Trip to Charleston
I am finally taking some time to write a little about the trip we took to Charleston. I wanted to add some images, so please
I like to do a lot of research before a trip, of places to go including interesting places to eat! One place that kept coming up was The Wreck of Richard and Charlene. It is not in a busy part of town, in fact it is in Mt. Pleasant along Shem Creek, sandwiched between a boat yard and a seafood store. It is unmarked. You have to know it is there, basically. Despite the somewhat dodgy description, and the fact that they did not take credit cards, I knew this was a place we had to try. We drove up and this is what we saw. Inside is not any more impressive - uneven floors, no air conditioning, but the entire back side is made up of screens looking out over the docks along Shem Creek, but with the fans and friendly service, who cares about any of that. The food was amazing, incredibly fresh and not overpriced, and we ended up going two nights in a row.
After eating we walked around the docks a little bit. The creek reminded me so much of Dawson's Creek, which was filmed in North Carolina I think, not the northern part of the country where the show was set. I love to see where things come from, and the route this seafood took is pretty short - creek --> boat --> dock --> restaurant --> tummy. As you can see from the sky, a storm was inevitable, and we actually had to run to the car from the pier as huge drops started falling. Definitely a memorable moment.
That evening, the rain had stopped and we headed downtown for our Ghost and Graveyard Tour. I knew it would be rather silly and maybe a bit of a tourist trap but I enjoyed it. It did give us access to a graveyard that you can't get into otherwise, so that was pretty neat, but honestly, one of the stories was a bit much for me. Of course I'd been reading House of Leaves all weekend, which made me a little jumpy in general. There are four women who had been drinking and the guide had to keep reprimanding them. They finally wandered off. I hope they found their way out of the graveyard.
The next morning we had breakfast at the farmer's market downtown. One of my favorite baking bloggers lives in Charleston, and when I asked her what bakeries to visit in Charleston, she said that a lot of the best ones sell at the farmer's market! We tried crepes and sampled a few things from a German bakery stand. Then we went to the harbor to take the harbor tour. The picture is of us sitting on the top level of the boat, where I got the worst sunburn of my life. I don't know what I was thinking, but even I know better than to not wear sunscreen!! The tour was mildly interesting but there were so many people on the boat you had to just sit there. The Charleston Harbor Festival is largely to blame for this I think, something we didn't know about ahead of time but definitely added to the crowds almost everywhere we went.
We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the city market and other areas of downtown. Apparently Saturdays are the days the cruise ship people show up, or maybe Charleston is just busy, but - the madness! Besides that, we were hoping to come across some quality artisans in the market but it felt more like a flea market. That was a little disappointing, but hey, we spent less money that way. Charleston is also very hot and humid compared to other areas of the state. I don't think I would enjoy going there later in the summer, but I would imagine it is perfect in November. :) We went back to The Wreck for dinner, where we had she crab soup, a Charleston staple. They had dry sherry in a little bottle to add right before eating. I wish I could describe the feeling of sitting in a restaurant with big ceiling fans, screened in seating, sipping sweet tea and watching the creek. You just feel so... southern. It was awesome.
The next morning we took another tour of Charleston Harbor on our way to Fort Sumter. I admit to not always having a lot of interest in war, but Fort Sumter has a very interesting history in this country. It started out as a Federalist fort, taken over by the Confederates, and eventually reclaimed when the march on Charleston began (and the soldiers in the fort left to defend their city). The most memorable part of the trip to Fort Sumter to me was the sheer number of times I think I managed to flash the other people on the tour. I was wearing a shorter cotton dress and just had not taken into account the fact that there might be wind... anyway, it made the day more entertaining, to be sure.
