Nee's News: Charleston, South Carolina

The first city that we stayed in and toured was Charleston, South Carolina. Canessa & I chose to go here because we wanted a peek into Southern history and to tour a couple of plantations and pretend that we were southern belles. We both love "Gone with the Wind". I've always said that Canessa would have made a wonderful Scarlett....from the many beaus to the fabulous dresses to that demanding foot stomp and her unstoppable drive!!!!
Charleston was originally named Charles Towne after England's King Charles II in 1670. It had a lot of history back then and is still full of historic charm today. It was one of the original 13 colonies and was the first one to allow religious tolerance which meant it was open to non-Catholic churches. This explains the abundance of churches and their lovely spires sticking out of over the skyline.
Charleston sits at the confluence of the Ashley & Cooper Rivers which go out into the Charleston Harbor and into the Atlantic Ocean.
South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union. The first shots of the Civil War were fired there at Ft. Sumter which is still there but a pile of rubble.
There was a 7.5 pt. earthquake causing considerable destruction back in 1886 and Hurricane Hugo went right through there in 1989 but the city continues to rebuild and save its historic sites.
We enjoyed it very much. The plantations are up along the heavily wooded and beautiful Ashley River. Some have hundreds of acres of land with fabulous grounds...no wonder they needed slaves. We had to remember that the homes had no indoor plumbing nor lighting....really just big square boxes. But beautiful woodwork and iron works.
Downtown are cobblestone streets with carriage rides, beautifully preserved historic homes that faced the ocean and a plethora of fabulous B & B's and historic Inns. We sampled the biscuits and gravy, grits and had as much seafood as we could everywhere we went.
All-in-all, Charleston was a charming city that we would recommend and go to again.