Charleston – Riveted

Halloween in Charleston

Laura Domela — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 01:22:18 +0000

Today we got up and ran a few errands before our West Coast office was up and going. One of those errands was picking up a couple of warmer jackets at Dick's Sporting Goods here in Charleston. And by warmer, I mean warmer than no jackets at all. Since we left in August headed for Colorado (where it was in the 90s) and were planning to turn around and return to Porltand after that, you might imagine we didn't pack for cold weather. So here it is the last day of October and we're heading to North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky… (Luckily I have a pair of tennies with me, and not just eight pairs of flip flops.)

Anyway, gassed up, grabbed some breakfast, got some jackets and then came back and worked for the rest of the day. Tonight we met up with Kyle for dinner over at Pearlz Oyster Bar (we all had super yummy fish tacos) before meeting up with our guide over at Washington Square for the Halloween ghost tour.

This ghost tour was good, and it was nice to walk around the historic district at night, but it was nowhere near as good as the ghost tour we did in Savannah. Nowhere near. Now I know I'm not a big ghost tour connoisseur or anything (I've now done two) but wow, what a difference. The one in Savannah: highly recommended. The one we did in Charleston: meh. Do it for the opportunity to learn a little history and hear some creepy stories, but REALLY do the one in Savannah for the same reason, only way way better.

St. Michael's (the church we went in yesterday, with the Tiffany stained glass windows) at night:

The Powder Magazine:

The oldest public building in the Carolinas. The Powder Magazine stored the powder crucial for defending Charleston. Although replaced by a newer magazine in 1748, it served effectively until the American Revolution. Today it is restored to its mid-nineteenth century appearance and open as a National Historic Landmark.

Art deco building built in 1941-2:

Branches lit dramatically by the streetlamp distracted me from whatever ghosty thing our tour guide was talking about:

Across the street from the above tree is the graveyard next to St. Philip's. The tour guide was telling us about something spooky and I walked over and stood by the iron fence around the graveyard and in the darkness, right in front of the iron fence, is a small sign that reads: "The only ghost at St. Philip's is the Holy Ghost. Join us for worship Sundays." So funny that the church would even feel the need to put that up. I thought they should have a little flickering light that illuminates it at night, as well as some piped in scary sounds.

Charleston History and Homes

Laura Domela — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 00:58:16 +0000

I scheduled a History & Homes tour for us today at 1:30pm because I knew if I didn't, we'd just spend the day working in the Airstream and we really need to get out and see more of Charleston before we leave on Thursday morning.

We met our guide at Washington Park and headed out from there to check out the Edmondston-Alston House on Battery Row.

From its balcony, General P. T. Beauregard watched the bombardment of Ft. Sumter on April 12, 1861, that signaled the start of the Civil War.

View of Fort Sumter (the location of the beginning of the Civil War) from the balcony of the Edmonston-Alston House:

We did a 30 minute tour of the home (no photos allowed inside). Apparently the house has 90% of its original furniture and it's got some interesting history (of course). Much more history and pictures on their website here.

We walked around for almost three hours looking at houses and talking about history and architecture. Our guide was great and super enthusiastic about Charleston.

This is the Poyas-Mordecai house (1788).

Notice its haint blue porch ceiling. Haint blue is a special color of blue that is meant to confuse evil spirits and to keep them at bay, and it's quite common to see the undersides of porches painted in this color or a variation thereof.

From "History of Things to Come":

Haint Blue originated in the deep American South. Today, in cities and towns throughout the south, one will find these blues and greens tints on shutters, doors, porch ceilings and windowsills, gracing many historic homes. The pretty blues and greens compliment any grand old Victorian mansion, but the first painted strokes of Haint Blue adorned not the homes of the rich, but the simple shacks of African slaves.

Known as the Gullah or Geechee people, the original Haint Blue creators were descendants of African slaves who worked on rice plantations in South Carolina and Georgia. Many of their ancestors came from Angola, which may be where the name Gullah originated. They are well-known for preserving their African heritage more than any other African American community. They kept alive the traditions, stories, and beliefs of their ancestors, including a fear of haints.

Haints, or haunts, are spirits trapped between the world of the living and the world of the dead. These are not your quiet, floaty, sorrowful ghosts, they are the kind you don’t want to mess with, and the kind you certainly don’t want invading into your humble abode looking for revenge.

More cool architecture:

The style of architecture below is called the Charleston Single House style. The homes are basically one or two rooms wide with the side of the house toward the street, and the porches/balconies (they call them "piazzas" in Charleston) running the length of the house. There's a door on the street side, but it only gets you into the yard or porch…the actual front door is on the side of the house.

This is apparently the oldest buiding in Charleston (below, built in the 1690s). It's referred to as The Pink House and there's a ton of cool hisorical information here if you're interested.

This house on Chalmers street has a carriage step out at the curb. (And look at that street…it's made from ballast stones that were brought in on ships from Europe!)

The whole slave thing creeps me out, but this is the Old Slave Mart (now a museum) on Chalmers Street.

