Parents visit!

Mom and Dad came to visit on Thursday, and just left today. It was an almost perfect last-hurrah around Chucktown. Perfect would have been above-freezing weather when they arrived and not getting soaked today!
While I was at work, Mom and Dad toured downtown, Ft Sumter, one of the museum mansions, Middleton Place Plantation, and a bunch of other fun stuff. In the evenings we had good food, walked around, and relaxed.

This morning we rolled out of breakfast and headed to Shem Creek. A drizzle turned into a straight up rain, and we were soaked as we came back from the boardwalk.
After changing into dry pants we went out to Ft Moultrie, which displayed 200 years of defensive history on Sullivan's Island. The original fort was palmetto logs with dirt behind. They held off British ships at during the revolution. Instead of splintering, the logs flexed when shots hit them.

It's pointed at Sumter.

In the civil was Moultrie was held by the Confederates. It was from there that the shots starting the Civil War were fired. The fort was modernized during the Spanish-American war, and was fully manned as part of the coastal defenses during the 1st and 2nd World Wars.

After one last bout of Barbecue at Firey Ron's and a walk on the beach, Mom and dad packed up and headed back to WA. There's a light at the end of the tunnel - I'll be following them home soon(ish)!

Southern Christmas

There are so many things that have made it feel less like Christmas time over the past few weeks. Being a long way from home means no holiday baking, no Christmas light scouting in PJ's, and not even snowflakes cut for the windows (Justin says he "doesn't really do those").

Charleston, though, has some serious Christmas spirit. The old market is overcome by ornaments and people hunting for last-minute gifts. South of Broad looks like it came straight out of the December edition of Southern Living. Evergreen swags, lights in the windows, and red-bowed wreaths on virtually every door.

 

The gas lights on houses have turned from summer evening fireflies to golden Christmas candles flickering through their little glass windows. Even the greens peeking around garden gates in little courtyards seem to have been dipped in the magic.

The one Christmas tradition that has followed me to Charleston - courtesy of my most amazing, creative, and wonderful mother, is the advent calendar she sent me in Charleston. I'll let you guess what was tucked in the little origami boxes... All I can say is there aren't any left! 

Sisters visit!

My sisters' birthday presents this year were tickets for a weekend in Charleston. The best part? Smalls (the youngest) didn't know that Em (middle) was coming! Em doesn't much like surprises, so it couldn't be a double surprise ;)

Anyways, I left campus a little early on Friday to pick Smalls up from the airport. She crashed for a sleep cycle or two at Hotel House while I finished up work. By the time she was showered, we were both rather ravenous. BBQ was in order! Off to Sullivan's Island for some Home Team. After inhaling mountains of pulled pork in mustard bbq sauce, we wandered our way to Fort Moultrie and the beach. It really wasn't the greatest weekend for history lovers to be in Chucktown, since all federal sites (Sumter and Moultry included) were shut down along with the rest of the government. We still saw the fort - and one of the mines that once protected the harbor!

We walked back from the south tip of the island along the beach. It was a beautiful day, especially for two girls looking forward to winter in the rainy PNW!

From Sullivan's Island, we swung by Shem Creek for another view of the Low Country.

finally, we made it to downtown and heard BlueBilly Grit, Cranford Hollow, and the Grasscals at Charleston Music Hall. They were all a lot of fun - it was the sort of concert where you just lose track of time. Where BBG and the Grascals were more traditional bluegrass, Crandford Hollow was Americana. They presented some of their "Low Country Stomp," which had the entire audience bouncing in their seats.
The night finally ended at midnight when we picked up Em (surprising Smalls!) at the airport. Well, it would have ended... we spent the next 2-3 hours catching up ;)

No rest for the weary... Boone Hall first thing in the morning! The Avenue of Oaks should look familiar if you've seen Gone with the Wind...

As beautiful as the house was, the best part of the visit (IMHO) was the Gullah presentation at one of the old brick slave cabins. Our introduction to the culture of the Gullah Geechee corridor had us all enthralled by the rhythm of its oral tradition and singing along with gospel songs. It also made us appreciate how "high on the hog" we were living for the weekend!

