Saturday 25th March 2017
We had a comfortable night in the master bedroom and shared breakfast with all of the other guests. We walked downtown to The Mills House in Meeting Street and met with our guide for our 2 hour walking tour of the historic heart of Charleston. The city has a fascinating history being established by the British, some French influence, the start of the Civil War, hurricanes, floods, fires and a long history of involvement in the African slave trade. Charleston is a wealthy city and as we wandered the streets the stories of yesteryear started to unfold. There were pirates, plantation owners, merchants and slaves. The historic architecture and beautiful gardens are a feature. The cobbled streets were made from the ballast that was brought out from England by the ships that would then load their cargo of rice, cotton and sugar to ship back to Europe. The carriage steps were everywhere throughout the historic streets. Huge chunks of rock that the ladies used to step up into their horse drawn carriage. It was said that if a gentelman say a ladies bare ankle when she was boarding the carriage he was obliged to offer his hand in marriage. The dining experience is something else again. The list of fabulous restaurants is endless, then they have the dessert bars and cafes that stay open almost 24 hours as well. The downtown market place also had some great local craft. We won’t need to eat for a month.
We had lunch at Eli’s Table and then drove out of town to the coast to Folly Beach for a wonderful sunset, a drink, some live music at the Pier for our last night in the States.
