Whenever we visit a new city, Jack and I like to get an overview of that city by taking a double-decker red bus trip at the beginning of our visit. In Charleston, things move at a slower pace and carriage tours take the place of giant busses. Our friends were up for a carriage ride too, so we headed over to Market Street where the carriage companies begin their tours. If you take a carriage ride make sure to call ahead and reserve a time - we got a $2 discount on each ticket just by calling ahead a few minutes. The routes are randomly assigned by the City of Charleston each time a carriage goes out in order to limit congestion and we were lucky to get a tour that took us through the South of Broad neighborhood and along the Battery, which is a street with gorgeous mansions facing the harbor. Price tags on the homes in this area are in the millions of dollars and there are quite a few for sale. Our tour guide said that many were purchased as second homes and with the downturn in the economy, people are now trying to offload these properties. Imagine what the mortgage payments and taxes must be!
Later we walked and walked and walked some more around the city. Many of the homes have beautiful gardens and it's fun to peek into them as you stroll around. We noticed that large numbers of homes have wrought iron fences around them and that some homes still have the scary looking spikes that were put in place hundreds of years ago to protect the wealthy white homeowners' in the event of a slave uprising.
On another day, we toured two historic Charleston homes which was fascinating, even if you're not a history buff like Jack and me. Similar to the New York City Tenement Museum, the Aiken-Rhett house has been left in it's natural state with peeling wall paper dating from the 17th century on the walls of some rooms along with layers of paper and paint from subsequent years. Visitors get a chance to walk through the sparsely furnished antebellum home and learn how the homeowners and their slaves lived by viewing the main house, the stables and the slave quarters. Photos are not allowed inside of the home but visitors can take pictures of the stables and the exterior of the home.
While it looks like a giant home from the street, the rooms seemed surprisingly small to me. Of course, this was the owners' city home, the family also had a plantation in North Carolina. After visiting the Aiken-Rhett home we headed over to the Nathanial Russell House which was completed in 1808 for a wealthy merchant and his family. The home has been almost completely restored and is just gorgeous with beautiful rooms and furniture.
We especially loved the elliptical floating staircase that extends three stories.
When we needed a break from all of the history we decided to take a boat trip around the harbor to look at the City from the water and cruise by Fort Sumter. It was a relaxing way to spend a few hours. If only those annoying sorority girls behind us would have stopped talking for just a FEW minutes it would have been perfect!
On the last night of our friends' visit we crossed over the Cooper River to Mt. Pleasant which seems to be a sort of suburb of Charleston. Yards are bigger, homes are more typically suburban and they have a Whole Food and a Trader Joe's. A friend had recommended that we head over to the Shem's Creek area for some fresh seafood and a front row seat to watch the sun set over the water. It was a great way to end their visit and we all enjoyed relaxing at the outdoor bar watching the sun set over the water. Aaah!
So what are you doing every day while Jack works? Where are you staying? What local things have you found that are interesting? How are you liking life out of a suitcase?
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