For lunch we went to another place along Shem Creek, Red's Ice House. We sat inside but at a table that was open to the pier. It was so relaxing to sit and watch all the boaters, and people actually came to the restaurant by boat, and some brought their dogs. Very relaxing. Ooh, and dolphins too. That afternoon we drove to several of the islands to check out the beaches. I had targeted Folly Beach on James Island because of the Morris lighthouse, but it was painfully windy there. We walked up the beach a bit, and in the water a little, but left pretty rapidly. For people like me who grew up on the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic is quite the head trip. To have warm ocean water - well, it is like someone peed in it or something. Ocean water is freezing cold (in my head), even when outside temps are in the 90s. It was interesting how each island had its own feel, practically its own culture. When we go back I think we'll try going to the beach on Isle of Palms - it seemed a little more tourist friendly (not as windy that day, and public bathrooms!).
The next day we started out by going to Metto Coffee & Tea in Mt. Pleasant (which is where we were staying). I had seen it the first day but we ended up wishing we had gone every morning - the people were incredibly friendly and the coffee and food was goooood. Plus, it isn't Starbucks. I hate going to chain restaurants on vacation, but we had gone to Starbucks the day before. The barista made me a mocha that he called the "Don't get sunburned on vacation mocha." Funny. I had read about the Angel Oak tree, so we braved my bad sense of direction (which added at least 30 minutes to this trek) to head to Johns Island and see it. It was so beautiful. And huge. If there hadn't been a bunch of art students sitting around and a very loud art teacher, I would have wanted to just sit and absorb its atmosphere for a while. We found a bolt in a tire of the car at this point and were lucky enough to happen upon a Wal-Mart to replace it, which set our plans back.
We spent the rest of the day at Magnolia Plantation, which was amazing. We saw so much wildlife during the train tour, and then walking around we came across alligators even. It has a lot of history, and has been in the same family since the revolutionary war. The Audubon Swamp Garden was the last thing we did, and I was tired and dodging the sunlight, but it was still cool. Otherworldly, really. There were a few moments of vicious attacks by killer mosquitoes, and one really strange encounter with a swamp bunny, but no attacks by alligators or snakes. The next time we go to Charleston I would like to see the other plantations as well as tour some of the historic homes on the battery. It has been one of my favorite places so far.
I like to do a lot of research before a trip, of places to go including interesting places to eat! One place that kept coming up was The Wreck of Richard and Charlene. It is not in a busy part of town, in fact it is in Mt. Pleasant along Shem Creek, sandwiched between a boat yard and a seafood store. It is unmarked. You have to know it is there, basically. Despite the somewhat dodgy description, and the fact that they did not take credit cards, I knew this was a place we had to try. We drove up and this is what we saw. Inside is not any more impressive - uneven floors, no air conditioning, but the entire back side is made up of screens looking out over the docks along Shem Creek, but with the fans and friendly service, who cares about any of that. The food was amazing, incredibly fresh and not overpriced, and we ended up going two nights in a row.
After eating we walked around the docks a little bit. The creek reminded me so much of Dawson's Creek, which was filmed in North Carolina I think, not the northern part of the country where the show was set. I love to see where things come from, and the route this seafood took is pretty short - creek --> boat --> dock --> restaurant --> tummy. As you can see from the sky, a storm was inevitable, and we actually had to run to the car from the pier as huge drops started falling. Definitely a memorable moment.
That evening, the rain had stopped and we headed downtown for our Ghost and Graveyard Tour. I knew it would be rather silly and maybe a bit of a tourist trap but I enjoyed it. It did give us access to a graveyard that you can't get into otherwise, so that was pretty neat, but honestly, one of the stories was a bit much for me. Of course I'd been reading House of Leaves all weekend, which made me a little jumpy in general. There are four women who had been drinking and the guide had to keep reprimanding them. They finally wandered off. I hope they found their way out of the graveyard.
