Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, SC offers a treat for any history or architecture buff.  Buildings dating from the 1700's are commonplace in the historic district.  You can also visit Dock Street Theatre, billed as America's First theater, tour the Heywood/Washington house where General George Washington lodged for a week, or visit Drayton Hall, the oldest un-restored plantation house in America.

The predominant style of house is built with a side porch situated to catch the salt breezes during the hot humid summers.  Charming private gardens are tucked behind decorative gates or at the back of narrow brick paved alleys.  This is a great city for walking along the narrow streets, stopping to read all the historic markers that note the date it was built, the first owners name and profession, as well as some background about the structures history.

 You can see the historic plaque to the right of this doorway.  It was very surprising just how many of these buildings were built before the Revolutionary War, some even dating back to 1740.

 Enclosed private gardens

The ground level porches have an entry that looks like a regular house entry.  These doorways sometimes open into the garden or porch.


Saint John the Baptist Cathedral was open when we walked past so we took a peak.  This church, built between 1890 and 1907 is made of Connecticut brownstone.

The Joseph Manigault house is owned by the Charleston Museum and is open for tours.  The house and period furnishings captures the lifestyle of a wealthy rice planting family from the early 1800.  The craftsmanship of the building and furnishings was beautiful.

All the windows had shutters that folded back into the wall when open.

Each piece of the plaster molding was shaped and placed individually by hand

 A chest made with intricate inlays

A cabinet made from burl wood

The formal English garden.

 The Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge, a cable stayed bridge, spanning the Cooper river between Charleston and Mount Pleasant, where Patriots point is located.


Charleston is also famous for the location where the first shot of the Civil War was fired a Ft. Sumter.  A ferry to the fort leaves from Patriots Point.

This is a drawing of what Fort Sumter looked like when it was built in 1829.  Six days after South Carolina seceded from the Union, the state demanded that Union forces surrender the fort.  There were four other military installations, taken over by Confederate forces, around Charleston Harbor that soon began reenforcing batteries  around the harbor. 

On April 12, 1861 the first shell was fired from Fort Johnson over Fort Sumter.  Shelling continued through the night and after the officers quarters were set on fire with a "hot shot" cannonball, the fort was surrendered.  No one on either side had been killed during the engagement but the Civil War had begun.

 A model of the original fort.  Most of the outer walls were destroyed during several attempts by Union forces to retake the fort. Federal forces had hurled seven million pounds of metal at the fort with only 52 confederate soldiers killed.  The fort was not evacuated until 1865 when Sherman's troops were advancing from Savannah.  By then the fort was in ruin.

James Island County Park, South Carolina

James Island County Park and Campground was a great unexpected find. This 750 acre park is far more than what you'd ever think of as a "County" park.  The old plantation property was left to the County in 1970 by two sisters and developed into a public recreation area that opened in 1989.

The park is only 8 miles from downtown Charleston and one of the attractions is their holiday light show, which runs from November 1 thru December 31, featuring 750 electrified displays.  The light show sparkles on both sides of the three miles of roads that wind through the park as well as along the walking paths in the woods. Our arrival was just after the lights went out but not before the displays were taken down.  Even unlit, the size and complexity, to say nothing about the wiring required, is impressive.  It is hard to get a good picture of any of the figures in the daylight but here are just a very few pictures.

 The fiddling cat

The dish running away with the spoon

The cow jumping over the moon

 The moon rising over palmetto palm trees.

Candles and pointsettas

Each section has a theme, like the nursery rhyme section, and many displays are animated.  We were told by the shuttle bus driver that in 2012 there were 210,000 people who came to view the show.  This production is rated as one of the top 10 lighting displays in the U.S.  Each year volunteers change all of one color light bulb.  This year they changed 187,000 white light bulbs before they were erected for the season.  The electric bill?  $1000.00 per night.

Additional attractions tucked in and around the woods include a full sized ropes course, the biggest climbing wall I have ever seen and, my favorite, a large enclosed dog park adjacent to a pond that the dogs can access down a gradual sandy slope.There is a fishing boardwalk and pier that extends out over a beautiful marsh and at least 4 miles of color coded walking trails. We covered them all.

 This huge climbing wall had about 13 "walls" to climb.  We watched 5 or 6 people climb.  Some of them went up like monkeys while others struggled with overhangs.  Looks like a blast.

 They also had a kids wall that looked just as formidable.

 The beach area at the dog park

 Part of the open area at the dog park

 More doggie beach

 fishing pier from a distance

 The marsh is tidal so the pier is built to rise and fall with the water levels.

The boardwalk through the marsh and the fishing pier

A small sample of the walking trails

 The entrance to the campground had the only display still lit at night.  Mr. owl winked at us when we came in after dark.

The camping area was only a small part of the park but it was every bit as impressive.  Each site was spacious and everything in the park was clean and well cared for.  We had a site on a small pond where the great blue herons came to feast on the fish that jumped right out of the water.

More about Charleston to come

Outer Banks/Baldwin visit

 Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks of North Carolina is now the home of Bob and Glen Baldwin.  We can never travel south without a stop to visit with them.  The Outer Banks is quiet this time of year.  Many businesses close for a few months after the holidays and tourists think it is winter, but we only need a deck of cards and our good friends and family to have a great time here.

 A visit to their beach house hot tub and then a walk on the beach. 


Arriving at the Beach house

 One of Many card games. Our favorite - Golf

 More beach time


One night, we went to the Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo to see their Christmas lights.  The grounds encompass 35 acres of gardens decorated with thousands of lights

 The entry door to the Elizabethan gardens

 This statue provided us with some humor.  It was created in 1858 as a rendition of what Virgina Dare might have looked like as an adult.  If you recall history, Virginia Dare was the first child born in the Virginia Colony which dissapeared when she was 2 years old!  This artist was very creative.

Gingerbread house

One area had a roaring fire with marshmallows to toast while watching The Grinch who Stole Christmas.

Blooming camellias in January!

Bob and Glen in front of Queen Elizabeth the 1st statue

The next day we had lunch at a place called Trio. Wine, Cheese, and Beer.  This shop features two kiosks, each with three stations that dispense twelve varieties of wine.  The label describes the wine and gives you the choice of a taste, a half glass, or a full glass.  Your choices are recorded on a card that you turn in for your bill.  Quite unique and a great way to try new and different wines.

Ben joined us for a glass of wine while we enjoyed the luncheon fare.  Ben had fantastic news to share.  He won an award from a Martha Stewart group that chooses the best in multiple categories and in multiple places. They base their selections on  customer satisfaction and ratings.  Ben won for the Best Videographer on the Outer Banks.  GO BEN! He is the man to contact if you are having a wedding or want a video promotion of any kind anywhere near the Outer  Banks.

Sunday afternoon included a visit with Kathy, Adam, Sam and Charlotte.  Sam had spent the last three days fighting a fever, so we just dropped in for short stay.  Two delightful kids, lots of personality, lots of energy, and most of all lots of love from parents and grandparents.  Sam had many stories about his new Wii Star Wars game, and Charlotte shared her favorite books.  Looks like Meme already has her trained!

 Sam Baldwin

 Charlotte Baldwin on the move


At the end of another enjoyable time together, Glen received a whimsical gift from two old friends, giving her another artifact to remind her of Dixmont.

Off we go . . .

Left Dixmont on Friday December 28 without a glitch.  In the past, almost every year, some sort of complication has delayed our exit by either hours or days.  Lets hope this is the new model!.

Our first stop was an overnight with John Miles, in Concord that included dinner with Katy, Doug, Zach, Maddie, and Dillon.  What a fun night with a fun family.  We need to do that more often.  The next day we visited with John's daughter Bec, husband Peter, and new baby Sean, who choose a memorable date to be born - 12/12/12.

John Miles and Sean Conroy

After spending some time getting to know Sean, we spent New Year's weekend visiting my sister Jane, brother Joe, sister-kn-law Josie, niece Anna and nephew Ralph, niece Paula and Tim.  We worked on preparations for our family reunion planned for next May.  New Year's day we began the journey south.

First stop was at Assateague Island where the wild ponies roam in the surf and  through the marshes on this 37 mile long barrier island.  Assateague is actually divided between Maryland and Virginia and then subdivided between several different agencies in each state.  It gets a bit confusing, so I might mess it up.

The Maryland portion of the island is divided into the Assateague  National Seashore run by the National Park Service and Assateague State Park, which is Maryland's only oceanfront State park.  The National Park Service oversees the health and well being of the ponies living on the Maryland end of the island.  They limit the size of the herd through a form of birth control.  The mares are injected once a year using a rifle dart containing a medication that prevents them from coming into heat.  The females produce only one foal when they are mature.  Other than this intervention, the horses are left as free wildlife to manage on their own.  The State Park and the National Seashore both have interesting and interactive visitor centers which are well worth the time to explore.

The Virginia end of the island is divided between the town of Chincoteague, the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, run by the  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service.  To add a bit more confusion, the horses on this end of the island are owned and managed by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department.  This is the group that rounds up the entire herd during the month of July, swims them across the Assateague channel into the town of Chincoteague.  Here they check the health of the horses and also sell many of the young ponies to the public as part of their fundraising efforts.  This is a very popular event that brings thousands out to watch.  Recommended destination!

These ponies were wandering across the visitors center parking lot and onto the grass beside the lot.

Driving through the campgrounds we spotted another group in the marsh area.

It was only 40 degrees when we were here but the wind was sharp and cold.  The best part - the beaches weren't too crowded!