www.ExploreCharleston.net

The photographs for this trip can be viewed here in the gallery.

Day 1 - Thursday
This evening was simple and very cool. It was 9:00 and we didn't feel like doing anything special for supper. We started for Applebee's by default, but stumbled across an O'Charley's while in North Charleston.

Afterward, we talked ourselves into driving to downtown Charleston and the Battery . We had the Battery all to ourselves, barely a person around. That was also the same for Waterfront Park. We sat in a swing for a while and listened to the waves lap against the wall.

We were able to drive across the new, luxurious 8 lane bridge that crosses the Cooper River into Mount Pleasant We knew it was big, but seeing it was a different story. It's 8 lanes wide, compared to the old two lane bridge!

I'm starting to think that the tropical storm may be the best thing to happen to the weekend. It may have scared a bunch of people away; however, tomorrow is Friday. I'm sure that'll give most people time to decide to come.

Day 2 - Friday
We drove to the Charleston Tea Plantation that's out on James Island. It's the only operational tea plantation in the United States. They weren't harvesting or processing, but it was still pretty cool to see the equipment. We stayed and talked to two women who were running the store. Bigelow bought the plantation from Lipton several years ago. His purpose was not solely for generating profit. If this plantation closes, there will never be another in the U.S. There are agriculture restrictions of some kind that restrict importation of the tea plants. The tea plants are naturally immune to all disease and insects. That's cool.

We then visited the Angel Oak. This HUGE tree is awesome. We saw it last year, but it was worth seeing again, especially since it was on the way to the Tea Plantation.

Next stop was Sticky Fingers downtown. Great ribs and pulled pork.

The Ghost and Dungeon Walking was at 9:00. I had to cancel the original tickets for Thursday night, because of the storm. It was interesting...90 minutes of walking to several buildings and hearing tales of suicide and death. The historical facts were pretty cool. We really want to go on the Architectural walking tour, but that will probably have to wait until the next trip.

We'll be visiting the Hunley tomorrow at 10:00. This is the civil war submarine that was found 3-4 years ago. Unfortunately, you can't take pictures. We may do the Harbor Tour at 1:00. That includes Fort Sumter, where the Civil War began. I'm not sure where else we'll hit today after that, except we're working in Backyard Burger for lunch

Day 3 - Saturday
We started out with the Hunley. Awesome spectacle. The Hunley itself was difficult to see in the tank, because of the rigging used to secure it. The bomb arm is visible in a second tank, along with the snorkel pipes and rudder. The gold coin from the captain was also there. It actually saved his life, when a Confederate bullet hit it, instead of shattering his femur. I learned so much during this tour...so many things I never had an inkling of.

We then had lunch at Backyard Burger, followed by a brief walk downtown, before hopping a Harbour Tour to Fort Sumpter. It's an amazing sight. You can walk all around, over, and through it. There's a small museum that includes the original US flag that flew there during the start of the Civil War and one of the original Palmetto Palm and Crescent flags. They are tattered, but nicely restored.

We then drove to Sullivan's Island and went to the end of Isle of Palms, then turned back towards Sullivan's Island. We had supper at O'Sullivans. We had the stuffed mushrooms for appetizer and I had baked crab meat stuffed grouper and Steven had the fried grouper with a shrimp and cream sauce. The okra and fried squash was pretty good.

We then darted down the Fort Moultrie to the same spot we saw the sunset last year. It was a little cloudy, so it wasn't a complete sunset, but it was still nice.

Lastly we drove back downtown and walked several hundred miles starting at Rainbow Row and going to the Battery, then back up King Street towards the Four Corners of Law, back to East Bay Street, and back to the car.

I picked up two stickers for the car. IOP (Isle of Palms) and CH (Charleston.)

Most likely next up tomorrow...beaches around Isle of Palm and Sullivan's Island. Fort Moultie Tour- can't beat $2 entry fee. Then back to downtown Charleston to hit Teavana for something tasty, followed by another hundred miles of walking.

It may be too late, but we're going to try to get in on the 18th Century Architecture Walking Tour for Monday morning at 10:00am, since we've decided to pass on Middleton Plantation this trip.

Day 4 - Sunday
We just got back from a nice beach walk on Sullivan's Island.

We started out checking by out of the Sheraton in North Charleston, then grabbed some egg soufflé's at Panera Bread. We then went downtown, parking near King and Broad streets and walked. And walked. And walked. We decided to stroll around the College of Charleston for the first time, which has some really nice bricked walk ways, large draping trees and flowers.

We then went to Waterfront park and sat for a while. We picked up a couple drinks from Teavana and found our way back into Mount Pleasant at a small chain called Just Fresh. It was kind of Panera/Atlanta Bread Company like, except much, much better.

After checking into the Red Roof Inn for our last night in town, we meandered back to a Sullivan's Island beach near the lighthouse. It started out extremely hot, but cooled off. We reclined for a while and then strolled down the beach near sunset, but couldn't stay long enough to actually see it.

We're now preparing to eat dinner at the Charleston Crab House and then will adjourn to Waterfront Park and the Battery for one last evening. I managed to get reservations for the Architecture Walking Tour at 10:00am tomorrow.

It's been a great weekend. Charleston is simply the coolest place on Earth.

Day 5 - Monday
There was a slight change in last nights plan. The Charleston Crab House had a 30 minute wait at 8:30, so we shifted to Tbonz, where I had a really good 12 ounce prime rib and Steven had a steak wrapped with apple wood bacon.

We're now bound for breakfast at Chic-a-filet, the 18th century architecture walking tour at 10:00, then lunch, and homeward bound for Athens.