Charleston

The final stop in our whirlwind South Carolina Tour was Charleston.  We stayed at a Doubletree right down in the Market District.   Very expensive!  Out of the four places we visited, Charleston came in at #4 on my list of favorites.   

It was a short walk to the very lovely waterfront.

There was a long walking area all along the water.

Along the way we passed this great restaurant, so we went back for dinner that night.  The best scallops I've ever had!  And more Hush Puppies!

We weren't far from the Aquarium so we walked over.....

It was kind of odd because they had a lot of displays of animals and fish made out of Legos.  I don't know if the displays are there all the time, or if it was a special exhibit.

Parts of the Aquarium were outside.

It was a small Aquarium but very nice.

The second day we took a boat ride......the weather the whole time we were down there was just spectacular!

We passed by Fort Sumter.  

Hubby "force marched" me to the other side of Charleston to see a cafe with records in it........thank goodness for public transportation on the way back!   

We had dinner at TBonz....yummy!

And breakfast both mornings at the Broken Egg Cafe......yummy again!!

The Marketplace was a series of historic brick buildings that had been converted into an open-air marketplace reminiscent of Quincy Market.  I cannot believe I got no pictures of it!  There were buskers every night and you could take a horse and carriage ride as well.

I felt that the highlight of our visit in Charleston was going to the Boone Hall Plantation, the oldest continually working plantation in the country (founded in 1681)   At the entrance are two rows of oak trees....with the quintessential Spanish Moss hanging....that were planted in 1743.   

We had a very interesting and entertaining tour of the Plantation House, where our guide explained the history of the house and the inner workings over different periods of time.

Big beautiful tree in the back of the house

Gardens out front

Of course, plantations in those days were worked by slaves, and this plantation had a row of old slave houses with a timeline of history as you went into each house.

Outside the last house was a seating area, and a wonderful African American woman came out and sang, talked and gave us a history lesson on life on the plantation.   It was amazing!

We left the plantation and went straight to the airport to head home.

The flight home went like this:   

1.   Leave Charleston for stop in Baltimore at 7:30 pm

2.  Circle over Baltimore for 1/2 hour because of thundestorms

3.  Run low on fuel so fly to Raleigh to refuel.

4.  Sit on the ground for 45 minutes while they refuel.

5.  Fly to Baltimore where, thankfully, our connecting flight had also been delayed.

6. Get ready to board in Baltimore, where we are informed it is an "Honor Flight" so we wait 45 minutes while they board 50 World War II vets in wheelchairs.

7.  Hubby and I are not only the last ones on the plane, but the last ones in the entire airport.

8.  We do not get to sit together.

9.  Pilot announces that Manchester NH airport is fogged in so we cannot take off until we can be assured we can land in Manch.  Sit on the plane for 30 minutes.

10. Co-pilot announces we will take off just as soon as a new pilot arrives  (??????)

11.  We wait another 30 minutes.

12.  Finally take off and land in Manch at 3:30 am where it is literally 50 degrees colder than it was in South Carolina!

The flight home was the ONLY bad part of an absolutely wonderful Southern vacation!  Beautiful weather, fantastic food, great sites and entertainment, and a week to spend alone with my Hubby.  Perfect!!