Sumter would be departing at 2:30. I think we all enjoyed the scenic trip through historic Charleston. I really liked the flavor of the town. The old homes, churches, cemeteries, and streets had a distinct Southern period atmosphere. We learned all about why the front doors of the homes led to a patio (so people could privately sleep outside in the Summer) and all about ‘Charleston Green,’ the paint commonly used throughout the town. (The Union forced them to use black paint during reconstruction following the Civil War. Charleston pride, however, dictated that they add some yellow to the paint in order to make a statement of their sovereignty).
Adam enjoyed lunch during the tour, although Denise was forced to mix his cereal with Propel instead of drinking water. Adam’s reaction was to clench onto the arm of the gentleman seated in front of us. Ashleigh and I liked the popcorn and clippoty-clop of the horse as we made our way through the town, at one point traveling alongside Charleston Harbor.
Following the hour-long tour, we made great time getting to our destination where we would embark on our voyage to Fort Sumter. In order to do this, we had to quickly walk back to the Visitor’s Center where our car was located and then drive out of Charleston to our destination. Amazingly we had about twenty minutes to spare where we browsed the gift shop and ate a soft pretzel. Soon we were on our boat heading to historic Fort Sumter…
…which is coming up next…
People just don’t seem to understand that you can’t tell us that we can’t fit things in due to time constraints. We were huffing and puffing to make our deadlines, but we managed to get in the two tours we wanted to see, even if we had to eat on the run (popcorn, pretzels and pop) as our meals. Charleston though was really a neat city and I got to see parts that I hadn’t seen before in my previous brief trip. Would love to spend more time walking around (a little more slowly) and enjoying the marketplace there.
Mom/Barb
April 27th, 2007
The Eds went to The Children’s Museum and then went to Barefoot Landing. We enjoyed eating at a really nice restaurant there. I believe that was the day Abby tossed her Dora sunglasses to the fish and ducks. I have no doubt some toys were also bought (and a Buzz umbrella for Andrew), but we had a really nice and fulfilling day too. (most of the toys were Easter presents for Charley, Sammy, Andrew & Abby).
Bev Tangeman
April 27th, 2007
Too bad you were not able to roam the entire Charleston area. There are still a lot of wonderful historical places to visit.
Check out my site, http://www.charlestonscrealestate.us and see the amazing places I’m taking about. I placed the webcam on top of the cupola at the Calhoun Mansion which gives you live video views of Fort Sumter, Charleston Harbor and many other Historic Charleston SC landmarks. You can also take control of the camera and explore Charleston.
Nicki
March 7th, 2008