This is the Hugenot Church, the oldest Gothic Revival church (built in 1844) in Charleston, located in the French Quarter:

Detail:

This is the interior of the Dock Street Theater:

Cool typeface on the exit signs:

This next area is referred to as the Four Corners of the Law.

From Wikipedia:

The term was coined in the 1930s by Robert Ripley, creator of Ripley's Believe it or Not! St. Michael's Episcopal Church, constructed between 1752 and 1761, stands on the southeast corner of the intersection. In its churchyard are the graves of John Rutledge and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, signers of the United States Constitution. On the northeast corner of the Four Corners is Charleston City Hall, constructed in the Adamesque style between 1800 and 1804. Across the street, on the northwest corner, stands the Charleston County Courthouse, originally constructed in 1753 as South Carolina's provincial capital, the building was rebuilt in 1792 for use as a courthouse. On the southwest corner is the United States Post Office and Federal Courthouse, built in 1896. The term "Four Corners of the Law" represents the presence of institutions representing federal, state, local and ecclesiastical law on each corner of the intersection.

Charleston City Hall:

Charleston Federal Building:

Inside St. Michael's Episcopal Church:

This decoration up in the dome was executed by Louis Tiffany in 1905, as well as the three stained glass windows shown in these photos.

Cemetery outside the church:

And this is the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (an enormous neo-gothic structure), taken from the car on the way back to the Airstream:

We got back from our tour a little frazzled because we had just taken in SO MUCH information. We did a couple more hours of work before we headed back into town to meet up with Kyle again for dinner, this time at FIG, which stands for "Food Is Good"…and it was. I think in the overall experience category McCrady's last night wins, but the food at FIG was wonderful as well. Tomorrow's another work day, with a little sightseeing built in, and then dinner and Halloween ghost tour with Kyle. Boo!

We need to go buy jackets now, too, since we'll be traveling where there's snow to get home.

We were thinking about something today: It's interesting how a little bit of struggle or frustration when you're traveling around in a new place can affect your overall feeling about it so quickly. Savannah had tough parking at first but pretty quickly we found a good parking garage (with enough clearance for our truck with the rack on top) and we were set for the next several days because that parking lot was centrally located.

Parking in Charleston is really tough too. At first we found a garage that we thought would work great (clearance stated at opening was 8'2") but as soon as we paid and got inside, it went down to 7'0" and we were so close we ended up turning around and looking elsewhere. Every time we've come into the city we've struggled with parking (except tonight at dinner…we found an "after 7pm okay" spot and grabbed it at 6:52 and waited 5 minutes until we were close enough.) But we both noticed that every time it's time to head into the city for whatever, we both have a little bit of stress about finding parking and whether we're going to be late to whatever appointment we have. It could be for just this reason that we both feel like we liked Savannah a little better than Charleston…because of the parking garages. Dorky.

A Lot of Work, and then Dinner in Charleston

Laura Domela — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 01:33:24 +0000

Today we spent the entire day inside the Airstream working. It was one of those days. We headed into Charleston this evening and met up with Kyle for dinner at McCrady's Restaurant.

Shot as we came into Charleston from James Island:

We had an amazing meal and as usual, fun and interesting conversation with Kyle. The chef at McCrady's (Sean Brock) received the 2010 James Beard Best Chef Southeast award and focuses on local, sustainable ingredients (and runs a farm specifically for the restaurant I think).

AND!! George Washington ate here in 1791! How cool is that? It's a great environment, inside and out. The entrance is in a little alley way (Unity Alley), and I didn't get any photos because it was dark, but here's a shot from Brian Stansberry/Wikipedia:

More history from Wikipedia:

McCrady's Tavern and Long Room is a historic tavern complex located in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. Constructed in several phases in the second half of the 18th century, the tavern was a hub of social life in Charleston in the years following the American Revolution. The tavern's Long Room, completed in 1788, was used for theatrical performances and banquets for the city's elite, and is the last of its kind in Charleston. McCrady's was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 for its architectural and political significance.

Edward McCrady (d. 1801), a Charleston barber and Revolutionary War veteran, purchased the tavern in 1778, and over the next decade expanded the tavern and constructed the Long Room. In 1791, the Society of the Cincinnati hosted a banquet in the Long Room for President George Washington, who was visiting the city. The building continued to function as a tavern and banquet hall throughout much of the first half of the 19th century, and later served as a warehouse and print shop.
The building was restored to its late-18th century appearance in the 1980s, and currently houses McCrady's Restaurant.

Anyway, highly recommended. Food was up there with some of the top restaurants we've been to, and the service was just perfect.

We parked over near St. Philip's Church, and on the way to dinner I took a few more spooky graveyard photos for you.

Tomorrow we've got a history/homes walking tour scheduled in the afternoon (so we can learn some stuff), and then we'll meet up with Kyle again for dinner. Wednesday (Halloween) we thought it seemed appropriate to schedule another ghost tour. My iPhone will be fully charged, and I'm going to have the backup battery with me this time.