Read about our travels in Charleston South Carolina
According to Wikipedia, Charleston is the oldest and second-largest city in the southeastern State of South Carolina, with a population of 125,000, located on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean.
The first shots in the American Civil War were fired here. In 1860, following the election of Abraham Lincoln, South Carolina voted to secede from the Union and in January 1861, cadets opened fire on the Union ship Star of the West entering Charleston’s harbor. The following April saw shore batteries under the command of General Beauregard open fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in the harbor. After a 34-hour bombardment, Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort, thus starting the war.
Fort Sumter Monument
My initial impressions of Charleston are tans, joggers, youth, well-heeled and bicycles.
There’s also plenty of signs of good, live music here – in the last week James McMurtry, Bob Schneider, Alabama Shakes have played here. Tonight Icelandic outfit Sigur Ros are performing. There’s a festival on next month with plenty of names.
After breakfast on the back verandah of our lodgings Barksdale House, Jenny and I set off down King St which turned out to be a long line of somewhat up-market clothes stores. I saw a nice pair of shoes, but not at $220 plus tax thank you.
Nevertheless a beautiful street and enjoyable march past. The stores disappeared as we continued our journey south down King, horse-drawn carriages trundling between beautiful Southern mansions and perfectly-manicured gardens.
This is nice
Crepe Myrtle
Then we arrived at The Battery, right on the Harbour. Many reminders of the War of Independence and other conflicts. We could see Fort Sumter in the distance, its strategic importance pretty dang obvious.
A delightful walk along East Battery where the houses achieved an even higher level of grandeur. Sandra joined us for lunch at the Subway (the healthiest food we could find) on East Bay St. We assumed that Trish and Richard kept good on their intentions to boat over to Fort Sumter, hopefully with good stories to tell over dinner.
Then we happened upon an extensive market area. This will keep Jenny very engaged for a while. Time for a coffee.
Back at Barksdale House for a refresh.
A delightful fish restaurant Hank’s organised by Richard. A wine bar with Californian wines.
Tomorrow the Famous Five will rally to Raleigh and the best bluegrass music in the world.
Read about our travels in Charleston South Carolina
Read about our travels in Charleston South Carolina
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