2016 Family Summer Vacation - Charleston, SC
Summer Vacation 2016...
... awesome!
(created Sep. 3, 2016)
source: http://www.charlestoncvb.com
image source: http://www.scstatehouse.gov/studentpage/coolstuff/seal.shtml
We visited:
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-Augusta, GA
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-Charleston, SC
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-Hilton Head Island, SC
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-and we slept an overnight in both directions in Nashville, TN
And we had one of our best, most relaxing family trips... ever.
Itinerary, and links to other sites, and photos, are below.
Family Summer Vacation 2016
Day 4-7
We were in Charleston July 3-6.
That’s summer.
It was hot and humid AND Charleston is still an awesome city!
When we arrived at the hotel, the parking garage only had one spot, which happened to be one of the better ones for a van with a bike rack. We brought the bikes for Hilton Head not thinking about riding around Charleston, and quickly realized that biking Charleston was a great idea.
We did walk around closer to the hotel, but we mostly explored Historic Charleston by bike.
The Charleston historic district dates back to pre-Revolutionary times. The Historic Commission helps keeps the buildings well preserved - amid the restaurants and hotels are many family homes.
On the Fourth of July we:
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-saw a cruise ship
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-saw Fort Sumter off in the distance and many boats in the water
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-Dad stopped and read a plaque that commemorated the black soldiers from Massachusetts who were the first enlisted men to fight in the Civil War... They fought on Morris Island... Many died but they fought valiantly (see also “The Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site on http://vanvooren.us/Missouri/Missouri.html)
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-We saw many neat old houses
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-Dad saw one where the top of the wrought iron fence had big spikes on it
We learned later that it is preserved... The original owners did that because they feared the slaves revolting and attacking... sad, but good they retain this so people remember how now to act to one another -
-At one turn we paused to read the map and heard the one horse and buggy driver tell his passengers that that houses to our right are Rainbow Row. We turned the other direction and saw it...
Fireworks Harbor Cruise
We made it back to the hotel and cooled in the pool.
After a bite for dinner, we got on our bikes and rode 0.7 miles to the marina.
A couple weeks before we left we called the Marriott and the concierge told us that while you could watch fireworks from shore, she knew of a company - Sandlapper Tours - who has a nightly dolphin cruise in the bay that had a special fireworks cruise. So we quickly signed up.
When we got there a storm was rolling in, which Matt first informed us because he is so good with the weather
It did pass quickly but it did rain.
Thankfully the building there shielded us
On the cruise:
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-when we pushed off we saw some dolphins right away
The boat lady shared that they are the same kind as Flipper was - American bottlenose -
-we learned that the historic area of Charleston has some 100 churches and that is why it is nicknamed "The Holy City"
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-the storm clouds made for an awesome sunset
Abby captured some great photos and made some great edits, too
A ship from Columbia visiting for the Fourth of July... just before the storm arrived.
Once it got dark they positioned for the fireworks, which were shot off across the bay from us, close to the USS Yorktown
That was awesome - being on the boat watching the fireworks and also seeing their reflections in the water
Riding our bikes proved smart.
The crowd was nothing like home and was almost small but the cars were barely moving
Walkers were doing ok but slowing us down
And Mom was smart and realized we should just ride around them, which we did... We were locking our bikes up less than 10 minutes after we first started pedaling!
Charleston continues on...
HHI 2016 - Charleston, SC - p. 2
Links to the rest of this travel journal:
HHI 2016 - Charleston, SC - p. 1
HHI 2016 - Charleston, SC - p. 2
HHI 2016 - Angel Oak & Sheldon Church Ruins
HHI 2016 - Hilton Head Island, SC, p. 1
HHI 2016 - Hilton Head Island, SC - p. 2
see also http://vanvooren.us/VV/HIlton_Head.html
