Charleston, South Carolina, House and Harbor Tour

Cheryl: “Southern women don’t sweat, they glisten” so the saying goes, but this Yankee woman certainly sweats if yesterday is any indication. Humidity, humidity, humidity 120 percent! We sloshed our way through an afternoon harbor tour where surprisingly the breezes were few. (It was billed as air conditioned – NOT!) All morning we rode in comfort aboard an air-conditioned Grayline Tour Bus, while seeing the mansions and historic buildings around downtown Charleston. Not to be unkind, Charleston’s ragged appearance reminded me of our visit to Memphis where Elvis’s Graceland home now sits in a declining neighborhood of that city. The visitor center in Charleston sits amid run-down homes, tenements, and boarded up businesses, so our first impression wasn’t the best.

Aboard the tour bus we saw wonderfully preserved homes dating to the 17 and 1800s, but the narrow streets and cluttered neighborhoods were less than showy. I think our expectations were way too high. We’re hoping to leave those images behind and find some broad, tree-lined streets in Savannah. If I were to recommend a visit to this area of the Old South, I’d be tempted to say, skip Charleston. Maybe it’s better in the fall and winter?

In the evening, we chose to pick up take-out at an area-favorite restaurant called, Sticky Fingers.OMG! The food measures up to the best we’ve had so far on this trip! Fried, yes fried, corn on the cob, slaw, spicy beans, potato salad, and the best bbq’d chicken and ribs ever.

On our way to and from picking up our food, we were looking for a roadside stand where I could buy a sweet-grass basket. The ladies of Savannah make and sell these lovely baskets in knocked-together stands very similar to those we see in Arizona where the Indians sell their wares. The history of the woven baskets begins in Africa and came to the south with the salves who continued their art here. The women go into the marshes here to pull the sweet or sea grass they use to make the baskets. The designs are lovely, and I’m hoping to stop and get one or two before we leave for Savannah this morning.

It’s Tuesday morning around 10:30 a.m., and we’ve already taken showers, finished up the laundry, eaten breakfast and made reservations at Red Gate Farm RV Park just 8 miles from Savannah. Savannah is only two or three hours away so this should be an easy day on the road. At Red Gate there is a trolley to Savannah that stops in to pick us up at 9:30 a.m. and returns us to Red Gate around 4:30 p.m. That’s what we plan to do tomorrow. I’ll let Frank bring you up to date on the sights in the harbor tour, and we’ll post some photos of the “best of Charleston” soon.

Love,
John Boy, Mary Ann, Spot and Roverette