Blogs from Charleston, South Carolina, United States, North America - page 10

Geo: 32.7812, -79.9316We spent about 4 hours walking around the historic district of Charleston. Beautiful old homes dating back to the 1690's. One of the larger homes near the water had recently sold for 28 million. We were able to tour one of these homes but interior pictures were not permitted. The downtown area seems to be primarily residential - no office towers. There was also a large public market. We then drove to Mount Pleasant to view the Boone Plantation which to this day is still a working plantation. The house is the 4th on the site having been built in the 1930's by a Canadian Ambassador. It is currently owned by a brother and sister. The brother resides at the plantation while the sister resides also in California. The tour included the house, grounds ... read more

Charleston calls itself the Holy City, due to all its churches. It certainly can’t refer to its historical inhabitants. Today I explore one of Charleston’s darkest, but most important, legacies: slavery. Local residents like to point out that a tiny elite (around 3% of the population) owned most of the slaves in South Carolina. What they don’t like to point out is that this tiny elite dominated the colony socially, economically, and politically; and ran it for their own benefit. This elite ultimately tore the country apart rather than give up the base of their wealth. It was probably inevitable that the war would start here. The For... read more

Once more onto the road, and today's destination was Charleston. Like the previous day, it was just about the drive down to Charleston, but once we reached the town, we parked up and headed for a walk around. I didn't know much about Charleston, apart from the dance, so I didn't mind where I went or who I went around with. In the end, Graham, Sarah, Neal, G, Zoe and I headed over to Colonial Lake, only to discover it was just one big man make lake surrounded by concrete, so after resting my aching feet (it was the first time I had walked in flip flop in years so it needed some getting use to) we headed in another direction towards the Battery. Once there we found the park across the road from the water ... read more

I'm sure a lot of people think the word "charming" is overused in describing Charleson, but I cannot come up with a more approriate descriptor. I'm no world traveler, but Charleston is, without a doubt, the most charming city I've ever visited. It is a law there that no building over 80 years old, within the original township boundaries, can be structurally changed. They can be modernized and upgraded, but walls, fireplaces, staircases, etc., must remain as they were originally built. I think this is a wonderful law. It forces the recycling of old buildings, rather than just tearing them down to be replaced by concrete, glass, and steel. Even the streets, as confusing as they are, must remain exactly as they were originally laid out. The result is beautiful beyond words. And, as an “older ... read more

Well, after 30 years of existence I have finally managed to fulfill a life long dream….be able to ride my pushy for a surf check! So as you can see my new pad is spectacular. A raised back deck oversees the back yard equipped with a dock and canoes right on the river. The “surf” is only a 5 min bike ride away although as you can see from the photo the “surf” isn’t always as big as I would like. Although it is incredibly cool to be able to ride my bike the length of the beach at low tide instead of taking on the rather lazy traffic that snakes its way around folly beach. Ive attached some glorious surroundings that make up Folly Beach which again is now within a 10 min bike ride ... read more