Charleston

Wednesday 31st May
Went on a walking tour of the city with ‘The Two Sisters’ but only one was there as the other had a cold. It was very interesting and we learnt a lot about the city, the wars, the impact of the British when it was colonised and its recovery from the ravages of war, a severe earthquake and hurricane. The city is below sea level and one road is called water lane as a creek bed runs beneath it and when there is heavy rain it floods and the sea comes over the wall flooding the houses by the seafront. It is a beautiful city with the oldest houses dating from 1719. Older houses and churches have been destroyed by war, hurricanes and earthquake. We saw houses numbered ½ and 0 where more houses have been squeezed between two houses.

It was not as hot as yesterday but the thermometers on the outside of houses still rose to 85 degrees. I did feel sorry for the horses pulling carriages of tourists in the heat, and apparently in summer it gets much hotter! We did not go on a horse drawn carriage tour partly in protest at their treatment and partly because you are not allocated a tour until you have paid and loaded onto a carriage. Some people tour the more interesting historical quarter others are stuck with the factories!

After our walking tour we were very tired and found somewhere for a bite to eat. We then went to see the Aiken Rhett house, a historical house dating back to 1817 that has been preserved as it was with no restoration done. Various rooms were shut up and not lived in for over 50 years which helped preserve them, wallpaper and all. Servant’s quarters were still intact, this was a family that owned 800 slaves back in the day. It is quite shocking nowadays.

When we got back to our room we were not pleased that our room had not been serviced. There did not appear to be anyone in the house so I emailed Carlisle expressing our displeasure and requesting an early check out tomorrow with no canx charge. He emailed back an apology and agreed. We have now booked onto a nearby plantation house, Middleton Hall, for tomorrow night. Entry to the plantation grounds and house are included for guests so it is good value for money.Read more