Charleston, South Carolina

Still on only the third day of the trip, as we were recovering from two days of rather exhausting driving, we visited the Magnolia Plantation early in the day, then we had lunch at a Mexican place not far from the plantation.

Then, we decided to visit downtown Charleston, which we had only briefly gone a little bit through on the previous evening, trying to find a decent place to eat. By the way, finding some good places to eat is not difficult in Charleston, as it is well known for good restaurants and dining experiences!

We went down to the waterfront, where the waitress from the night before told us we could see and hear dolphins. One other person (I don't remember who anymore) also affirmed this, so I was pretty excited, since I do not believe I actually saw any dolphins in my life not in captivity.

But when we went, there were no dolphins to be seen or heard, unfortunately. It was a nice enough waterfront, but to be sure, no dolphins (at least not while we were there).

The main thing that we had wanted to do was visit the aquarium, having heard only good things about it, and figuring it would be something that could interest everyone (especially my eight year old son).

Yet, I noticed once we got there that we were right by the Fort Sumter National Monument. Nobody but me was interested in actually going to Fort Sumter, so I was ruled out. Still, they did have a visitor center where you could see Fort Sumter off in the distance (although it was too far for my camera phone to really pick up), and it had an informative display of items and such regarding the events that led to this opening battle of the Civil War.

Remember, also, that South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union. This was not long after Abraham Lincoln was voted President of the United States in November of 1860. On December 20th of that same year, there was a convention on the question of secession held right in Charleston, and the vote for secession from the United States passed by 169 to 0! So, in more ways than one, actually, Charleston really saw the beginning of the Civil War!

My son really liked the swords and guns on display. I tried to tell him a little bit about the Civil War, both the actual fighting, as well as the events that led to it (trying to tie it in with our earlier visit to the Magnolia Plantation). But the Civil War has never exactly been my field of specialty, so I am not entirely certain how much success I actually had in telling him about all of this!

After our visit to the Fort Sumter National Monument, we went to the next building over, which was the aquarium. I was told that the biggest tank in all of North America is right in there, with over 750 large fish and sharks, as well as one huge turtle, that more than holds her own! Also, they had a bald eagle, as well as a couple of large alligators, including one albino alligator! We particularly enjoyed the seahorses, which were far larger than I expected them to be!

By the time we were done with our visit at the aquarium, I noticed that they were in the process of closing! Nobody was being allowed in anymore, and they were beginning to clean up the floors. Those people who left the exhibits were being led to the exits, or allowed to visit the souvenir shop (of course).

My son was dying to go back to the swimming pool before dark, and so we headed back. That was, more or less, the end of our day in Charleston.

There was one more evening left for us there, and that would be the following evening, after our visit to Savannah.

I will write about Savannah soon (likely tomorrow), because it definitely deserves it's own blog entry here). But we had to leave there fairly early, since the dog could not come with us, and we had to leave to get back to the hotel by 6pm or so, in order to give him his medication (the dog has diabetes). So, we left Savannah, and headed towards Charleston. We fed the dog and gave him his medication, then decided, thankfully, to go and spend the evening in downtown Charleston.

We explored a bit further than we had earlier, and saw the more famous parts of Charleston. This was the city that was little changed since the days of the Revolutionary War, with narrow lanes of cobblestone, old homes, and beautiful, pasted and white washed homes! Unfortunately, my battery was pretty much out, so I did not actually get to take pictures of this part of Charleston! Rookie mistake!

Specifically, I wanted to see the Pineapple Fountain. I saw it in quite a few of the travel brochures, and since it looked beautiful, and I've always been kind of a sucker for large public fountains like that, it was one of the main priorities.

Yet, I never did find it. We asked a few people for directions, and everyone confidently told us exactly what we needed to do. But it seemed at some point like we were going around in circles, and the fountain was nowhere to be seen! It's too bad, because it really looked beautiful!

Still, we enjoyed our trip to Charleston that evening, and it was easy to tell why Charleston and Savannah were known as two of the prettiest and most charming cities of the Old South!

Fort Sumter National Monument. Charleston, South Carolina

Pictures of some of the displays available at the Fort Sumter National Monument:

The South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston, South Carolina

Pictured is Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, which is also known as the New Cooper River Bridge, which spans the Cooper River to connect Charleston to Mount Pleasant. 

Monument to William Moultrie, a general for the American cause during the Revolutionary War, who later served as Governor of South Carolina. 

Some pictures from our visit to the White Point Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina: