Oh, the good ole South!!!!

Arriving in Charleston, South Carolina...a beautiful bridge

Such a view.........

So, we figured one of the best ways to get a good feel of the city of Charleston, was to take a horse drawn carriage ride. I heard through a friend that this was a cool thing to do. They give you about a hour long ride through the city, showing you all the landmarks and beautiful homes. As well as historic sites. Telling us about some of the homes that were built in the early 1700's

This was our horse, Max...he liked to talk alot and didn't especially like the tarp that was covering a car on one of the streets....lol
He is a beautiful Percheron horse. They only work a short time during the day and they also get to spend alot of time at "the ranch" to graze and hang out with their other worker friends.

The arcitechture is awesome...so different from home on the west coast...
This home has a double stairway going to the front door as well as a "basement". It really is only a crawl space as they can't dig down. Because the city is at sea level....they would just dig up a swamp.
This is a entry door of a home downtown who's origianl owner was very very wealthy. In those days, if you were in the shipping industry, (were the money was) you built your home with a wooden "rope" around the door. This home actually had rope around each window as well as the front door. Look at the leaded cut glass windows in the door.
A cobble stone alley.............How was that to travel on horseback?????? Yikes!!!!

Charleson is big on protecting the heritage buildings and if you own a heritage home, they have all the rights to tell you how the preservation is to be made. On the outside of the home only...If you follow there rules and keep it looking as it was in the days it was built, you get a plaque declaring it as such. This home got its plaque in 1965 as a preserved site condusive to the style of its origin. Charleston was founded in 1670 and it actually has a row of homes (The Rainbow Row) that has original homes of pre civil war period.

They also will place plaqes to tell visitors who's home it was originally. And, if you notice on the right side of the picture a large bolt....This is a very common site on the homes in Charelston. The city of Charleston is on a major fault line and as such they took steps to keep there homes from falling down. (After a few times of rebuilding them lol)

They are called earth quake bolts. The idea being that a steel rod is place through the walls in the floors and in the attic. These rods are tightened occasionally to keep the walls from falling outwards. It gives the home strength especially when they are getting tremors!!!!!!!!!! Crazy hey?

Some of the earthquake bolts are plain, without any covers, and some are very ornate. With lion heads or pretty flowers to cover the bolts.

The gardens of the homes in the historic district are lovely. Most of them are hidden from the street to allow the occupants of the home privacy. The summer months are very hot and humid (and in that era, the average dress for a lady weighed 40 lbs, and you were ALWAYS dressed. No tank tops in that era) so the gardens were placed at the side or rear of the house so the occupants could enjoy the cool, quite area in privacy. And, if the garden was at the front, in those days, you never looked backwards. Eyes always front so as not to intrude on the owners space.

This little building was a original bank in the days of civil war. It actually took confederate money at par....it closed it doors soon there after, going broke.
This is a little glimpse of what the southerners call a piazza. Or patio. This one could be seen from the street (especially because I didn't have my eyes front and center!) and on the left side of the pic (which you can't see) is the street and where the piazza ends, there is a large "front" door. This is not actually a front door but a door to access the piazza where you would sit and cool off and enjoy some breezes from the ocean. The front door is located somewhere in the piazza. It does make the street look very neat and tidy. And rightly proper!
Also, in Charleston, you will find lanterns like there burning day and night. In the early days, when the harbour was full of pirates, worldy sailors and other sorts, the crime rate skyrocketed. So as a measue to control this, a law was passed that the good people of Charleston must light and keep lite, lanterns. To keep light in the street to deter criminal acts! They are all over the town shining in the sun and at night. This is the door that faces the street and leads only to the piazza and the real front door.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM JAMES ISLAND COUNTY PARK

The county park we stayed at in Charleston held a AMAZING festival of lights and a awesome display of ginger bread houses. I thought that Mary Bronson would love this guy!!!!

Bronson As well as a Christmas stroll, complete with artwork from the local schools, a old fashion carasole, marshmallow roasting around a big fire and Santa's Christmas shop. Oh, yeah, sandcastles too.... watch out Parksville
One of the gorgeous Christmas light displays. There was just about 3 miles of great displays. Everything from reindeer to a lite display of the beautiful bridge coming into Charleston, to Santa Clause teeing up and hitting a golf ball to a green........very cool. Well we are off to a plantation tomorow