Downtown Charleston

Yesterday we dropped Ali off at the groomers for medicated bath....and they kept her for most of the day so we had the chance to drive to downtown Charleston and see the sights.....mostly the historic places on a combined trolley and walking tour.   Lots of beautiful old churches in the downtown area as well as many old, historic homes and buildings.    Here are a few photos of historic Charleston........neither of us had ever seen one place with so many gorgeous homes...the battery in the southern part of the city in particular evidenced mansion after mansion after mansion......just amazing!

Hibernian Society Building (Society was formed to promote Irish Benevolent programs)




Single House Decorated for the Holidays
 

Gateway to Unitarian Church - built 1754



 



Typical Double Entry House style.



 



Founded in 1670 as Charles Towne in honor of King Charles II of England, Charleston adopted its present name in 1783. It moved to its present location on Oyster Point in 1680 from a location on the west bank of the Ashley River known as Albemarle Point. By 1690, Charles Towne was the fifth largest city in North America, and it remained among the ten largest cities in the United States through the 1840 census. With a 2010 census population of 120,800, current trends put Charleston as the fastest-growing municipality in South Carolina. The city's statistical metropolitan area population was counted by the 2010 census at 664,607 – the second largest in the state – and the 75th largest statistical metropolitan area in the United States.

Charleston is also sometimes known as "Chucktown" by those who show a bit less reverence for British History in the US....and it is also often referred to as the Holy City due to the many churches that are located here.   Church steeples dot the city skyline and a walk downtown will eventually bring one to virtually every denomination.   The church architecture is wonderful, as evidenced here.......by the Circular Congregational Church built in the 1700s.   Pam and I went to services here today....partly to see the interior sancutary.....seating is crescent shaped and the ceiling has wonderful wood trusses to complement the dome shape....a gorgeous old church...very friendly parishoners too.



Circular Congregational Church







Charleston is fairly easy to get around in for folks from out of town....although we have managed the occasional wrong move that "ticked off" a local or two.   And yesterday, while traveling through a neighborhood following the GPS, we suddenly heard sirens and saw the police car in the rear view mirror.  We pulled to the right and so did he.....(wish I could say Pam was driving).   He mentioned we had been doing some 35 mph in a 25 mph zone and took my license and registration back to his vehicle.   Several minutes later he came back with a written warning.....so luck prevailed!!    When he handed us the warning he said "maybe she should drive".....my reply was "she drives faster than I do".....he chuckled.  

 



We had an interesting experience at a local bakery as well.   Using the internet we fould the Normandy Farm bakery was only a couple miles from the campground here on James Island.   We drove there to find, despite saying it was open on the door, it was closed.   There was a second door to the kitchen part of the bakery itself, where a few men were in there baking fresh bread.  Pam opened this door and inquired, and a very nice Mexican fellow invited us inside....in very broken English.....and proceeded to take two loaves of Sourdough and two loaves of Multi Grain from the shelf and put them in paper bags (still warm!).  (Note we had NOT said how many we wanted).....when we went to pay him he said "no....take and enjoy them....FREE".   Can you imagine??!!    Since we will be here for 5 more days I want to go back....but only when the restaurant / bakery retail side of the store is closed!!!    (How about them apples, Mary Gross......4 loaves of Free Bread!!!....but not from Standish...).

Here is an example of one of the narrow, downtown streets with some beautiful old homes.......

Tradd Street - Charleston


ALERT.......first Penguin Corner (hope you are tuned in, Debbie).....

 

Pam's painted rock Penguin Mom and Baby.

 

   Debbie Schultz works in the MD wing of Littleton Hospital.   She and Pam are long time friends.  Recently, I had the opportunity to meet Debbie....and after Pam introduced us and we talked for awhile Pam mentioned "Debbie paints rocks".   I turned my head toward Debbie and simply asked "why"?   Little did I know that Debbie is a very talented artist and she (with help from husband Steve) looks for rocks with certain shapes and then very creatively paints animals or scenes on them like she did here with the penguins.   The Penguins are with us on this trip (if you need to ask why please ask Pam!!), so we thought occasionally we would have a bit of fun with them.   So, having provided some background.......we are sure you can spot the penguins in this photo below......

 

The Penguins visit 15 Tradd St. Charleston, SC.









    We plan to be here in Charleston (before moving on to Hunting Island State Park near Beaufort, SC & Savannah, GA) for another 4 more days.   Stay tuned as we continue to explore Charleston....its Plantation houses beckon.   Here are a couple more of the places we have visited  as we close this blog entry.

 

Historic Mills House Hotel.....a gorgeous example of Charleston architecture.

 

Poogans Porch where we had fried green tomatoes, fried alligator and fried chicken and biscuits with collard greens (please, no emails, Dr. Robin, about all the fried food).


 
Signing off.......until next time......

 

Ali & Ken