Another Trip to Charleston

Bill had a job to do in Charleston. A little one. So he asked if I wanted to tag along and hang out a day or two down there. We had a great time last time so I said of course! Just before we left, he pulled these things from the trailer. He had picked them up on his previous trip. BIG pot... No idea what to put in it. And these little metal watering cans. So cute! Roosters for me, pig for Sam.

We got up in the big truck and headed out. We finally arrived in Charleston, then spent some time trying to find a place to drop the trailer. Finally, near the shipper's house, we found an abandoned WalMart and parked the trailer there. Without that huge thing we were able to cruise down the streets of Charleston. Many trees there overhang the road. Bill spent much of his driving time looking up. This is where we stayed. King Charles Inn, I believe it was called. Excellent location! Excellent! It was nice and I would recommend it.

Our room. Very very comfortable bed.

Not a great view, but I didn't care.

A nice porch was just off the room with rockers and so on.

Ha ha! This idiot in the blue car couldn't find a place he wanted to park, apparently. He's even headed the wrong way in the lot, as you can see. Anyway, he decided to just park right there! It caused quite a stir. Dummy.

After a little rest, we hit the streets. I had sold a text book on eBay, so had to mail it. This is the historic downtown Charleston post office. Very nice.

This is the postal museum, which is part of the post office. We headed in there to check it out, but there were already two people in there. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a problem. But these two were both sniffling and hacking and wiping their noses. It was a smallish room. We got out of there quick!

Samantha and Travis had mentioned a trip they wanted to take to Charleston and asked us to be on the lookout for nice bed and breakfasts. This one fit the bill and we picked up some information for them.

It was really hot! We stopped in here for some refreshment.

I had quiche and pink lemonade. It was divine!

Bill had a panini and iced tea. Also divine.

Ha ha ha ha ha! (It's the one that says FREETHINKER that makes it so funny) Sweet, sweet irony.

We ate at High Cotton. Best. Food. Ever. My photography does not come close to capturing the orgasmic deliciousness that was this meal. In fact, I debated even putting the photo up because I didn't want to diss their food. Bill and I agreed that it was one of the best meals we'd ever eaten.

Next morning we ventured out again. Had some breakfast at Toast. Bill had an omelet.

I had a crab cake/fried green tomato/poached egg/remoulade sauce creation that was on their "Local Favorites" menu. Both were very tasty and the atmosphere was loud and pleasant.

Being the tourists we are - and proud of it! - we hit up the boat tour next. Here I am with Fort Sumter in the background. I don't know who's seen Darius Rucker's new video and frankly cannot explain why I've seen it, but it was filmed here on this boat and in areas around Charleston.

This is the lower level of the boat. We hung out below for a while to try to escape the heat.

Fort Sumter (look it up)

Bill's buying a hot dog, as is his custom on these things. You know what that means?? Bill gets a hot dog means Bonnie gets a beer! Woot!

This is Charleston's skyline. There is a law there requiring that no building be taller than the tallest church. And there are many, many churches there. In fact it is called "The Holy City" for that very reason.

This is a battleship we passed. I can't remember the name of it. Like you care.   :)

Nice view of the Charleston bridge as we floated under it. That flag flying below the American flag is the SC state flag - coolest state flag in the union, I'd bet.

We ate dinner at the Noisy Oyster. Big mistake. Huge. It was hot. Service was TERRIBLE!! And of course, the human hand floating in the pot turned us off a little bit.  (Crab claw, really, but it LOOKED like a hand.)

Next day was a horse-and-buggy tour. Yeah, yeah.... We LIKE to do the tourist thing so back off! I cut the guy's head out of the picture because I knew I was going to report that he was pretty boring.

The horses would not cross this vent thing in the road and we had to sit and wait until there was no oncoming traffic so we could proceed in that lane.

This is the DAR building.

Look at the ABC store! Cool.

All these little side streets lead to the water. These used to be piers, but over time the land was built up around the piers by the ships that came here to load cotton and things. They used very large rocks for ballast in their empty ships, then when they arrived they would heave the rocks overboard to make room for the cargo. This is what initially helped these areas become land, rather than sea.

Another old pier, now a road to the water.

All the street signs say "French Quarter". I guess New Orleans and Charleston share some history but I don't know what it is. They are "sister cities".

I wish I had taken picture of this salon while we were there, but I forgot my camera and took this as we rode by in the carriage. Bill had a hour-long massage here which he absolutely loved, and he got me a "Pamperlicious Hair Cut". It WAS pamperlicious, too. Scalp massage. Dim lights. Fabulous. Love this place. Go there.

We ate at Bubba Gump. Now, although we are proud tourists, we normally like to stay away from chain restaurants while vacationing in order to sample the local food. My pictures are out of sequence. We ate here the first night. We were hot. We were tired. We were hungry. Bubba Gump was really, really good. I'm not kidding. It was very kitschy. There was Forrest Gump trivia and ping pong paddles and all that stuff, but I'm telling you - the food was delicious! Far, far better than Hyman's which everyone waits in line for. I promise.

Excellent hushpuppies. They were full of seafood. Full of it! And yeah, there were more than four in the order, I just forgot to take the pic until we'd eaten some. Unfortunately, I also forgot to photograph our entrees. And they were lovely.

Here's a shot of the fountain at the battery. It's so hot there, I considered frolicking.

Fleet Landing, which I reported on during our last trip. Also very yummy, although we didn't eat there this time. Wish we had skipped the Noisy Oyster and gone here instead, but live and learn, huh?

Kids played guitar on the pier as the sun went down.

A nightcap of blueberry cheesecake and iced coffee for Bill at Kaminsky's. Mmmmmm....

Next morning we headed out. Got to the old WalMart (yes, we did the moving job during this trip but I just didn't bore you with it) to pick up the trailer and - gasp - it was gone. It had been towed. Several hundred dollars and several hours later, we picked up the trailer from where is was being held hostage, and finally headed back to the house. Aside from the towing it was a nice relaxing trip and we had a good time.