Charleston

We had a fab long weekend in Charleston. We ate well, learnt a little US civil war history and enjoyed walking around the city. Here are the particulars...











Driving

Charleston is about a 3.5 hour drive from Wilmington that is not particularly scenic but very straight. The speed limit was mostly 55mph but on a newer stretch of road near Myrtle Beach it was 65mph. We used 0.5 tank of petrol each way (filling the tank for US$45) We saw lots of trees, some massive factories at Georgetown and lots of tacky signage. One highlight was driving over the Arthur Ravenel bridge into Charleston. Similar to the Anzac Bridge with the large steel cables, these are painted white and seemed to luminesce in the sunlight. Built in 2005 it is the longest cable-stayed bridge in the US and it ws good fun to drive across.





Sightseeing

Charleston Cooks! I headed off to a cooking class whilst Andrew and Lucy wandered the streets (literally). It was a very cool kitchen setup with video cameras located at various points to enable us to directly see the kitchen bench and the stovetop. The class was called "lowcountry cooking" and we were taught how to make gumbo and blueberry pies. Learnt lots of new techniques as well as discovering many new gadgets to get my hands on. And we will be having the gumbo and pies for dinner tomorrow! It was great fun to learn about okra, carolina gold rice as well as very cutting and cooking styles.

White Point Gardens at the Battery. Located on the tip of the Charleston peninsula is White Point Gardens. Great views of the harbour and various surrounding islands. The guide book says that "children love to climb on the old cannons and stacked cannonballs" and naturally Lucy was very obliging in having her photo taken whilst sitting on the cannonballs. We wandered along the waterfront looking at the colourfully painted mansions along the Battery. At one point we found a pier with swinging seats that allowed us to chill out for while in the sea breezes before heading back into the town.









Middleton Place A rice plantation on the Ashley river that is famous for having the oldest landscaped gardens in the US. The gardens were begun in 1741 and follow the principles of André Le Nôtre (designer of the gardens of Versailles). Although a far cry from those amazing gardens at Versailles it was very pleasant to wander around the secret gardens, 1000 year old oak tree and butterfly lakes. Unfortunately the main house was burnt down by union troops in 1865. The Middleton family boasts a number of famous sons including Henry Middleton, President of the First Continental Congress, Arthur Middleton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Henry Middleton, who was Governor of South Carolina and U.S. Minister to Russia, and Williams Middleton, who signed the Ordinance of Secession (which is why the troops burnt the house down). It was a beautiful place to visit with sweeping views of the river, lots of farm animals including peacocks and on site blacksmiths and coopers. Check out the restaurant entry below.






Folly Beach - On a whim we decided to stop off at Folly Beach on the way back from Middleton. Not a good move as everyone else had the same idea as well and the traffic was horrendous. Lucy got down to her nappy and had a swim in the Atlantic which was surprisingly warm (according to Andrew). Obviously the summer holiday season has begun but I would venture a guess that it would be reasonably unpleasant to stay there due to overcrowding and lack of parking. We had trouble finding a spot on the sand to sit and it was body to body.










Fort Sumter This was probably the highlight of our tour. We cruised across the harbour past the Battery out to the Fort having been farewelled by a couple of dolphins. The cruise was just a short one and we arrived at the Fort with Lucy asleep in the pram (she woke up when we got back to Charleston). Originally a sandbar, bolstered with Maine granite to create an impressive fort in its time. Not much is left after the civil war bombardment and it is ironic that the island was made with Yankee granite. As it was Memorial Day the US flag (massive) was at half mast. We toured the museum and learnt a lot about the civil war.







SC Aquarium We were expecting great things from this "number 1 attraction in Charleston". Whilst it was very good it was not especially different from the NC Aquarium we visited a few weeks ago. We saw an Amazon exhibit, lots of river/marshlands fish and some turtles. What can I say? The alligators at the NC exhibit were a lot bigger, scarier and more exciting! However Lucy did get to touch a crab's underbelly here.












Dining

When you go travelling it seems that you spend most of the time either eating or looking for somewhere to eat. We used the guidebook to determine where to eat before we left but we did find a diamond in the rough. Here's the lowdown...

East Bay Deli - French onion soup and broccoli & cheese soup (a standard combo in US cafes that is surprisingly good)

Blossom - The little sister to the famous Magnolias we decided to dine here because 1. Lucy likes to throw food on the floor and 2. They have a wood fired pizza oven that the chef from the cooking class used to run. The pizza was awesome (almost as good as Andrew's Pizza) and the rest of the meal (duck and beef) was excellent as well.

Middleton Place - The three course meal here was divine. I had Charleston she-crab soup (so buttery but light - it was the best ever!), shrimp and grits followed by Carolina Gold rice pudding. Andrew had okra soup, pork bbq and hugenot tart. You can't get much more Southern than those menus! Lucy had a grilled cheese sandwich with chips and fruit. She loved the fresh biscuits (scones).

Boccis - An Italian place close to our hotel that kindly did take away for us. Arancini balls, pasta marinara (simply a tomato sauce and not seafood) and veal saltimbocca.

Jestines - Here is the diamond - every time we drove past there were queues out the door. We were told that a visit to Charleston wasn't complete without trying Jestines home-made coconut cream pie. So we did just that. Andrew dashed down there after the hotel pre-ordered some slices for us. And yes it was very good!

Gaulart & Maliclet (or French and French to the locals) - A little Parisian cafe we breakfasted at. Staff were suitably surly and the chocolate croissant very pleasant. The iced coffee was served in a wine glass with ice cubes. Unusual but ok.

Holden Brother farm - a quick stop here for fresh fruit and vegies including strawberries, blueberries, okra and peppers.