Spring Break Vacation - Charleston, SC March 27-29 Part 2

   Wednesday morning found us at the Charleston Visitor Center for maps and general inquiry.  I had brought a AAA SC travel book that has a fantastic downtown Charleston map, so between it and the others we got, we had pretty good navigation.

   The Historic Charleston Foundation has several House Museums to tour.  For $18 you can get a combination ticket to see the Aiken-Rhett House and the Nathaniel Russell House.  From past experiences, more than one historic house in a day is almost too much.  After a while they all start to look alike.  We decided to split up the tours over two days.  Wednesday, we went to the Aiken-Rhett House.
 
    This is a self-guided tour.  Each person is given an MP3 player with headphones to listen to the guided tour.  The Aiken-Rhett House is a preserved house rather than restored.

Near the beginning of the tour, you were taken into the courtyard that has the outhouses, stable and carriage house.

The two corners of this wall have the lovely outhouses!

The stable and carriage house are in this building.

Those shutters!!!

Back inside the house for more...

One thing I love about historic homes is their appreciation of separate rooms.  Also the installation of a pocket door in the event that an "open floor plan" is needed.

I love pocket doors. 

The piazza.  I need one of these.

The dining room

The very small ball room

The art gallery

After the house tour, we went to the Maritime Center to buy tickets for the Charleston Harbor Cruise that we scheduled to take at 3:30 that afternoon. Thanks to AAA, we got a discount on tickets. We also stopped at the Ft Sumter NPS Center so I could get a NPS Liberty Square stamp.

 We had quiche for lunch at Bakehouse Bakery and then walked around until it was time for the Harbor Cruise.

We made our way to the Pineapple Fountain where we sat and watched tourists get pictures.

   

Pineapple Fountain

 

St. Michael's Episcopal Church

We heard an organ being played when we passed the French Huguenot Church.  Since the church was open, we went in to listen.  It was so nice to hear organ music in church!!  I have missed it.
 

French Huguenot Church

St. Philip's Church

Cemetery Walk at St. Philip's Church

Our leisurely walk lasted longer than it should have so we hurried back to the Maritime Center for our 3:30 habor cruise.

Carolina Belle

We go there late enough to be at the end of the line, so we had to sit in the lower part of the boat instead of the top.  This turned to be okay because it was very cold and windy.

An interesting fact I learned is why Charleston has no skyscrapers.  A city ordinance was passed that there were to be no buildings taller than the highest steeple on a church.

Ft Sumter

The domed building is the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon.  If you are ever in Charleston, make sure to tour that.  Very, very interesting.

 

Beautiful houses

After our cruise, we walked around some more to find something for an early supper.  And passed more lovely scenery. 

The wisteria!!!

We ended up at East Bay Deli and wrapped up our day in downtown Charleston.  Our evening was spent at Tanger Outlet near our hotel.

Spring Break Vacation - Charleston, SC March 27-29 Part 1

Tuesday, March 27

   Our Spring Break began with a stop at Laura's Tea Room in Ridgeway, SC for lunch.  The restaurant is located in what looks like an old department store building.  While they do serve Afternoon Tea, we only got a light lunch of chicken salad sandwiches, salad and soup.  Someday, I'll go back for their tea.

The Afternoon Teas are held upstairs and we were encouraged to go and look around.

 

After lunch, we browsed in some of the downtown shops before heading to Orangeburg to see Edisto Memorial Gardens, which was in full azalea splendor.

 

The end of our day was spent in North Charleston where our hotel was and we ate supper at a Mexican Restaurant.