May 22, 2022 Charleston!
The city of Charleston is on a peninsula – at least the old part of the city, the most interesting part! The Intracoastal canal from Beaufort, SC to Charleston is a winding, narrow waterway. We had a very long day cruising that day! We had selected the Charleston Mariner Center as our marina while in Charleston. It is located on the eastern peninsula. Most of the other marinas are on the western side. We chose the Mariner Center because (1) it is small, less busy, (2) it is much cheaper, and (3) it is equidistant to the historical district and City Market. Turns out, there was one more good reason to stay there – there is a terrific grocery store only 3 blocks away, Harris Teeter! We were out of many things, and I took advantage of the closeness of a good grocery store – I walked to the store with my wagon. The wagon, on the return trip, was loaded down!
When we arrived at the marina, there were two Looper boats there, Tidbit and Nano. We have encountered Nano before – not very friendly, plus they waked us badly on the cruise up to Charleston without a word on the radio. Bad manners! But, Tidbit’s lone cruiser, Sam, was delightful. He caught our lines, then came aboard for a drink and conversation. We went to dinner with him, to a Vietnamese restaurant a few blocks away. Sam is from Midtown in Manhattan – he’s been on his small boat for about a year, with breaks to go home on visits. His wife isn’t interested in traveling on the boat with him.
We had only one full day in Charleston, so we wanted to see as much as possible. We signed up with a bus tour. It left from the Visitor’s Center, about a mile from the marina. We rode our e-bikes there. The bus driver/guide was very good. He talked a mile a minute on the 90 minute tour – I would have preferred the get on/get off tour we have experienced in other cities, but apparently the city of Charleston does not allow that. Anyway, we got a dose of history, and understanding of why so many homes there have a single door on the right side of the house. This door is a privacy door, giving entrance to the piazza. The houses face in one direction with lots of windows on two sides, allowing the constant breeze from the two rivers’ conjunction to flow through and cool the house. The history in this town is astonishingly long and rich. Fort Sumpter is in the harbor, and we have toured it on past trips. All the buildings in the city are built on very low land, marsh. Fort Sumpter was created by hauling thousands of pounds of rock and debris to the middle of the harbor. I’m astonished that it has held for hundreds of years, against storms, hurricanes, and wars!
After the tour, we rode to the City Market. I bought a few things, some Carolina gold rice, a shawl. Then we went looking for a good place for lunch. We picked “Well Hung Vinyard”, partly because of their fun logo. We had a good lunch, then rode our bikes down to “The Battery”, the park and wall at the tip of the peninsula.
Charleston is well set up for visitors – the Visitor Center is in an old train station and is quite attractive. There are lots of parks, with clean public restrooms. We love the many architectural details on the old buildings. The historical district is one of the first created in the country. If your house is in that district, you are prohibited from making changes to the outside of your home without prior approval from the city organization in charge of the historic district. If there is something that is older than (?) years, you may not move it! Because of that, there are standing walls left from a building that burned or was otherwise demolished – those walls cannot be torn down! If your siding needs replacing, you must use original material, i.e. wood, not aluminum or wood-looking material. To paint your house, you must get the color approved! Any renovations/changes to the inside of your house is totally up to the owner.
We enjoyed our brief stay in Charleston – I’m sure we will return.
May 24, 2022 Leland Oil Company in McClellanville, SC
This small town is lovely. The ‘marina’ is a working dock, basically, with space for 2 or 3 pleasure boats. There is a fleet of shrimp boats that call this home – I took pictures after they were all returned for the night. Plus, we bought shrimp, oysters, and pickled shrimp. The huge, beautiful shrimp came in that day. Yummm! Guess what we had for dinner! I had bought fresh green beans at the market. Those cooked with a little bacon and some red potatoes, some sliced tomatoes, plus a pound of those delicious shrimp was our dinner. We bought enough shrimp to freeze 2 pounds. I also froze the pint of oysters – one of these days, I’ll make some oyster stew to honor my dad – that was his very favorite thing to eat!
Besides the shrimp boats and seafood market, this little town has many many huge and very old oak trees. The trees are so beautiful. One is over one thousand years old! It’s amazing to me that they have stood so long, in an area that gets hurricanes occasionally. Apparently the town has arborists in to care for the health of these treasures. I took many pictures – but, my camera just cannot do justice.
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