Day 336 – 340; Wed 4/24 – Sun 4/28: We were excited to see historic Charleston on Wednesday morning where we made reservations for horse drawn carriage tour at 9:30 am. It was a short Uber ride to the City Market area where we climbed aboard our tour guide Star’s carriage pulled by Bryan. Bryan is a 17 hand tall 2000 lb Morgan from the Amish Country of Ohio. Star explained to us how these working horses need to sweat as they work and that is aided by them getting 2 pints of Guinness in the morning and 2 more in the afternoon….that is one lucky horse! The tour was fabulous as we learned so much about Charleston and both its upbeat and dark history.
As far back as the 1600s, English royalty figured out how convenient the rivers and creeks of this sprawling natural harbor would be. With protected inland waterways connected by a wide, deep natural inlet to the Atlantic Ocean, a thriving port seemed inevitable. So, they planned a “great port town” and named it after the country’s top politico, King Charles, and pretty much let matters unfold from there.
Charleston (originally called Charles Town) has become what the originator’s envisioned, even as it weathered wars, hurricanes, an earthquake, and periodic social upheavals. Charleston was founded in 1670 on the west bank of the Ashley River, the real estate having been granted to eight men by England’s Monarch as a pay-off for their loyalty and patronage. As the capital of what was called the Carolina Colony, Charleston became a beachhead for English expansion. Early colonists erected fortifications around the settlement to protect it from Spanish and French assaults, Native Americans, and pirate raiding parties (two buildings that once protected the “Walled City”, still stand).
The philosophy of early Charles Town was based on religious tolerance; it was believed that with this attitude, the settlement would increase in numbers and profitability. The city charter guaranteed religious freedom, bringing French Huguenots, Baptists (known then as Anabaptists), Congregationalists and Presbyterians. Early in the next century, 12 Scottish families withdrew to form the Scots Kirk, now the First Scots Presbyterian Church. A Jewish congregation formed in 1750, followed shortly by a Lutheran Church and Methodist assembly. The first Roman Catholic mass was held in Charleston in 1786. Because of its origins for religious diversity, Charleston became known as “The Holy City.” Economically, Charleston became the wealthiest city south of the well-to-do Philadelphia. English tax authorities rubbed their hands in anticipation.
Charleston eventually protested the British Tea Act of 1773. Gaining little satisfaction from England’s ruling elite, Charlestonians sent enthusiastic delegates to the Continental Congress a few years later eager to declare independence from Britian. During the Revolutionary War, the city vigorously resisted British attacks, even painting its church steeples black to blend in with the night sky, denying British ships useful navigation marks. The city’s independent spirit continued to the start of the Civil War. By 1860, Charleston lay divided concerning States Rights. The Ordinance of Secession was signed in December of that year making South Carolina a separate entity from the United States. On April 12, 1861, Confederate troops issued the first shots of the Civil War when they fired upon Fort Sumter, successfully driving out the federal forces. The Confederacy would hold the fort, and the city, for the next four years.
Through much of the 18th and 19th centuries, Carolina landowners thrived on cotton and rice cultivation under the slave-based plantation system. After the Civil War, however, the economy faltered. Charlestonians were too poor to remodel so the city simply adapted her old buildings. Then, in 1886 a major earthquake rocked Charleston damaging more than 2,000 buildings. More than 100 buildings were declared unsafe and pulled down and 110 people lost their lives. As a result of the earthquake, iron rods were run through the interiors of buildings and fastened to the exterior walls to protect them from future quakes. Today, these round and star-shaped bolts remain visible on many homes and commercial buildings.
The 20th century brought gradual economic growth and eventually, tourism. After World War II, the city began protecting Charleston’s historic buildings and helped create new attractions, many of which are still open to the public. Unfortunately, Hurricane Hugo struck in 1989 with its 135- mph winds headed directly for Charleston. Near midnight, a 12-to-17 foot wall of water swept over Fort Sumter in the harbor and the storm surge came ashore and three-quarters of the homes in the city’s historic district suffered damaged. A week after the storm, preservationists surveyed the city and found that just 25 of the 3,500 historically important buildings had been severely damaged, so Charleston rebuilt itself again and today thrives as a jewel of the New South.
Back to our visit – The weather was finicky so it was jackets on and off all day long. We returned from the tour and walked the shops of the 200 year old 4 block long City Market. Back in the day, the market provided a convenient place for area farms and plantations to sell beef and produce and acted as a place for locals to gather and socialize. Today the vendors sell souvenirs and other items, notably the famous Gullah sweet grass baskets. Over 20 years ago when we were here, we bought a basket, but Holy Cow ….have prices gone up! I’d say they are 4-5x more expensive now. We saw a lot of looking but not a lot of buying.
