This past week we have been exploring Charleston and all over the surrounding area. I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun this city is. It has something for every age group in the family, and it is a very clean city that is safe to walk around.
Loretta and I walked around downtown 3 days in a row and never got bored, and never ran out of new things to do. Our first day here we parked along the sea wall at The Battery (free parking if you can find an open spot) and strolled from one end of this eclectic city to the other just taking in the sights.
One of the very first things we saw after we got out of the truck was a group of kids decked out in pirate swag, waving swords and deciding which eye their patch should go over for maximum pirate credibility. They were on the most serious of treasure hunts, and their guide through the city was hampering their quest with riddles and clues they had to solve to track down the elusive X on the map.
Once those scallywags had finally left port and it was once again safe for us land lubbers to return to our trip through the city, we walked through White Point Garden and just enjoyed the fact that it was 65 degrees in the middle of January. After double checking to be sure no Pirates were following us, we walked along the sea wall on East Bay St toward the down town attractions.
Making a right on S Adgers Wharf and staying along the water will bring you first to a fenced park just for your four legged friends to run and jump unleashed until their hearts content before continuing your tour of the city.
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Just a little further down the cobblestone street, the walking gets a little smoother on a sidewalk that will bring you to the famous Pineapple Fountain in front of the City Gallery. If you continue through the park and emerge out the other side, a mere two blocks farther you will find the historic Charleston City Market.
On the weekend that we visited the market, it was full of vendors with eye catching trinkets and locally made foods, snacks, and mementos to remind you of this beautiful city, and four blocks later you emerge on Meeting Street. If you go one block further you will find yourself on King Street where you can find all manner of upscale shopping, fine eateries, and the shops you would expect to find in a beach town anywhere.
If you have had your fill of shopping, keep walking just one more block past King Street and you will find a bike rack for the cities bike share program, where you can rent a bike to ride down to Liberty Square. Here you will find the South Carolina Aquarium and the Fort Sumter National Monument as well as the ferry to take you to Fort Sumter. If you decide to drive, there is a parking garage just across the street, as well as on street parking near by.
When we are in a new city we prefer to avoid the big chain restaurants and instead ask the locals where they like to go for a night out on the town. Our friends Jenny and Brandon live just outside of Charleston and said we absolutely have to check out the Tattooed Moose for dinner. The short drive from downtown was barely even noticed, and the eats were a foodies dream. We would find out later they have been featured on Triple D, and it is no surprise why.
The following day they recommended we take a trip to Charles Towne Landing. This park did not disappoint our dog Lagertha as she was welcome to join us as long as she was on her leash, and the paved walkway through the park means it is wheelchair accessible and a nice easy walk through the Spanish Moss covered trees.
On the way out we noticed a complimentary map in the flier rack by the door of the park office. If you don’t have a best friend to guide you through the city like we did, we would recommend stopping at this park before embarking on your trek through the downtown area and picking one up. The map has all of the attractions listed as well as individual coupons for some of them. It also has a website where you can download an app that has an interactive map on your phone and a bulk discount for all of the downtown attractions.
Once you have had your fill of Pirates, Civil War and Colonial History, Food, Drinks and Architecture, if you have the time you should do yourself a favor and take the hour drive to Driftwood Beach on Edisto Island.
The beach has hard packed sand that is easy to walk on, and if you have a young pirate with you, they will surely enjoy exploring this beach and all of the natural hiding spots and who knows, maybe even find a treasure other than gold.
After living in our RV full time for 6 months, and blogging about our adventures, some of our friends have convinced us to finally start a YouTube Channel! Now, we will openly admit, our first video could have been a little better, but in our defense, YouTube was never part of the plan and there was a big learning curve figuring out our format and video editing, but we had fun with it and learned a lot that should make all of our future videos even more enjoyable to watch, so we hope you keep following along with us, and give us a like as well as subscribe to our channel. And if you have any suggestions on how to make our videos better, believe me we can, and happily do, take all of your constructive criticisms!
