We planned our trip with the help of Cheryl Elmore, and we reviewed many different sites to get ready for this trip. We left on Wednesday after work to drive to Atlanta and stay at Jeff and Tani's. Of course, we had to stop at Buc-ee's to get something to eat, so that helped us drive all the way with limited stops.
We left early the next morning, around 6 AM, to avoid Atlanta traffic and get outta town! We drove through Augusta and drove by the Nationals, just to see where the Masters were played. Following that, we headed straight to South Carolina. We went to Cypress Gardens in Monck's Corner right around lunch time and stopped to see the location. This is where scenes from "the Notebook" was filmed, amongst other things like "Outer Banks" and "The Patriot." We walked around and signed up for a tour around the swamp, but had to wait an hour for it. In the meantime, we walked through the Butterfly Garden and the petting zoo. The petting zoo had a peacock walking around along with birds, snakes, tortoises, and other animals that I didn't want to just meet outside of its cage. We walked around a path that took us around part of the swamp and got some good pictures. The swamp tour was nice, and I was struck by how knowledgeable our tour guide was. We learned about cypress routes, how variable the depth of the swamp was, the Swamp Fox, and also saw a couple of small alligators. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon, even if it was hot!
We drove on to Charleston and got to our AirBnB. I have to admit I thought it might be more like a hotel, because of its name: the Jonathan Jasper Wright Inn. Regardless, the upper suite we had was nice and had plenty of room for us. We got ready and decided to walk to the Darling Oyster Bar. It was a good 20 min walk, but it was clear that Charleston was a walkable city. There were a lot of colorful homes that looked old, and also new buildings as well. We could tell that the AirBnB was on the outskirts of downtown and we were heading to the heart of it. The Darling Oyster Bar was nice! Randall got fried shrimp and I decided to try the baked oysters (one of each type) and the Creole Shrimp. While I certainly liked the oysters, the Creole Shrimp was amazing. Randall pronounced his fried shrimp, "okay, I've had better." We struck up a conversation with the couple next to us. The man worked at the Citadel and his girlfriend was from Pennsylvania. They were really nice and told me that there wasn't really too many safety issues walking around downtown Charleston. He had a "flag" shirt on, very patriotic!
After that, we went to the Music Room, where we had tickets for one act of the Charleston Jazz Festival, which happened to be that weekend. We were going to see "The Southern Pines." The leader of the band was a professor at the University of South Carolina. She put this group together and had lots of influences, but the singer is a Grammy award winning musician. We heard some of their stuff on YouTube, but it was even better in person. We had a table and a great view of the group, and it was a fun way to start our trip! We also talked with another couple from the area whose child went to school in Huntsville, I think. The mom was a board member for the Jazz Festival, and the dad told us about his experience with the recent solar eclipse and showed us some great pictures from their spot in Pennsylvania. I learned that many people in Charleston were really friendly! We walked back to our AirBnB and went straight to bed.
The next morning was our 9th anniversary! We got ready early and headed to Liberty Square, where the Spirit of Charleston would take us to Fort Sumter. It was a beautiful morning and we got the second spot in line after taking some pictures. We got a spot on the boat near the back, but thankfully Randall didn't get sick. I sat next to a gentleman who was in the military and whose wife looked like she might have cancer. Regardless, they were world-class travelers and were taking time to see sights domestically after having spent their earlier retirement going places internationally. He said they were in the "Slow-go" part of the "go-go, slow-go, no-go" years.
The tour guide, part of the Parks department, was excellent. She gave us the history in the Civil War about what led to Fort Sumter being such a pivotal place. She told us how the Union general retreated at the start of it, on April 4, 1861, and then arrived back at the end of the war on the same date, in 1865. Lincoln was assassinated two days later, so the news of Fort Sumter was overshadowed by what happened at the Ford theater. She told us not to think of Fort Sumter as just an old pile of bricks, but rather a living place with many casualties that played such an important role in the history of our nation. The boat ride took about 30 minutes, and we could see yachts in the area due to the regatta that was happening that weekend. Fort Sumter was an interesting place, and we could walk all around. But I had a chance to participate in the raising of the American flag that morning. The flag had the same number of stars that existed on the flag at the start of the Civil War. I felt it was really special and honored the soldiers that fought and died during the war - not just one side, but all US soldiers (at least now). We saw the hull of a ship, plenty of armory, and even bricks with the fingerprints of enslaved children. Really humbling and historical. On our trip back, I met another couple that were super interesting from Las Vegas. They were originally from San Diego, but were living their best lives traveling after she cared for her mother for years. She said they were going to Boston in the spring, and Italy also! I was totally jealous.
After we did that, we went back downtown and decided to stop and eat. We walked and found a neat little cafe called Harken. The line was out the door, and it took about 20 minutes to get to the front. The food, however was excellent! I got the green goddess salad and a bowl of soup, and Randall got the daily sandwich. After lunch, we walked towards town. On the way there, we stopped at a booth where a guy told us he could get us into attractions free. After some back and forth, it turned out we already had tickets to everything, so he said he would give us cash if we sat through an hour presentation. He postponed our carriage ride and we decided to do it, for whatever reason! The guy that did the presentation had a very low voice and I had a hard time paying attention. Essentially, they were selling their travel services for an initial fee of $6000, and then $200 a year afterward (or something like that). Randall and I walked out with $160 in hand and were happy to be done.
We hit upon the Charleston City Market. Although this would normally interest me - I like a good flea market - I didn't feel like going through and perusing more than 10 minutes; maybe Randall felt the same, and we decided to head towards the Carriage tour (Old Charleston Carriage Tours). We did have to wait a bit, but just stayed close by and I went to a few stores while Randall investigated his phone. But the tour with Star and Mason the horse started on time at 4 and was excellent! She gave us a good historical tour, taking us by Rainbow Row, the Pineapple fountain, and many historical buildings in the area. We saw cobblestone streets, the Battery, a few churches, and even the oldest pub in Charleston! After we finished the tour, we made our way back to Queen Street and stopped at Buxton Books. Then, we went to a wonderful dinner at Poogan's Porch. I tried the She-crab soup along with the BBQ Mahi Mahi, while Randall tried the Sweet-tea glazed salmon. We really enjoyed it, and Randall even tried the apple cobbler dessert. We drove a bit afterward and tried to get a picture at the Pineapple fountain, although it was dark. It was a (mostly) fun anniversary day!
For our last full day in Charleston, I started the morning off with a run, and cancelled both our lunch and dinner plans. Then we drove a bit out of town to Magnolia Plantation. It turns out that the original plantation house had burnt to the ground after the civil war, but that this house had started out as John Grimke Drayton's sparse residence, but his daughter Julia added on to it after she married into wealth. She maintained and developed the gardens he started; this plantation was originally for rice, and the swamps were perfect for the cultivation, although terrible for the quality of life for the enslaved men and women. The property was pretty, and we had a train ride with someone who told us all about the area, and then a house tour from a lady who was a former teacher. She was really excellent at telling a story. This was a common theme for our whole trip! We left at lunch and went to the No Bull Burger Bar, which seemed to have only one waitress, but she did her job well. I got the "Hellfire" burger while Randall got the "Plain Bull."
We spent the afternoon walking downtown Charleston, and had to stop several times because we were so tired. We stopped and rested near the Battery and just people watched. We also got sorbets at a little gelato place. It was pretty hot that afternoon, so we decided to head back to our place. We needed showers and more rest! But we also decided to order pizza from a little place called D'Allesandro's and it was SO good! We took a couple of pieces home with us the next day.
Overall, a great trip, and I would totally go back. :)
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