I've wanted to visit Charleston for years. It is a beautiful historic city, I loved wandering around downtown. We did not have great weather while we were there because even in South Carolina its cold in January. But, going in January also meant no humidity and no crowds thus making it a great time to go COVID wise. Downtown felt like a ghost town. I have nothing to compare it too since I've never been but I am pretty sure there are normally more people out and about seeing as how it is frequently listed in the top cities to visit in the United States.
It took us just over 7 hours to drive from our house to Charleston. On the way out of town we stopped to pick breakfast up from Bodo's Bagels. Bodo's is a Charlottesville legend. People talk about missing it more than many other things when they move from here. I enjoy their bagels but am not that devoted. We stopped on this particular morning because a few weeks ago we realized that we had never taken Jared or Lydia there to try out this Charlottesville staple. When we told them Jared was excited and Lydia scowled and said she did not want to eat bagels. Guess who loved the bagels the most? Yes, Lydia. I did bring along some homemade cream cheese filling to spread on them but anytime we talked about getting food the rest of the weekend she said she wanted Bodo's which obviously didn't work well since they are only here in Charlottesville. She liked them so much that she requested them for lunch on her birthday this upcoming Saturday. We hope with time she becomes more open to trying new foods. I was not particularly adventurous myself growing up but feel I do much better now so hopefully she follows suit.
The drive there and back was pretty uneventful. It was a longer drive than we normally take and we passed the time with podcasts and some downloaded Disney+ shows. Mark actually had two school meetings to attend on Zoom Friday so he was busy for the first part of the drive. He normally does most of the driving when we go places but we were pretty evenly split the drive down. He drove all the way back Monday but I was happy to do some of the driving on the way down.
Friday late afternoon and Monday early morning (travel days)
The weather forecast showed rain starting right as we arrived downtown Friday. We decided to go downtown anyway and got a lucky break. There was a break in the rain as we walked along the waterfront, through the charming historic neighborhoods and downtown. Jared and Lydia did a great job walking around and not complaining. I am sure it helped that they had been sitting in a car for 7 hours. Parking was easy and there were no crowds and the people we did pass were all wearing masks as were we. I knew I would be tempted to point out all the beautiful and historic architecture and colors and streets we passed but did my best to just remind Jared and Lydia as we started our walk to look all around as we walked so I wasn't repeating myself for 2 hours. We were not disappointed at all. I loved it so much that one walk downtown was not enough. Mark really wanted to get a run in before the drive home Monday so we opted to go downtown together before leaving. We left Jared and Lydia at the Air BnB early Monday and he got in a 5 mile run and I had a leisurely 2 mile walk around the neighborhoods. It was perfect. I tried to not take 2000 pictures and mostly succeeded.
First sighting of the Pineapple fountain, Waterfront Park
Rainbow Row
White Point Garden
Downtown
Monday Morning Walk
Saturday: Mark stared the day off running a half marathon. Yes, another one his third in 9 months. Before I ended up with tendinitis back in December I had also planned to run a half marathon in Charleston. Sadly it was not meant to be. Mark and I left around 6:30 in the morning. He planned a great route that took him all over the city, past the waterfront and across the big bridge. Around 6 miles I met him at the Pineapple Fountain for a fuel stop. I was admittedly slightly irritated and jealous that I was not able to run (it was my idea originally) but I did get a beautiful sunrise out of his running. Mark felt great on his run, he said it was his favorite part of the trip to Charleston.
Customs House. I took a quick walk downtown before driving across the bridge to wait for Mark at his finish spot.
I love how some of the old houses had these gas flame lamps
Running across the bridge
Another half marathon in the books!
After he finished running we picked up some Southern biscuits, they are quite the thing in Charleston and took them back to our Air BnB. Jared and Lydia were starving by them. They did great hanging out at the Air BnB together. This was the first time we ever felt it would be ok to leave them alone while we did something, away from home that is. It is nice to have older kids.
This is a full size dinner plate. These biscuits were massive.
That afternoon we visited the grounds of Magnolia Plantation and enjoyed the gardens, petting zoo and a swamp tour. After Magnolia Plantation we visited the famous Angel Oak Tree. This tree is magnificent. It is believed to be between 400 - 500 years old and it just feels special. Anyone I talked to about visiting Charleston spoke of this tree with reverence. I didn't think it would be that impressive but it absolutely was. It just feels sacred in a way. Our last stop Saturday was Magnolia Cemetery. Nobody else was interested in walking around the cemetery so I took my own walk while they waited in the car. In their defense it was about 50 degrees with 20+ mph winds but I was not going to skip it. It was peaceful, fascinating and historic. Charleston is one of the most well known places for ghost sightings/tours and I can see how going through an old cemetery like this would be a great setting for that. On our way in for the night we stopped at Patriot Park where the USS Yorktown a WWII aircraft carrier is docked. We did not tour it but Jared loved checking it out from the shore. Near our Air BnB there was a popular sunset viewing spot called Shem Creek. There are boardwalks out to the water and lots of shrimp boats. We had read you could spot dolphins there but we did not see any. We tired to stay and watch the sunset but the wind was so bad we headed back after walking along the boardwalks/shrimp boats.
Our next stop was the beach. The conditions were horrible for spending any significant time at the beach but going to the beach was the top thing Jared and Lydia wanted to do so we made the best of it. They had a great time and didn't mind the cold weather and freezing winds. They both avoided the water which I was happy to see. I passed the time taking a walk to the pier in the gusting wind and flying kites with Mark. I am glad we went but would have been happy to spend 10 minutes there not 2 hours.
Our last stop was Fort Moultrie. We got there just in time for sunset and watched the most beautiful sunset. Mark and I took more pictures than you would ever need of a sunset but it was just so magical. The changing colors with the clouds, the water, the skyline of churches, and the bridge, so perfect. This fort was attacked by the British in 1776 and the men there saved Charleston for the time being. Charleston was captured by the British in 1780 and then they evacuated in 1782 the final year of the Revolution. Fort Sumter is right across from Fort Moultrie so we had a good history lesson with Jared and Lydia before they headed over to climb and jump off rocks.
We really enjoyed Charleston. It is charming, historic and delightful. I am so glad we finally made it over there. Visiting old, historic cities like this was a big draw of moving out East for me. So far we have made it to Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta, and New York City. I love that they are all within a drive away, well not quite Atlanta there we flew but all the others.
