We love Charleston! We arrived Thursday night and took a driving tour of the area. Lots of history and lots of water. We're staying at the Oak Plantation Campground about 9 miles from downtown on the Savannah Highway.
Friday we visited the South Carolina Aquarium followed by visits to the old Market and supper at the Wild Wings cafe near the Market. More than we needed to eat. Clayton particularly loved the alligator in the Aquarium. On Saturday, we rode the Water Taxi across the river to visit Patriot's Point. Clayton loved the USS Yorktown, a WW II era aircraft carrier. Lots to see there, including bombs and airplanes. We were disappointed that the USS Hunley was closed. This is a destroyer (DD 724) that is almost identical to the USS Hank (DD 702) that I served on in the 50s.
Following the ships' tours, we rode the Water Taxi back to downtown and took a great guided carriage tour conducted by Ken, a part-time tour guide and full-time Art History professor at the community college. The historical homes of Charleston are almost beyond description! Not incidentally, the tour also allowed us to rest our feet after all of the walking.
On Sunday, we spent most of the day at the Magnolia Plantation just NW of Charleston on the Ashley River (top photo). The house, gardens and grounds are beautiful. It is hard to describe all of the history that occurred here during the Revolutionary War. Its history tracks from the 1700s when the Carolinas was established as a British colony. Of course the main house has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Clayton’s favorite of the day was the petting zoo that contained a small alligator and the tram tour that sighted some baby alligators accompanied by their protective mother. The end of slavery brought about by the Civil War also spelled the end to the rice industry in this area.
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