Our timing was just right for a walk through the market before catching a ride through town with two new long-eared, four-hooved friends. Charleston on Saturday afternoon is alive with tourists soaking in the architecture and history and sunshine and good food.

Walking towards St Philip's Episcopal Church.

the Calhoun Mansion

After our carriage tour, we went back and meandered our favorite spots on foot. I love the cobbled streets and wrought iron gates in Charleston, from Longitude Ln to Chalmer's north of Broad. In between we visited Goat. Sheep. Cow., a mecca of cheeses and cured meats (and possibly Smalls' new favorite store). 

In the evening we enjoyed a wonderful meal at Slightly North of Broad (SNoB) and a nighttime wandering of the pier. And gelato. You can't forget the gelato. 

Sunday was low-key, with a short wander of King St. and another stop for BBQ before shipping the Sisters back West. All in all, it was an amazing weekend, with almost enough sister time to hold us 'till Christmas!

magic

If you ever find yourself with an evening in Charleston, I have a suggestion for you. Drive out to Fiery Ron's Home Team BBQ at Sullivan's Island and enjoy a heaping pile of seasoned meat smothered in barbecue sauce. After you recover a little, walk a few blocks down, a few blocks over, and kick off your shoes where the sidewalk ends...

Patriot's Point

If the C-17 Globemasters lined up at the Charleston airport aren't a giveaway, it won't take you long to realize this town has strong ties to the military. As you look across the Cooper River from the Battery, the second thing you'll notice is the aircraft carrier parked on the north side of the river (the first thing you notice is the Cooper River Bridge - 520' is a mountain in the Low Country!). The Yorktown CV-10 operated in the Pacific theater during the second half of WWII, and is one of 3 ships that make up the Patriot's Point museum.

We started out on the destroyer USS Laffey, which was involved in Okinawa and known as the "ship that would not die." She took 3 direct hits and 5 kamikaze attacks, but still limped back to the West Coast, was repaired in Seattle, and acted as support for the Bikini a-bomb tests.

The Yorktown was named after the ship which was sunk at midway. She had most of her decks open, including engineering (4 steam generators, 8 turbines!), the galley and mess, flight deck, and hangar deck. It felt downright spacious after the destroyer! My favorite parts were the machine shop and a Steerman they had hanging on the flight deck - I took a picture for Grandpa.

Our final stop was the diesel-electric USS Clamagore, a submarine. It was used in U-571, if you want to get a feel for the clausterphobic  life of a sailor in a swimming steel cigar.

Historic Charleston

The first free weekend in Charleston, everyone but myself and Jim were back in the PNW... What to do first?
Of course, one of the things that Charleston is most famous for is the first shot of the civil war, which was fired on union troops in Ft Sumter in Charleston harbor. The Cold War bunker in the middle of the fort was a bit of a surprise, but it housed a very neat little museum. The mortar foundation awed my civil engineering self with its sheer mass. Today, the guns were quiet.

We walked back down East Bay street and took in a little Colonial history at the Old Exchange building. Costumed historians filled us in on its history. George Washington danced there, the Redcoats used it as a prison, and remains from the old fortified city wall are still in the basement. We wandered around south of Broad and through the market... History aside, Charleston really is a charming city.

"In walking about Charleston, I was forcibly reminded of some of the older country towns in England. The appearance of the city is highly picturesque...It has none of the smug mercantile primness of the Northern cities, but a look of state...a little gone down in the world, yet remembering still its former dignity...Charleston has an air of eccentricity, too and peculiarity, which formerly were not deemed unbecoming..." British actress Frances Ann Kemble, 1839

Sweet South Carolina

I have discovered that there are some huge advantage to working for an aerospace company. For starters, it's an international business. What that means is that lots of people travel. Its taking a year and a half, but now I get to travel to. Right now I'm in Charleston South Carolina.  Why Charleston? Because boeing has a plant here. So I was basically given an indefinite semi vacation to the lovely South Carolina coast.
Charleston has been a pleasant surprise. The city is full of history from the revolution do the present day. It was the tuner box that started the Civil War. The streets are a mix of old French style with a hint of American colonial and have that inviting southern feel generated by a long, two story deck. Now imagine cobbled streets with flowering trees and the sound of Horses clapping along and you're there.

Charleston Sunrise