Charleston!
I had never been to Charleston, although have driven past the I-95 turnoff a dozen times on my way to Florida. Well, during the week between Christmas and New Year's I went there. My wife and I joined up with some friends to explore.
Stayed at a normal motel, even after asking the desk manager for a nonsmoking room, guess what we got. It was so overpowered with other smelly odors (supposed to be good smells, but not for me) that we did not identify the smoke until the second day, by then it did not seem worth the hassle to move our stuff to another room - but it would have been worth it had I known that we would come in to the same smoke smell every time. It never got less noticeable.
All the same, walking around was great. Charleston is full of 18th and 19th century houses -- and mansions. I have never seen so many majestic homes in one location. And it seemed that nearly every one had a fence or wall around its own garden, and many of those had fountains. Walking at night you could hear the splashing of water everywhere.
There are several old plantations outside town that you can tour. Everything costs money, though. We went to the Magnolia Plantation, which was a very pretty and open place. The main house was not as grandiose as some of those we had already seen, but the land was wonderful. We walked out on dikes surrounding what used to be rice fields. Saw some alligators, and lots of birds. I got some photos of a red-shouldered hawk sitting on a branch about 15 feet away, and then we watched as he dove into the swamp and came up with some kind of lizard, which he took off to some other tree to eat.
We also went to the Audubon's Beidler Forest, or at least the swamp part of it. There is a 1.5 mile boardwalk loop through the swamp. Like the plantation, lots of cypress and tupelos. Lots of birds too. Saw a 1000-year-old tree, and the guide said there is one 1500 years old in that swamp, but we missed it.
Perfect weather, in the 60s, clear or partly cloudy. It did not rain until the evening before we were to leave. I have definitely had my fill of fish and shrimp though.
Came home on NY Eve day and went to the DUP NYE dance, where I drummed. Fun!
Stayed at a normal motel, even after asking the desk manager for a nonsmoking room, guess what we got. It was so overpowered with other smelly odors (supposed to be good smells, but not for me) that we did not identify the smoke until the second day, by then it did not seem worth the hassle to move our stuff to another room - but it would have been worth it had I known that we would come in to the same smoke smell every time. It never got less noticeable.
All the same, walking around was great. Charleston is full of 18th and 19th century houses -- and mansions. I have never seen so many majestic homes in one location. And it seemed that nearly every one had a fence or wall around its own garden, and many of those had fountains. Walking at night you could hear the splashing of water everywhere.
There are several old plantations outside town that you can tour. Everything costs money, though. We went to the Magnolia Plantation, which was a very pretty and open place. The main house was not as grandiose as some of those we had already seen, but the land was wonderful. We walked out on dikes surrounding what used to be rice fields. Saw some alligators, and lots of birds. I got some photos of a red-shouldered hawk sitting on a branch about 15 feet away, and then we watched as he dove into the swamp and came up with some kind of lizard, which he took off to some other tree to eat.
We also went to the Audubon's Beidler Forest, or at least the swamp part of it. There is a 1.5 mile boardwalk loop through the swamp. Like the plantation, lots of cypress and tupelos. Lots of birds too. Saw a 1000-year-old tree, and the guide said there is one 1500 years old in that swamp, but we missed it.
Perfect weather, in the 60s, clear or partly cloudy. It did not rain until the evening before we were to leave. I have definitely had my fill of fish and shrimp though.
Came home on NY Eve day and went to the DUP NYE dance, where I drummed. Fun!
posted by Dave | 7:10 PM
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