So we had an easy flight from DC on a spacious and friendly plane. Landing in Charleston we luckily asked the help desk about our hotel and a taxi when she highlighted our hotel do free airport pickup which she immediately rang, bonus! After being picked we checked-in and got ready for a few days in Charleston. The hotel had a pool which was the first one we had come across so far so it felt rude to not go down and have a quick dip. The pool itself is located at the rear of the hotel pretty much in the car park but this was fine as cars rarely went by. It feels a lot hotter in charleston than anywhere else, hitting highs of 32+ during the day and only going down to the low 20’s at night, this is only set to get hotter the further south we go. We looked on tripadvisor and a highly rated BBQ joint was about 20 mins walk so we headed out for a stroll and what proceeded to be a damn fine BBQ with ribs, sausage, pulled pork, brisket, chips, coleslaw served with cheese biscuits for starter which was more like a sweet cheese fairycakes. We had a great feast and a few drinks, izzi on the wine and me on the local IPA’s and Bourbons. We headed back and slept well ready for a full day out the next day.
The next day we awoke and headed down for a particularly average breakfast, luckily not needing much from the feast we ate the night before. We headed into Charleston old town attempting to catch a bus but whilst waiting got talking to some women from Texas who we eventually shared a taxi with. We walked around and soaked up Charleston which is a quiat and charming town feeling quite different than anywhere else we had visited. On the list of things to do was to head to Fort Sumter, the place where the first shots of the civil war were fired. We boarded a boat with lots of other tourists and headed off to the fort which is located in the middle of the estuary. En-route we watched for dolphins unfortunately spotting only a few fins in the far distance.
Once at the fort we walked around occasionally taking shelter in old lookout towers from a brief rainstorm. The fort was average tbh, rebuilt several times and now housing a large black WWII bunker in the middle, I didn’t think it felt or retaining anything which felt very historic or old. We jumped on the boat home and headed back to Charleston harbor.
After getting a drink we headed for a series of old churches and paths which were original, one of the churches was the oldest church in the USA. Unfortunately after walking to all 4 of them they were all closed but still the paths and gardens were nice and proved idyllic for some good photos. We decided against the bus home and got a Uber, the first one we had used since arriving, luckily using a voucher to get us home for FREE! That evening after another quick dip in the pool we went to ‘Big Billys Burger Joint’, not bad but by now we are both craving something which isn’t fried, battered or breaded so it wasn’t the best food to eat and didn’t really leave us feeling great.
The final day we checked out, used the hotel free shuttle and went back to the airport. Today we pick up the car, after checking in and getting the keys we arrived at the car finding it was a tiny little hybrid which we couldn’t even get our suitcases in. We went back and moaned a bit which luckily they swapped it for a larger car which was good. After a little lap of the car park we set off, our destination is a plantation in between Charleston and our next destination Hilton Head.
We arrived after about an hour at Magnolia Plantation, parked up pleased with ourselves after our first outing on American roads. The plantation itself is famous and well known for its gardens and history. Originally a rice plantation, the rice also known as “carolina gold”, supplied at one point a ⅓ of all rice production in the world. It was also famous for is slavery and the way the owners campaigned for slave & women rights, at one point teaching slaves the 3 R’s even though it was against the law. We had booked on a “From Slavery to Freedom” tour which lasted only an hour or so but still interesting and we visited several old slave dwellings which had been preserved. The gardens were the main attraction, housing huge ancient oak trees covered in s
Spanish Moss from head to toe, both providing good photo opportunities.
Along with the trees and landscaped gardens there was a maze and petting zoo housing orphaned animals, both were enjoyable. The final part was a swap walk we took hoping to see alligators however we only saw woodpeckers, turtles and many insects.
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We now set of out for our next destination, about a 2hr drive further south to Hilton Head, a large island known for its golfing and beaches.
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