Historic Charleston, South Carolina

My wife and I just returned from a vacation trip to Charleston, South Carolina. It was the first trip either of us had made to South Carolina, not to mention Charleston. We were both very impressed with the city, in fact my wife is ready to move there. Unfortunately we are not in a position to move yet, but hopefully we will be able to retire there.

Charleston is loaded with history and the fact that my wife and I both enjoy history just makes Charleston that much more appealing. The architecture of the historic homes is beautiful. We walked around the historic district for about 2 days just taking in the sites. Between the historic homes and the churches, the buildings were amazing.

The first day we were there, we walked to the Battery twice. The Battery is now a park. It used to be where the military would have cannons aimed at the Charleston Harbor and would fire them to keep enemy ships from approaching. They also would hang pirates there and leave them hang for a few days. I know this sounds gross but it was effective in keeping other pirates from invading the city. When pirates would approach and see fellow pirates hanging from the trees, they would decide to move on down the coast.

Charleston is also of course where the Civil War began. A ride in the Charleston Harbor out to Fort Sumter is quite enjoyable. Again, the history of Fort Sumter is very impressive. Once you are there, and see the Fort, it is interesting to try and picture what it was like. You also have a tremendous view of Charleston.

There are also Plantations that you can visit. We only visited on, the Middleton Place Plantation. It originally had 3 separate structures with the middle structure being the main house. The main house along with other structures were burned during the Civil War. Two were burned beyond repair, including the main house, the third was repaired and the Middleton's and their descendants lived in that house until 1974. Unfortunately there was a major earthquake in 1886 that destroyed the remains of the two structures that were not rebuilt. All that is remaining of the two buildings is the chimney of the main house. As we walked through the grounds, we saw a slave quarters. These quarters were small and reminded me of the small homes that the hillbillies lived in in Tennessee.

While Charleston does have a lot of history, it also has a lot of current points of interest. There are three beaches close by and the College of Charleston is right at the edge of the historic district. There are many shops and restaurants as well. There is an aquarium and of course by being along the water, there are many boating and fishing activities available. One of the things that I thought was quite cool was in the evenings we saw several people jogging around the Battery. There is a path around the outside of the Battery which follows right along the water.

I have mentioned a few things about Charleston, I am sure there are many more things to enjoy and explore and hopefully, someday my wife and I will be able to retire there and enjoy Charleston every day.