The next morning we had breakfast at the farmer's market downtown. One of my favorite baking bloggers lives in Charleston, and when I asked her what bakeries to visit in Charleston, she said that a lot of the best ones sell at the farmer's market! We tried crepes and sampled a few things from a German bakery stand. Then we went to the harbor to take the harbor tour. The picture is of us sitting on the top level of the boat, where I got the worst sunburn of my life. I don't know what I was thinking, but even I know better than to not wear sunscreen!! The tour was mildly interesting but there were so many people on the boat you had to just sit there. The Charleston Harbor Festival is largely to blame for this I think, something we didn't know about ahead of time but definitely added to the crowds almost everywhere we went.
We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the city market and other areas of downtown. Apparently Saturdays are the days the cruise ship people show up, or maybe Charleston is just busy, but - the madness! Besides that, we were hoping to come across some quality artisans in the market but it felt more like a flea market. That was a little disappointing, but hey, we spent less money that way. Charleston is also very hot and humid compared to other areas of the state. I don't think I would enjoy going there later in the summer, but I would imagine it is perfect in November. :) We went back to The Wreck for dinner, where we had she crab soup, a Charleston staple. They had dry sherry in a little bottle to add right before eating. I wish I could describe the feeling of sitting in a restaurant with big ceiling fans, screened in seating, sipping sweet tea and watching the creek. You just feel so... southern. It was awesome.
The next morning we took another tour of Charleston Harbor on our way to Fort Sumter. I admit to not always having a lot of interest in war, but Fort Sumter has a very interesting history in this country. It started out as a Federalist fort, taken over by the Confederates, and eventually reclaimed when the march on Charleston began (and the soldiers in the fort left to defend their city). The most memorable part of the trip to Fort Sumter to me was the sheer number of times I think I managed to flash the other people on the tour. I was wearing a shorter cotton dress and just had not taken into account the fact that there might be wind... anyway, it made the day more entertaining, to be sure.
For lunch we went to another place along Shem Creek, Red's Ice House. We sat inside but at a table that was open to the pier. It was so relaxing to sit and watch all the boaters, and people actually came to the restaurant by boat, and some brought their dogs. Very relaxing. Ooh, and dolphins too. That afternoon we drove to several of the islands to check out the beaches. I had targeted Folly Beach on James Island because of the Morris lighthouse, but it was painfully windy there. We walked up the beach a bit, and in the water a little, but left pretty rapidly. For people like me who grew up on the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic is quite the head trip. To have warm ocean water - well, it is like someone peed in it or something. Ocean water is freezing cold (in my head), even when outside temps are in the 90s. It was interesting how each island had its own feel, practically its own culture. When we go back I think we'll try going to the beach on Isle of Palms - it seemed a little more tourist friendly (not as windy that day, and public bathrooms!).
The next day we started out by going to Metto Coffee & Tea in Mt. Pleasant (which is where we were staying). I had seen it the first day but we ended up wishing we had gone every morning - the people were incredibly friendly and the coffee and food was goooood. Plus, it isn't Starbucks. I hate going to chain restaurants on vacation, but we had gone to Starbucks the day before. The barista made me a mocha that he called the "Don't get sunburned on vacation mocha." Funny. I had read about the Angel Oak tree, so we braved my bad sense of direction (which added at least 30 minutes to this trek) to head to Johns Island and see it. It was so beautiful. And huge. If there hadn't been a bunch of art students sitting around and a very loud art teacher, I would have wanted to just sit and absorb its atmosphere for a while. We found a bolt in a tire of the car at this point and were lucky enough to happen upon a Wal-Mart to replace it, which set our plans back.
We spent the rest of the day at Magnolia Plantation, which was amazing. We saw so much wildlife during the train tour, and then walking around we came across alligators even. It has a lot of history, and has been in the same family since the revolutionary war. The Audubon Swamp Garden was the last thing we did, and I was tired and dodging the sunlight, but it was still cool. Otherworldly, really. There were a few moments of vicious attacks by killer mosquitoes, and one really strange encounter with a swamp bunny, but no attacks by alligators or snakes. The next time we go to Charleston I would like to see the other plantations as well as tour some of the historic homes on the battery. It has been one of my favorite places so far.