Charleston #1: Exploring the City

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We headed into the main downtown area, to explore the city. Since we were staying so far out, we needed to take the car. I don't think there is any budget friendly accommodation in downtown Charleston. For breakfast, we stopped off at a small bakery near where we were staying for a quick bite and a coffee to have in the car. The food was okay, nothing to write home about. I think the drive to the centre of Charleston took about 10-15 minutes. We found a parking spot quite easily, always a bonus and set off to explore. We headed into Market Square to look around the stalls. The market is huge and there are loads of stalls selling a wide array of things. I did like the sweet grass baskets, which are a traditional product of the area, but I don't think one would fare to well in my backpack. We did managed to purchase a few things that were more backpack friendly.

We then took a walk along the old streets and near the river. I loved the area next to the Cooper River. There was a park on the land running next to the river and it was filled with people enjoying the beautiful, hot summer's day. There was a water fountain and lots of kids were splashing about having fun in that. There were also lots of trees with benches underneath them to provide a shaded spot for those sick of the sun. We walked through to the end of the park and continued to walk along the road. There were some huge houses in this part of town, some looked utterly gorgeous, others a bit tacky and gaudy. The tacky ones we nicknamed Trump Mansions because that man is the definition of tackiness. We came to the old Battery and White Point Garden, which we had a quick look around. I really like all these small parks. Charleston's beauty is wooing me in a way Savannah was unable to. We then took a walk back to the centre through the French Quarter, while not as impressive as the one in New Orleans, it was still really pretty. The architecture was gorgeous. I really liked 'Rainbow Row', which is the longest row of intact Georgian houses in the United States. The houses were all painted different colours, but the colours were all light, like pastel colours. This made them look really elegant. The houses were built in 1680 and have been used for a variety of purposes of the years. The houses have been homes for notable merchants and planter, shops and also fronted a cluster of wharves. Over the years, some of the houses suffered from damages from fire and the War between the States.After the war, the houses were neglected, fell into disrepair and became slums. The Charleston Preservation society, under the guidance of Susan Pringle Frost, purchased some of the properties in the 1920s in order to stop them from being demolished. During the 1930s and 40s the houses were restored and painted pastel colours, which earned the houses the nickname 'Rainbow Row'.

For dinner, we headed to a sushi place that we had seen early when we were exploring the town. I think the place we went to was called Sushi Blue, but I could be wrong about this. There were lots of choices on the menu. I can't remember if we ate lunch, maybe we didn't or if we did, it wasn't very memorable, so we ordered quite a bit of food. We decided to get some things to share to start with. We opted for some fresh spring rolls, gyoza and some shrimp. I wasn't too impressed with the fresh spring rolls or the gyoza, but the shrimp definitely hit the spot. I could have eaten plates of the stuff. We had also ordered some sake, which isn't my favourite beverage, but it was nice to sample some and we spent some time reminiscing about all our trips to Japan. I was also impressed that our sushi was served in a wonderfully decorated wooden boat. I had seen sushi served like that on TV and the internet, but never had it presented to me like that before. We had ordered a mixture of different sushi rolls and we happily scoffed the lot as it was tasty.

We still had some time to kill before the tour that we had booked for the evening started.so with still some room in our bellies after our sushi, we headed for some desert. The previous evening, we had spotted a place that not only looked cute, but the cakes also looked amazing so we headed there to give it a try. The place in question was Carmella's on East Bay Street. The cafe/bar was busy but not too busy. There were so many gorgeous cakes on display that it was hard to make a choice. In the end, I went for a chocolate one and got a coffee, too. I really enjoyed my cake, it was so delicious and not too rich. I also got to sample my friend's cake, the coconut cake, which was good too. However, I am a sucker for chocolate so definitely preferred mine. The cafe was a great place to relax in too, as the atmosphere was really nice.

We had booked on a ghost tour so we headed to the meeting point around nineish. We couldn't find a free one in Charleston, so had to book a paid one. I think it was about twenty dollars. At the meeting point, we met with the tour guide and the other people who were attending the tour. it was nice because the group wasn't too big. The tour lasted about an hour and a half. Since I am so tardy and am writing the blog so long after we went (18 months plus), I have forgotten pretty much all of the tales the guide told us.However I do remember that our guide was very entertaining, he had a bit of a theatrical air about him, and he really brought the tour to life. It was fun to wander the streets of Charleston after dark and find out some of its alternative history.

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