Today we drove back into Charleston to have a look round the city as we failed to do so yesterday. We drove around until we found the visitor center and from there we took a guided tour of the city. It was really interesting and it is a beautiful city. It was good to hear about the history of the area and the buildings that are still standing from someone who knows their story rather than us just wandering aimlessly around. We got to see the military academy known as The Citadel, and The Battery which is right alongside Charleston Harbor. Looking out over the harbor the guide pointed out from where the first shots of the Civil War were supposedly fired from Fort Sumpter. We also got to see some amazing houses, which were even more astounding after finding out that many of them were devastated by Hurricane Hugo some years ago and were all restored; they did a fine job. We also drove past the house of the owner of all the Piggly Wiggly’s in this area and he has two pig statues outside his house that were all decked out like Father Christmas. Here in Charleston they have a kind of house called a single room house which is quite unique, at least I’ve not seen anything like it before. They have an entrance off the street that when you go through it puts you in a kind of porch area and then there is a second door that actually enters into the house which is just one room wide, so the house is long and deep. What’s weird though is that the porch is all open except for the roof and the door; it’s kind of hard to explain but quite cute. After finishing the tour we took the trolley into Downtown area of the city and walked around the streets. They have a huge market there with booths selling al kinds of handmade crafts, in particular those made by the Gullah people who settled here from West Africa; they make all kinds of baskets and such from sweetgrass.
I enjoyed the city of Charleston, it’s very easy to navigate around and very beautiful, definitely worth a visit.
I packed up the rug and stuff off the patio when we got back this evening as it’s supposed to rain tonight and we are leaving in the morning. Now I won’t have to mop up any water that leaks out of the mat while we are travelling.

Mike:They have great glazed pecans too!