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I'm posting Day 1 tonight and will add Day 2 by Monday, October 20th.

Day 1 - Saturday, October 18, 2008

We arrived in town around 12 noon.

We drove down a series of back streets in order to see a newly developed housing area called Longborrow. This took us through The Citadel and towards Brittle Bank Park. The Park was a little lackluster, but gave us a nice view of the Ashley River. At this point, the temperature was around 66 degrees with light drizzle.

We’ve now seen this river from a number of points that include the three plantations further up the river: Middleton Plantation, Drayton Hall, and Magnolia Plantation. We’ve also seen it from the opposite shore at California Dreamin’ and Sunrise Park on James Island.

We decided to eat at Andoline’s Pizza, so we made our way Wentworth Street. We’ve eaten here a couple times over the years. We split a pepperoni calzone and a Greek salad.
The cheese was very good.

We both wanted to visit the East Bay Garden Gallery and visit Hampton, the artist and owner. He’s a really great guy and long time native of the area. I thoroughly enjoy his artwork and have several pieces even displayed at my office.

The next stop was something we’ve wanted to do for a while: Climb to the top of a parking deck to take photographs of the surrounding area. We chose the deck at Cumberland and Church Streets. From this vantage point, we could see the Arthur Ravenel Bridge, Powder Magazine, St. Michaels Church, and the harbor.

We walked down to the Preservation Society of Charleston Store. It’s always a nice place to stop in with the added bonus that purchased help support local preservation efforts. We made our way back towards The Market, where Steven chose a new sweet grass basket at a pretty good price.

The next stop was at Mount Pleasant Town Center. The Sand Dollar Gift Shop tends to have a pretty good selection of merchandise. Steven wanted to purchase a new Goat Island Treasure Box. This time he picked out a box made of burled walnut with a twin palmetto tree mounted to the top. These are hand crafted and production in limited quantities. They are really nice looking.

We drove back to the hotel and quickly checked in, before heading to Isle of Palms for a short walk on the beach. The rain had left by now, but the temperature was dropping and the wind was picking up. We only spent about 30 minutes walking down the beach, before calling it quits.

After a short stop at the hotel room, we headed back to downtown Charleston. Parking was sparse tonight, so we parked on King Street. The walk back to The Market wasn’t that bad and we hadn’t actually walked very much during this trip yet.

We decided to eat at the Charleston Crab House, which has become a favorite. The appetizer was Fried Green Tomatoes. I think there’s a little out of season, because they weren’t very tangy. I ordered the Broiled Seafood Trio- Mahi mahi, shrimp, and scallops with Charleston grits and cole slaw. The scallops were almost perfect. Zeus in Mount Pleasant still out ranks all of the scallops I have eaten in recent years. The Mahi Mahi was very good and the grits were extremely good.

Steven ordered the fried flounder with Charleston grits and cole slaw and a house salad with the house crab ranch dressing.

Walked through three candy and fudge shops, but didn’t buy anything.

We decided it was time to visit Waterfront Park, but something very frightening happened along the way.

On the way there, a private carriage tour horse got spooked and charged down a side street onto Vendue Range. This side street T’s into Vendue Range. This happened about forty feet in front of us. It took a second to register as it happened in slow motion.

The horse tried to make its way between two parked cars, where it partially leapt a small red car. The carriage ripped into the rear end of the car, knocking the carriage wheels off. The carriage driver was sent flying into the air. There was a passenger, but we were never able to see what happened to him or her. The Police, an ambulance, and a fire engine arrived within 10 minutes. We stood around for a while, but decided to move along once everything was under control.

We walked onto Waterfront Park and enjoyed the scenery, but it was pretty cold. We managed to get the furthest swing out and sat there for a little while, before walking back to King Street. We picked up some Starbucks lattes to warm up and walked back to the car towards Broad Street where we had parked.

We drove to the end of King Street where it meets South Battery at Whitepoint Gardens.

I love walking along The Battery. The sound of the lapping water is always so soothing and has become a necessary spot to visit during every trip. We made our way to Tradd Street and meandered towards Church Street. Along the way we stopped and admired a number of homes.

Church Street has become my favorite street to explore. I can’t even count the number of times we’ve walked down this street over the last 6 years. There’s been something new to find each time.

In order to really appreciate the architecture, I think it’s important to see this residential area two different ways: Once during the day and once during the night. During daylight, you can appreciate the overall style, color, and detail. At night, the accent lighting plays across recessed areas, trees and shrubbery. These are two very different perspectives that combine to form a much greater appreciation for the homes.

We then decided to call it a night and returned to our hotel in Mount Pleasant at 11:30.