More Charleston, SC

Along with being a breathtakingly beautiful city, Charleston is dripping with history.

The streets are lined with beautiful trees and shrubbery.

Along the streets are sites of American history, like this building that held three of the signers of the Declaration of Independence prisoner during the Revolutionary War, after they had been captured by the British.  They were held in cells in the basement.

This street is the last surviving street that was paved with ballast stones from British ships that carried trade with Charleston before the Revolution.  The stones were loaded into the ships in England to give them stability as they sailed across the Atlantic.  Upon arrival in Charleston, they were dumped off and the ship’s holds were filled with trade goods like lumber, cotton and tobacco for the return voyage.  Not to waste free building materials, the streets were paved with the ballast stones.

 

At the southern end of Charleston is the Battery.  It is covered with beautiful live oaks.

It is also where some of the first shots of the Civil War were fired on Fort Sumter, out in the harbor.

Sorry I couldn’t get a great picture, but that is Fort Sumter our in the distance.  You can take a boat out to visit the fort, something I’ll do with the grandsons one of these days.

The railing in the above picture is part of a walkway that was constructed in the mid 1800’s and still used today.

It was constructed exactly two hoop skirts wide, so ladies of that time could walk side by side in their 40lbs plus hoop skirts and talk while they walked.

Charleston had seen its fair share of disasters, from Union Naval bombardments during the Civil War, to tornadoes and earthquakes.  In recent times, it was hit by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, which caused widespread devastation.  A famous painting of the waterfront homes can be seen all over the city.

The market, about 1/4 mile inland was hit hard by Hugo.

The white marks on the bricks show the height the water was during the storm.

 

Even today, it still gets periodically flooded by storm surges.  Note the green growth on the bricks.  It was flooded just three weeks ago.

I’m not usually a fan of food pictures, but at Henry’s Grill at the market had a Pimento Cheese Bacon Burger that was guaranteed to sink you in a storm.  Nope, now way could I have finished all that!

Even the “lighter” fare Cobb Salads were enough to weigh you down!

Good thing there are plenty of scenic places around Charleston to walk off food like that!

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.