Life in the Low Country (Part I)

Currently In: Charleston, SC
Leaving for: Savannah, GA
Next Up: St. Augustine, FL
Then to Orlando, Marathon Key, Siesta Key and Navarre, FL for December and early January

There is so much to the geography, culture, language, architecture, food and history in Charleston that I couldn't possibly get to all of it in a couple of blog posts.  Suffice it to say that Charleston played a major role in the settling of our country, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars along with cultural impacts in the South and beyond.
I will just post a few of our favorite sights.  There is really no logic to what we decided to look at other than the close proximity of these locations to one another.

We spent a day in the historic downtown where we learned that Charleston used to be a walled city.  In excavating for other construction, parts of the old wall were discovered, became small archeological digs, and preserved.  I tried to snap a photo, but so many people were in front of a piece of the old wall, you couldn't see it.

We started at the City Market.  It is all indoors, but there are a few city blocks of artist and crafter booths - many items like sweet water baskets are local to Low Country.

We then walked to Waterfront Park to peek at the famous Pineapple fountain.  I also thought the boardwalk with swings was a unique feature of the this park.

I found this little guy hanging out in the marsh next to the boardwalk.

I was able to get this shot of the Ravenel Bridge.  At 2.5 miles long, it is the longest cable stay bridge in North America.

 Here is a view when we were actually on the bridge!

We took a stroll through the French Quarter with its cobblestone streets.

Then we made it over to White Point Garden.  The gazebo is pretty; there are also numerous monuments to Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers.

Here is the requisite picture of Rainbow Row - I am sure it is prettier when there are no cars!  There are a couple of theories around the reason for the colors having to do with drunken sailors or illiterate slaves getting to the correct location.

In our wandering around we also saw this house.  Take a look at the flag on the lower front porch - I couldn't resist!  Plus it provides another example of the types of houses in the older part of the city.

Finally, we met up with our friend Elizabeth Baczek at Mac's Place - a Chicago bar right in the historic area of Charleston!