Hungry, we looked for something local and found the Sweetwater Cafe just a couple blocks away – delicious! Then we were off to the Old Slave Mart Museum. At one point in the history of slavery, 35-40% of enslaved people entered the US through Charleston. Here we learned of that dark period in Charleston’s history where families were broken up, young and old sold based on their different skills, capabilities, past behaviors and ability to bear children. The price of a human being ranged from a hundred dollars or less for the elderly, and infant or somewhat disabled up to $1500 for a prime field hand. Average price in 1860 was $800, which is about $30,000 today. At that time, there were 4 million slaves in the US, so $3.2B spent on slaves; equivalent of $120B today. Now these numbers are flawed since all slaves weren’t purchased in 1860 and many slaves were born into slavery, but you get the point on the economics. Just think about that in terms of generational wealth held or accumulated by whites, but denied to blacks for 8-10 generations. It is staggering to think about and an area of our history that we’ve learned so much about on this trip.
We toured the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon built in 1771; this building has served as a commercial exchange, custom house, post office, city hall , military headquarters and now a museum. It is the site of the debate and signing of the US Constitution by the SC leaders, but also a market place hosting slave auctions while the basement once served as a military prison. After our visit, we walked the city including Rainbow Row where for a mere $4.3M, you can purchase a 4000 sq ft historic home, but don’t attempt to change a thing about it, at least on the outside – that is strictly prohibited. Right around the corner from Rainbow Row, we walked the Battery and White Point Garden – a lovely waterfront park featuring historic cannons and statues bordered by antebellum mansions. It was very windy at the park, but as soon as we entered the grid of the streets it was calm and warm again. We headed back toward the marketplace in search of Henry’s on the Market for dinner since it looked to have a nice rooftop deck.
Thursday morning, 4/25 we were out early to get rental car and get Tracy to the airport. The rest of the day was meetings and catching up on other things with a quiet dinner on boat. Friday morning was the same – a few chores in morning, but the afternoon brought an early happy hour at Tommmy Conlon’s Irish Bar with Todd and Maria on Sea No Evil and Mike and Deb on I Think I Can as well as Brian, Pam and son Brian on Take 5. Happy Hour rolled into dinner and we indulged in their Irish eats: Bangers and Mash, Irish Egg-rolls filled with corned beef and cabbage, Irish Nachos and Shepherds Pie. We enjoyed their live music for a while, but then we were off to check out a couple more places that Todd and Maria knew well….their sons live here, so we just followed their lead!
Saturday, 4/27 we drove to Savannah to meet with sellers of the home we are buying to finalize what they were taking versus leaving, having negotiated the house to be sold fully furnished and outfitted – we literally want to walk in with our toothbrushes on ‘day one’ and feel at home. We are confident that we will! The major items we will bring from our home is our dining room table that is also a pool table and art work; sellers are understandably taking all of theirs. It wasn’t too bad of a drive: 2.5 hours each way. We strategically planned our trip to get back to the boat at slack tide (that time between high tide and low tide where the water is not running either way so there is no current) and reposition the boat on the outside dock. That way, when we left in the morning we had no risk strong currents and more bumper boats! Why didn’t we think of that in Beaufort!
Sunday, 4/28 we were off to Georgetown, SC leaving around 9:30 am. We were treated by a trio of dolphins who swam with us in our bow. We still puzzle about what makes a Fleming such a dolphin magnet, so we posted this video of them with that question in the Fleming FB page. Got lots of likes, but no answer. Anyone know?
Georgetown was a long run – over 6 hours. We planned to anchor but as we explored the anchorage, decided it was too shallow. Fortunately, the Harbor Walk Marina had space for us so we pulled right in. It was great to see Mike and Deb on I think I Can as well as Brian and Linda on Mila Vera. We first met Brian and Linda in Annapolis the week before we started our loop. They aren’t looping (they have no desire to do the river system), but they are ‘arcing’ meaning they go all the way from Florida up to the Great Lakes and then back making an Arc. Brian is a former F14 pilot so they had timed their arc to be in Annapolis for Commissioning week and the Blue Angels air show when we met them. We puzzled as to the meaning of Mila Vera looking up the words in Spanish and Italian but couldn’t figure it out. We finally asked them – It’s the first syllable of each of their Mom’s first names. Mystery solved.
It was dinner on the boat – we were both beat and early to bed; Off to Myrtle Beach on Monday!
chashurley
Charleston is an amazing town! Hate the currents, but love the food! Chuck