Goodbye Charleston Area, South Carolina, USA

It is time to say goodbye to the Charleston area and start heading back towards home in the Northeast.  It has been a great two months of weather, experiences, and people.  I hate to stereotype but, folks in the south are different - not in such a hurry, more friendly, more willing to smile, not so quick to honk their car horn and/or give the one-finger salute - it's a nice place with nice people.

Here are some last photos from the trip - sort of a "catch-all" of images that I didn't fit into any other blog post.

Mt. Pleasant has a very pleasant park on Pitt Street with views of Sullivan's Island, Charleston Harbor, the distant Ravenel Bridge, and the saltwater marshland adjacent to the Intracoastal Waterway. A nice place for a walk, jog, saunter, mosey, amble, or kayak - or to just sit a spell and enjoy the sunset.

A clever bumper sticker seen in Mt. Pleasant.  It is available for sale from an animal rescue and adoption proponent, LoveYourBuddy.com.

"Timbo's Hot Boiled Peanuts" roadside stand - I won't ever see that in New England.

These are some brightly colored shoes.

Why so many metal roofs in this area? Seems like using metal is more common than using asphalt shingle.

At least you won't see this sign beside any New England lakes and ponds.

I like towns where shopkeepers put out water bowls for thirsty dogs - and it's only February.  That suggests lots of water bowls when it really gets warm.

An entrance door on an alley in the French Quarter.

A restaurant, Husk, in downtown Charleston. Outdoor tables when the weather permits. I don't know about the food - we didn't eat there - but I like restaurants in old houses.

Among Azaleas, Spanish Moss, and Crepe Myrtle trees,  this Unitarian Church cemetery in downtown Charleston looks like a beautiful place to spend eternity.

Low clouds during a storm.

I have a feeling of connection to this area - through two months of wandering and visiting, talking and walking.  My visit was enriched in very large part by concurrently re-reading three of Pat Conroy's novels during my stay, "South of Broad," "The Great Santini," and " The Prince of Tides." He is perhaps the most powerful writer of fiction I've ever had the pleasure of reading.  And reading him again while walking the very streets and towns where he lived and where many of his themes and ideas originated has made for a more complete local immersion. By almost any criteria, Charleston and the "Lowcountry"are great places to visit on this planet.  Goodbye!! 

Middleton Place, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Middleton Place is a National Historic Landmark and home to America’s Oldest Landscaped Gardens. Centuries-old camellias bloom in the winter months and azaleas blaze on the hillside above the Rice Mill Pond in the spring. In summer, kalmia, magnolias, crepe myrtles and roses accent a landscape magnificent throughout the year. The Gardens have been planned so that there is something blooming at Middleton Place year-round. Built in 1755, Middleton Place was home to a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

This is our last tourist outing in the Charleston area. Soon, we head for Williamsburg, Virginia on our slow way home.

This is a photo of their bulletin board near the entrance. It is also on the website linked above. It wasn't quite so green when we visited yesterday being winter.

Sheep graze in the greensward. (See if you can use "greensward" in a sentence and not sound funny - me neither - I don't remember ever even seeing that word before.) 

This little lamb better pay close attention to his surroundings..........

.........when critters like this one are lurking not very far away.

Southern live oak.  Supposedly, the term "live oak" refers to the members of this tree family which retain green leaves all year.

Crepe myrtle trees - sort of reminds me of eucalyptus and/or sycamore bark.

Azaleas starting to bloom will soon blanket this hillside.

The camellias already bloomed and then, by mutual agreement, hurled themselves screaming from the bush while still whole.........

....while the tulips danced nearby smirking with their blooms still firmly attached.

Imagine being given a block of marble and then trying to carve (chisel) something.  Here's a foot from one of the statues. Extraordinary.

And there were even beautiful young nymphs frolicking about in the gardens on this summer-like warm day in February........

Audubon Swamp Garden, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Audubon Swamp Garden is a 60-acre cypress and tupelo swamp adjacent to Magnolia Plantation near Charleston, South Carolina. At one time, the swamp served as a reservoir for the plantation's rice cultivation. Today, the swamp garden includes native flora but also non-native, exotic plantings and is home to herons, ibis, turtles, otters, alligators, and other wildlife. It is a beauthiful, preserved, wetland park.

Tupelo trees and duckweed.

An alligator sunning on a platform.

A pair of Red-shouldered Hawks.

This tree is the most popular roost around - for many current and past Great Blue Herons.



Wentworth Mansion, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

The Wentworth Mansion is a unique and extraordinarily beautiful and elegant Inn in downtown Charleston. The feeling of old world class and luxury is palpable just by walking in the door.

The parlor.

The Grand Mansion Suite living room.

And if you climb this stairway to the fourth floor (or take the elevator).....

.......and continue up the spiral staircase to the cupola..........

..... you are treated to this view of downtown Charleston to the South.......

......and this view to the North.  They don't call this geographic area of South Carolina and Georgia the "lowcountry" for no reason - the topography is almost flat as far as the eye can see.



College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

The College of Charleston is located in downtown.  Many of the college buildings are beautiful old houses converted to college use. A plaque near the main quad says it is the oldest municipal college in America founded in 1770. It has an extraordinary location downtown just off the shopping/restaurant areas of King Street. What a great location for young minds to get a sample of an elegant, clean, sophisticated city as part of their education - probably pretty good for partying, too.

Bike racks are common around campus and I observed most bicycles to be single speed with fat tires - unlike the multi-speed trail and/or street bikes typical at less urban and hilly campuses up north. Guess that's an advantage of an almost table-flat city topography.

In addition to it's academic program, the college offers excellent sailing options at the Charleston Harbor Marina.

South of Broad, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

A self-portrait on the entrance stairs to the Calhoun Mansion. This private residence built in 1876 is the largest single family home in Charleston with more than 24,000 square feet of living space. It is open to the public daily for tours.

I was able to get past the tough looking "Security Cat" and into the gardens.........

Side garden and koi ponds.

Backyard fountain.

 

Chandeliers inside and reflection outside from across the street.



Elsewhere, these three photographers, rumored to be members of a photo club from the North somewhere (you know how pushy those Northerners are), were so obsessed to photograph another mansion that they climbed the wall to get "the shot."  What passion - what commitment - what nuts! ( Their faces have been obscured to protect their identity).

 

If the doorway looks sloped to you, that's because it is. This doorway, and many others in Charleston, opens onto the first floor piazza and the open air piazzas are sloped to allow rain water to run off. That requires the bottom of the door be cut on a matching slope in order to swing properly.

Who knows what stories lie hidden beneath layers of history?

Gardens Gowns and Gates, Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Another classic example of Southern gentility. This is the genteel way to tell people to stay out of your garden.  In the Northeast, it would likely say "NO TRESPASSING" in six inch high letters and vicious barking dogs would patrol and snarl at passersby. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration but you get the idea.

There is a lot of work for house painters in this town.

And probably lots of work for ornamental iron workers also.

A domestic cat patrols the interior perimeter of this garden, offering friendly "meows" at passersby.

 Lastly,  a dog in a bridal shop hops up into the window display to look out at passersby on the sidewalk who are looking in at the gowns. It seemed more like some kind of high level avant garde performance art - but it was probably just a dog in a window.