Charleston, SC

Charleston, SC is a wonderful town. Beautiful architecture, beautiful homes and gardens, amazing history and excellent restaurants. Like in any larger city, there is also an abundance of very well dressed men and women  – perfect for people watching. We stopped for two nights to do some housekeeping and to see former neighbors Lynda and Jeff Byrd. They moved to Daniel’s Island about 18 months ago and we miss them a lot. It was wonderful to catch up and to see how well they have landed and that they and their 12-year old son Finn are thriving. We had a gorgeous seafood dinner together at Hanks and Dave and I enjoyed lunch at S.N.O.B (“Slightly north of Broad St”) – both places were packed with locals; that is what I always look for when selecting a restaurant.

Charleston has a long and very interesting history. At the mouth of the harbor sits Fort Sumter where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. I love history and have read quite a bit about Charleston. An easy yet very good way of learning about history is to read novels based on real historical events but where the story line and people are fictional. Two authors who have perfected this genre are James Michener (e.g. “The Covenant” about South Africa’s violent and multifaceted history, “Chesapeake” and “Mexico”) and John Jakes (“North and South”, “Love and War” and “Charleston”).

We stayed at the Charleston City Marina which is a huge and very nicely run facility. However, it is not pet friendly. The walk from the Mega dock to shore is extremely long (unless you travel with a golf cart, vespa or bicycles) and when you get there, it is blacktop parking lot and concrete for as far as your eyes can see. The Girls were not happy…

Palmetto pictures courtesy of Lynda Byrd.