Charleston, SC

We traveled to Charleston yesterday and arrived at the park around 4:00pm. It is a national forest campground located on land that used to be Buck Hall Plantation with large, mossy trees and right on the inter coastal  waterway. We pulled forward into our site so we can see the boats pass by from our “picture window.” They are mostly private fishing boats and yachts. A really nice park about 25 miles from town. 
The road leading into Charleston is nicknamed “Sweetgrass Highway” because the Galluh women weave baskets from palmetto palms and sell them from stands all along the route. They are beautiful and intricately woven baskets of all shapes, sizes and designs but pricey. The small one I liked was $250.00. I don’t doubt it was worth it if you considered her time and expertise in making it but, I didn’t want it that much!
It was a gorgeous, 75 degree day so we decided to tour downtown Charleston. Our first stop was the Visitor’s Center to get the “scoop”  - and there we met Mark. He could sell you oceanfront property in Arizona! Talked us into “touring” the “historic” Church Street Inn and listening to a “little spiel about their property” – in return we got 2 free tickets for a carriage tour; 2 free tickets to tour Magnolia Plantation and 2 free tickets for a boat tour of the harbor and Fort Sumter – the three things we really wanted to do! How long could it take to tour around the hotel and hear why we should choose to stay there!!???  As we were leaving the Visitor’s Center, Mark came running out to recommend that we not mention we are traveling in our motor home because, after all, they want us to stay in their hotel! Well………come to find out the Church Street Inn is not a hotel but part of Festiva Resorts time share program. Duh, we are a little slow! Two hours later we are still listening to why buying into their plan is such a good deal! We were so nervous because they kept asking us questions about where we typically travel; what type of places we stay in and how much we usually pay; where were we staying in Charleston (luckily, I had seen an Embassy Suites on our way in town!) We were so afraid we would say “motor home” and get caught in our lies! I finally said “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude but we’ve been here 2 hours and it’s a beautiful day and I’d rather be out seeing Charleston!” That’s when they brought in the “big dog” – come to find out, he started out selling time shares on Canyon Lake, Texas! The deal was $30,000 (plus annual maintenance fees) for 6,000 points/year (used like dollars to buy time in their many resort properties) for 40 years! Doubt if we’ll feel like staying at a “Sandals” type resort when we’re 90 some years old! We said a firm “NO,” collected our free vouchers and got out of there! Figured it was worth it for $110.00 worth of tickets but we won’t get suckered again!!
We shopped around the Market – kiosks in the old renovated slave market – until it was time for our carriage tour. I bought a great new shawl. Charleston is the second oldest city in the United States – St. Augustine, FL is the oldest. The carriage took us all around the historical district and “south of Broad” – meaning south of Broad Street which separates the “haves” and “have mores!” Gorgeous old homes – narrow and deep properties - now worth millions! Many still have the iron symbols on the front that let the fire department know they had paid to be protected in case of fire; the old hitching posts; and the stone blocks next to the curb to step on when alighting their carriages. There are many “pineapples” – a sign of welcome - made of wrought iron and cement decorating the homes, fences and properties. Most have wrought iron fences and decorations but, they are not original because most of the original ironwork was melted down and donated to the Confederacy during the Civil War. We ended the day with a great seafood dinner and had  to laugh about Festiva!
This boat looks like it is parked in the middle of a wheat field!