Charleston

We stayed in an updated 1950's bungalow in North Charleston.  The house had a floor plan very similar to the first house I remember living in on Palo Alto.  It was a comfortable house, but we had to drive to attractions, so we didn't spend as much time in Charleston proper as we might have if we stayed downtown.  We did make a couple of walking tours through downtown.  

The Confederate dead are not forgotten in Charleston

I thought this church was interesting.  It is the Circular Congregational Church.  The congregation was established in 1681, but the building has been through several renovations.  There are two or three churches on every block of Meeting Street.  Charleston is a churchy city.

We had lunch at a very nice restaurant on Queen Street called 82 Queen.  I took a chance on the oysters and did not get food poisoning, always a gamble with oysters.

Another dramatic bridge, the Arthur Ravnel Jr. Bridge

We also took time to tour several plantations. Boone Hall gave a good history of plantation life and still grew a few crops. This lovely oak lined drive was original to the plantation.  The trees are several hundred years old. Patrick Swayze galloped up this drive in North and South.

The beautiful plantation house was built in the 1930's but furnished with period furniture and wood work.

There were two weddings going on while we toured.  A great setting for a wedding if you don't mind tour groups ogling you.

We had an afternoon flight, so on our last morning we toured Drayton Hall. It was a lovely peaceful setting, the house was original and is being preserved but not repaired. This is a sketch of the original house.

 And this is the house today. The landscaping has changed some, but the house looks pretty much the same.

This was the original privy.

And amazingly the original blue prints still exist, if you've ever wondered what a privy used to look like

And here is Calvin next to a 400 year old live oak.

 Amazing tree, Amazing man.