Charleston – History Museum (Tuesday 19th - morning)
The very first stop on our tour was the Charleston History Museum. It was quite close- a 0.3 mile walk and less than 2 minute drive. Our tour guide Patti joked it would take longer to load the bus than to walk there. But ride we did since directly from there we would be leaving for our first quilt shop in Summerville. The lobby attested to how eclectic the museum was. At one entrance the visitor would be looking down the bore of a cannon. Overhead hung the skeleton of a whale. The gift shop had all sorts of gifts for bird lovers.
The Charleston Museum is one is the oldest in the country. We had less than two hours there. Wikipedia states the collection strengths of the museum as
- Charleston furniture
- Charleston silver
- Lowcountry textiles, including costumes, quilts, and needlework
- South Carolina ceramics
- Egyptian artifacts
- Archives - documentary and photographic resources
- South Carolina ornithology
- Nineteenth-century firearms
- Invertebrate and Vertebrate Paleontology Collections
- Skeletal Reconstructions of various Vertebrate Groups
- Rocks and Minerals from around the World
- Numerous Plant and Animal species collected by local Naturalists
This marble faced clock is from the Charleston police station on Hutson and King Street from 1880 to 1900. It was connected to a fire alarm system to register the time of fires by stopping when an alarm sounded.
I took a picture of this circa 1900 flute formerly owned by a member of the 4th Brigade Band in Charleston because I too play the flute, although not in the previous century. Per the information card in the case a celebratory ribbon of 13 stars and an eagle is at the base of the blonde wood portion of the flute. It is faint but the image can still be made out.
This fish scaled dollhouse attests to dedicated skill and workmanship of whoever crafted it.
The intricate metal work on this bench impressed me.
Here is a loom typical of one used by women on a plantation in the 18th and 19th century. An accompanying signage stated that the "perhaps most demanding was providing the family, and indeed the entire plantation, with clothing and household textiles."
A quick run through of the Historic Textile Gallery revealed many clothes of the era. In the next photo are seen a boy's set of rompers and a mother and daughter's matching ensembles.
Our time in the museum was limited and so our visit was not extensive enough to be all inclusive. But I had seen enough to be satisfied. The Charleston furniture, silverware, and firearms, held little allure for me and the skeletons, rocks, and minerals I could see in other museums. Besides, I was anticipating going to the quilt shop in Summerville
Charleston – Quilt Shop in Summerville (Tuesday 19th - afternoon)
Charleston – Carriage Ride (Tuesday 19th - evening)
We started at the red barn of the Palmetto Carriage Works, "the oldest carriage tour company in Charleston".
Our group was split up into three carriages and as we waited to board, Frank made friends with his Native American friend carved in wood.
As we headed down Church Street we saw the iconic steeple of Saint Philip's Episcopal Church. Established in 1681, St. Philip's is the oldest European-American religious congregation in South Carolina. The church building itself was initially a wooden structure damaged in a hurricane, then destroyed by fire, and finally relocated and built at its present location in 1836. Unlike a museum where you can read posters to learn facts, on a talking tour you only hear thing and for me, a visual learner, that is hard to remember. I will recall anecdotal stories here and there but dates? Wikipedia to the rescue!
As we continued west along Broad street we saw the Cathedral of St John the Baptist, very impressive looking with all the spires and awesome stained glass windows. It is is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston. The structure dates back to the later half of the 1800's.
As we continued on southward we crossed Broad street. We were told what special meaning the phrase "South of Broad" had. It is kind of like the opposite of the wrong side of the tracks. South of road is the where one find the homes of the wealthy. We were alerted to take note of the super sculpted fancy gardens behind the wrought iron fences.
As our carriage continued southward toward the water front, I took note of our intersection, South Battery and Lenwood Blvd. Yes. We were indeed "South of Broad". When I queried Wikipedia about the term I was lead to a novel South of Broad written in 2009 by Pat Conroy. Wikipedia gives a rather detailed synopsis and Amazon gives several reviews averaging 4 stars. Perhaps I may add this book to my reading list to take in after my Charleston immersion. Maybe. Maybe not. It sounds long and perhaps not too uplifting but gaining a feeling for the area might be worth it.
After the large mansion-like homes, we continued our journey to another extreme, toward the Old Charleston Jail and graveyard. We peered down Magazine Street at the dilapidated prison building. Our tour guide told of dire condition in the jail due to cholera and other diseases. Terms of imprisonment there could be as shortened, endured for only a few weeks in length, due to death from illnesses. The deceased inmates were buried in the nearby graveyard.
We did not go down Magazine Street in front of the prison – the next photo is from Wikipedia – but I understand there are jail tours that are available for the curious.
The houses in the vicinity of the jail district had a distinctive color of blue on the porch ceilings and, in some cases, on the front door and door jambs. The color is like a Robin's egg blue but called Haint blue. Per Wikipedia
Haint blue is a pale shade of blue that is traditionally used to paint porch ceilings in the Southern United States. The tradition originated with the Gullah in Georgia and South Carolina, but has also been adopted by White Southerners. [...] The word haint is an alternative spelling of haunt, which was historically used in African-American vernacular to refer to a ghost or, in the Hoodoo belief, a witch-like creature seeking to chase victims to their death by exhaustion.
Hard to detect in the shadowed picture of porch ceilings in the previous photo, here is a sample of Robin's egg blue. If you ever wondered why this bird's eggs are blue check out the article Why Are Robin Eggs Blue?
After our carriage ride, our bus driver Rick took us on a mini-tour in an area of the peninsula the horse drawn carriage ride had not covered. We headed south down East Battery Street and past the famed Rainbow Row of pastel painted Charleston houses.
As we drove by I snapped picture after photo through bus window of the houses as we passed them. This is my resulting collage.
We continued south on East Battery past these lovely homes.
As we approached the southern most corner, we turned right from East battery onto South Battery.
We and continued along the shoreline with a beautiful sunset view.
After returning to the Francis Marion Hotel for our third and final night there, Frank and I took a short walk to have a light dinner at the nearby Panera Bread. It was diagonally across from the Francis Marion Hotel, looking out on Marion Park and with yet another church steeple in the distant left, this time of the Emmanuel AME Church. We were looking forward to relaxing and sleeping. It had been a four activity day!
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