Figure the Chances: Anniversaries Trip 2014

October 28, 2014

Each year we try to do a weekend get-away to celebrate our anniversaries. We've been over to Savannah, Tybee Island, up into North Carolina and over in Tennessee. Some beautiful country, made even more beautiful because of the time of the year.

This time Mr H suggested we go to Charleston for the weekend. I'd never been there, and he hasn't been there since he was in his 20's - it had been long enough!

So he booked a room, and Friday afternoon we headed out in "Grandpa's zoom car." (We finally had to take Connor's seat out of the back -- funny how a baby seat in the back of a zippy car is cool when you're a grandparent. A badge of honor!)

We had some great seafood (Mr H's favorite), went on a 90 minute bus tour of the town (I would recommend that to anyone going to a historic location), and walked a lot (A LOT! Which was great as Mr H doesn't have feet made for walking!).

Charleston is, of course, the infamous location of the start of the Civil War. Ft Sumter. The Citadel. Ft Moultrie. HUGE port town where cotton, rice, and indigo were the principle exports. {I won't go into the horrors of the human trafficking that went on.}

They are still obviously proud of their southern heritage. The inhabitants are doing a beautiful job of restoring the homes and other areas. We felt safe walking all over. I learned a few interesting things...

"Single"

*Many of the homes are long and narrow (all are multiple stories) with porches along one side, as you can see in the picture at right. Those are called "singles" as they are a single room wide. We were told it was much easier to keep the homes cool. If the door was open, it meant the family was accepting visitors.

See the round things on the right side?

*There is an earthquake fault running through the area second only to the San Andreas in the US. Many of the homes have decorative emblems on the sides of the homes. These are actually braces that go through the home and are tightened periodically. Huge bolts/cables, if you will. If a family could afford it, they would add the decorative emblems.

*A nickname for the city is the "Holy City" for all the church steeples sticking out over the tops of trees. Sailors gave Charleston that nickname as that's what they would see when they were coming into port.

They have a very cool bridge.