g out the Spoleto Festival. Man was it muggy HOT in the low country! I guess summer really is upon us. We drove down early Saturday morning and as we approached the turn off on I-26 to go into downtown Charleston, we somehow missed a turn and drove over the Cooper River Bridge. Impressive bridge, and I got some pretty neat photos. At the bottom of the bridge we did a u-turn and drove right back over and found the right exit ramp.How about Charleston is not a car friendly city. The roads were packed and there were tons of people walking around. We drove around a bit and saw the Battery park and the huge
homes where the Battery HOA would not let Oprah buy a home. