Charleston South Carolina 2-23-2019

Charleston South Carolina 2-23-2019

Heading to Charleston SC this morning and although we have not been here before we know what to expect after seeing Savanah, Charleston is steeped with history as well, it’s known as the city of churches. On almost every block a church, the architecture is amazing, it’s like going back in time with corner stone’s dating back to the early 1700’s. There are plaques statements of ownership with their history. We find this interesting store called Preservation Society of Charleston Shop inside is a great collection of hand made in USA products, click on the link to see what they have, all proceeds go to the preservation of Charleston historic places. Angela found us a lunch spot called the Five Loaves Cafe, their menu was interesting and reasonably healthy, we would definitely recommend this place. The Unitarian Church is a very interesting with tours of the graveyard if you dare. There is a many squares in the city but the one of King St, Marion square has the Calhoun Monument which always under watch as its political history can and does offend some people. What’s a walk around Charleston without a Booze Pop right, we saw a number of these vans throughout the city, music blaring and young dancing promoters out front, very contrary to the historic sights around them. We saw this interesting building with a sign Peoplematter on their roof top, I love their name, as it turns out it is a workforce software company that is trending up, they work with snagajob.com. Every time we round a corner another historic building with lots of history in our view, this one is the United States Customs Building, it does not get more stately than this. Sea port cities like Charleston always had a number Bastions on them, they were Bulwarks, (forts) that protected the cities and there markers where they are or use to be. Waterfront Park as you can imagine runs along the water front, with the bay on one side and the city on the other, it has wide walks with fountains that celebrate southern life and history. A famous go to place are the Rainbow Row Houses near the Waterfront Park, these historic homes were painted in a Caribbean color scheme that was popular for the time. Chalmers street is also nearby, I love the cobble stone streets, the streets previously we either dusty or muddy so someone came up with the idea to use the ballast (stones) from the ships to pave the streets, brilliant, you don’t have to repave these streets. The Old Exchange Building was one of the most important buildings in the colonial days and served many purposes and still does today to educate us about our past. The Charleston Statehouse is another building that has been preserved for our appreciation. There are so many churches and St Michaels is a standout. The next historic building is the County of Charleston Court House. Many of the homes will have plaques out in front with a short history of who lived there, this one was Major Peter Bocquets home, a stand out because of its color. It was February but in the south spring has sprung and we see beautiful blossoming trees with southern belles under them. Yes another church, just keep in mind there are 400 churches in the city, now you know what its called the Holy City. Saint Johns was another famous one. We swing by the Charleston Library Society Building before we take a break at Kings Street Cookies, I’m a cookie monster and these were best commercial cookies I have ever had, looks like the queen approved as well. The sign out front put a smile on our face as well. King street was a shopping mecca, all the well known and a number of local retailers with a eclectic mix of restaurants. Marion Square talks about the Siege of Charleston and how the British took the city during The American Civil War. We end the day at Charleston City Market which all the typical tourist and local fare. Just outside the market we see Byrd’s Cookies which normally would not catch our eye with the exception of it was Angela’s mother’s maiden, yes, they have samplings, click to read their interesting story. On our way to the car we did see this interesting sign of Charleston Not So Hostel, you can stay cheap in a dorm or go whole hog for the The Kendall Suite. WOW! what a great city.