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!!

Savannah

The third stop on our South Carolina Tour was Savannah, Georgia.   Our first time seeing moss hanging from the trees and Hubby was just delighted!

We stayed in the Historical District of Savannah.   Our Bed and Breakfast was a whole row of  buildings reminiscent of the Back Bay in Boston.   There were beautiful curved staircases leading up to the second floor apartment.  I had been told our room had been upgraded, but it was still stunning to find that we had a whole apartment, literally big enough to have a party for 50!  It was all decorated in a very Victorian style.  

Besides living room, dining room, kitchen and bedroom, there was a back stairway leading out to a semi-private patio.  Very nice for coffee in the morning.

And there was a beautiful covered porch where we were able to enjoy a home-made breakfast each morning.

It was hot as Hades in Savannah (with no convenient beach nearby to cool off!) so we took one of the many hop-on, hop-off trolleys to navigate our way around the city.  It turned out to be a delightful way to go, as the trolley drivers are unscripted...meaning you get a different spiel from each driver as you get on and off different trolleys.

On this trolley several characters came on and gave us a little history lesson.

A Pirate

A Plantation Owner

The city is laid out in a grid pattern and on each intersection is a little "square" with grass, trees and benches.  Many of the squares have statues of historical significance.   This one has a statue of the "Waving Girl".   Florence Martus began waving at every single ship as it entered the Port of Savannah when she was a young girl, and continued unabated for 44 years.

One of the things we enjoyed  was a riverboat cruise on the Savannah River aboard the Savannah Queen.

We bought the dinner cruise but probably should have just stuck with the regular cruise, because we really wanted to spend more time up on the top deck!

The views were stunning as the sun set.

There was a single guitar player up on deck so we even got a chance to dance.  It was a lovely cruise!

One of the things I wanted to do in Savannah is visit the home of Juliette Low.   She is the founder of Girl Scouts of America.   Girl Scouting runs in the family....my ex Mother-in-Law gave me a patch from when she was a Girl Scout, I was a Girl Scout as a girl and a leader as an adult, my daughter Jamie went through Girl Scouts and earned her Gold Award, and now my granddaugher Emily is a Girl Scout as well.

Tag has a chat with Juliette in the garden.

It was interesting to find out things about Juliette that I never knew....she was an accomplished artist and made some lovely wrought iron pieces like this one displayed in the garden.

We also got to eat at Paula Deen's iconic original restaurant, "The Lady and Sons."  I was surprised that the restaurant was just a hole-in-the-wall diner type place.  But the food, of course, was outstanding.   Right across the street was the Jazz Club, where Hubby was turned away for wearing slippers!

Our final stop before we left Savannah was Tybee Lighthouse.

Again, we were able to climb to the top for a spectacular view.

Hubby and I just loved Savannah.  It was probably my favorite of the four places we visited.  Despite the heat, we left Savannah reluctantly to make our final drive back to Charleston.

Hilton Head

Our second stop on our South Carolina Adventure was Hilton Head.   We traveled down Route 17, which is officially SweetGrass Basket Makers Highway.  Sweetgrass Baskets originated as an African Tradition from the Gullah tribes.   Now, this tradition has been handed down for generations.   The Highway is dotted with dozens of small stands with local Gullah women selling their wares.  We bought this sweet little basket at one of those stands.

We also stopped at this cute little general store, which sold many different flavors of cider.  Yum!

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Beach Cottage.  Again, right on the beach.  There was a beautiful pool with an outside restaurant where we had a fantastic buffet breakfast in the morning.   By the pool there was a Tiki Hut, where music was being played all day.

Hubby got a chance to do his patented "Hat Chase" routine on the beach!

The water was warm and lovely and I once again enjoyed swimming in the ocean.

Lovely meal at an Island Grille

We only stayed one night, but we did find time to go see Harbour Town Lighthouse....very pretty and with a great view from the top.

And next thing you know.....we were on to our next stop in Savannah!