Our last trip out and about was down to Charleston…South Carolina’s oldest city and the place which gave its name to that famous dance – The Charleston…I was expecting oldy worldy charm and Charleston has that in bucketloads…
A Charleston home – beautifully decorated for Christmas…
The sun was shining and the skies were blue as we set off from Columbia for an easy 2 hour amble down south to Charleston – we headed straight into the old part of town and found our way to the Visitor Centre where a quick look around for maps etc. also led us to The Foulton Lane Inn – if nothing else, Charleston is chock full of places to stay…rather than go for one of the run of the mill chains, we opted for a more ‘traditional’ place right in the old town.
The City Market…
One of the ‘littlest’ houses – they used to be taxed on width, so built them small!
Once we’d found where we were staying, we parked up and went for a walk – headed for the east side where we could see out towards Fort Sumter which is in Charleston Harbour and you can just see it from the shore – Fort Sumter is famous for being the place where the first shots of the American Civil War were fired…on our way back to the Inn, we stopped for coffee in a tiny place where, as we entered, I heard a very South African accent and sure enough, the chap who served us was from Cape Town – been in Charleston for 5 years – and what’s more, his dad went to Rustenburg High…small world or what?!
Back at the Inn, we settled in and were told that there would be complimentary wine and snacks served downstairs between 5 and 6pm – sounded like a good plan before we headed out to find dinner, so we spent a pleasant half hour sipping wine and chatting with a very interesting lady from Brooklyn, New York…another little gem on this trip 
Along with loads of places to stay, Charleston has loads of places to eat…depending on budget, taste and time – take your pick! As it was still fairly early, we were able to get into our steak place without having to wait…
The following morning dawned clear and sunny again – perfect weather to get out and explore the old town properly…we walked up and down in the old town marvelling at all the beautiful homes – the pretty cobbled streets – the beautifully decorated doors…it was just gorgeous…
I would imagine the hustle and bustle would be very different in the height of summer – hot and humid with lots of tourists everywhere…there was a cruise ship in the harbour but we didn’t come across any crowds…
Charleston certainly charmed us and it would be lovely to spend more time here…perhaps next time…Leaving Charleston, we headed out to the Middleton Place which boasts the oldest landscaped gardens in the USA – its now a National Trust property which unfortunately doesn’t have the original home still standing (it was destroyed towards the end of the Civil War) but the gardens have been restored and are simply wonderful…we needed to be out in the sunshine and fresh air so a good long walk around the estate was in order…once again, we pretty much had the place to ourselves and were able to wander around without seeing anyone…
Gone with the Wind country…
The biggest oak tree we have ever seen!
We skipped the house itself and enjoyed the outdoors to the full…there are camellias and azaleas everywhere which must be magnificent in the spring… the trees with all the moss reminded me of Gone with the Wind!
Back in the car for our last drive back to Columbia and the family…time is running out here – Elsbeth is 5 weeks old today and we leave soon – it’s been a wonderful, wonderful time with the family here and it will be very hard to say goodbye…
Tagged: Charleston, Columbia, Foulton Lane Inn, Gone with the Wind, Middleton Place
