Monday, December 9, 2013

In and Around Charleston, SC

Events of 3-8 Dec.

We departed Savannah, Ga. with a commitment to return.  We were there just long enough to wet our appetite.  We were going to Givhans Ferry State Park about 33 mile from Charleston, SC.  The drive was only about 110miles so we took our time.  Givhans Ferry is the location on the Edisto River where, as the name implies, Mr. Givhans established a ferry to cross the river.  The area is quite remote, for eastern standards.  We were limited on wifi to 3G service so we weren't able to post a blog very easily. 
  The park itself was established in the 1930's and built by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp).  The camping cabins are very nice and have received upgrades throughout the years.  The camping area has added water and electricity but little to no improvements to the roads.  All and all it was pretty but lots of sand to contend with.

One of the CCC camping cabins

Stephanie relaxing at our campsite
As we have said before, one of the things which has most impressed us on our travels across the south is the amount and size of rivers.  They are everywhere and they are big, at least in the eyes of a couple of desert dwellers.
Edisto River near campsite

Cypress tree roots
On Wednesday, we went for a ride into Charleston.  We wanted to just drive around and see the old city and get some seafood.  Now it was not our intent to compare Charleston to Savannah but we liked Savannah so much I guess it was inevitable.  Charleston feels like a much more normal city with lots on new and old mixed together and as such we didn't get that warm comfy feeling from it like Savannah.  Savannah felt like your favorite sweatshirt and Charleston felt like that 2nd date with a girl you don't really know yet.
  We drove through the old town (Meeting St. and Market St.) area and found ourselves face to face with a Carnival Cruise ship at the pier. 
Carnival Fantasy
We saw a restaurant right next to the ship and decided to try it out.  It was a very nice day out so we opted to sit on the patio for our lunch. 
Fleet Landing Restaurant

View from our table at restaurant

Dolphin just in front of cruise ship
The sights and sounds were excellent but the food was just mediocre.  Stephanie had Blackened Red Fish and Bill had Blackened Triggerfish sandwich.
US Customs House completed 1879
After our day in Charleston, we couldn't help but feel we had missed something.  We had always heard Charleston was such a wonderful place and we just didn't see it.  On our drive back to our campsite we agreed we would need to go back and give it another try.
 
On Thursday, we just hung out at the trailer and enjoyed the peace and quite of the area. 
 On Friday Stephanie wanted to take a drive to a small town named Grover.  Pretty cool.
 
Family Church??
 



On Saturday, we went back to Charleston.  We did a little more research and found an area we wanted to try and find.  We set the address into the GPS and started driving.  We made our final approach into Charleston across a bridge on to Broad St. 

This the gold we were looking for

OK, we're ready to move in

WOW

Unfortunately we don't know what building this is
After driving around and seeing all the old homes we could find we drove back down to Market St. to try and do some more Christmas shopping. 
Horse drawn carriage near Market St.
 

After shopping we drove back to the trailer so we could get things ready to go on to Myrtle Beach, SC area tomorrow.  The drive will only be about 120 miles so we will take our time and enjoy the backroads.







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