There are some Charlestonians that can comfortably call themselves SNOB's, truly, they can, and that is because they are from an area Slightly North of Broad (Broad Street) that is, a main road running through town. LOL.

Or just a bad, corny (OMG a two groaner??) type of joke?

How can I possibly describe Charleston in one post ? Impossible. Now I know where the phrase "southern charm" comes from, not only the people, but the whole atmosphere of everything your eyes can see, and your body can feel, near and far.

From the pastel coloured row houses,



and the history of the Provost Dungeon...



The Old Exchange Building (Provost Dungeon) was initially a public building and is still one today (owned by the South Carolina Society of the Daughters of American Revolution).

Many of the historic buildings in what was once called Charles Towne (now Charleston) are residences of prominent families of the city (and there really aren't that many houses for sale, as they get willed from generation to generation.

Charles Towne was the only fortified city in English America and became Charleston, "fourth largest, most beautiful, and wealthiest city in colonial America, mostly due to the shipping trade: rice, indigo, and "black ivory" (slavery), until the economic crash".

Back to today's walk, we saw so many amazing and architecturally different homes,









and then, how's this for slight change of pace.



Some houses were built narrow on the face, and long in back (reason for this was that the residents were charged a tax based on how much property was "on the street"), with alley like entrances to the spectacular gardens in the rear, and word has it if the garden gate is open, it's an invitation to pop in and look around.

Not many gates open today (ok, no gates open today). If the small, narrow alley is a sight to behold, you can only imagine what the perfectly sculpted gardens in back are like.







Charleston also has a natural beauty









that is impossible to capture on an image of a single photograph.

You could spend days (weeks, months?) walking through the homes and museums, around the Battery and through the park (where we almost intruded on the privacy of one couple getting married in the backdrop of the sun shining through the pagoda (the only other people in attendance were the justice of the peace and the photographer), or just sit for a bit and enjoy people watching, gazing over the water at the pelicans and the dolphins.

We did pop into the Slave Market building (part of Ryan's Mart, built in 1859 after a citywide ban on public slave auctions made private markets necessary) for a look-see,



where we saw some of the world famous Sweetgrass baskets (a basket making process and art form which traditionally was passed from generation to generation, brought to the area by slaves who came from West Africa). Baskets were made of sweetgrass, pine straw, and bull rush (that the men gathered and brought home, and the women weaved into baskets, and this craft was passed on through the generations and almost died as an art) and were used on the plantations and sold for extra income for the slave owners.

When Union forces occupied Charleston toward the end of the Civil War (February 1865), the slaves still imprisoned at Ryan's Mart were freed.



Walked into a Hot Sauce Shop and taste tested some serious hot stuff (I got to an 8 out of 10) before I gave up on the heat !!, and then on to some sweeter stuff... pralines, pecans, pulled taffy, and then watched some fudge being made.



Saw the Veteran's Day parade go by,





and took the water taxi back home, just in time for sunset.

When we arrived a couple of days ago, we had been issued 2 free water taxi tickets as part of our stay here at the marina, and gladly used them today. The water taxi brought us right to the Maritime Centre and marina, that was only a short walk from town. Bonus !!

At the end of the afternoon we returned to the Maritime Center, there was another wedding going on, this one with hundreds of people in attendance. It made me smile, as I thought of the contrasts to the previous one. different people, doing different things.

We came back home, and when Dave went to pay our bill, the dockmaster gave Dave an additional military discount. Sweet !!

A totally sweet type of day, today !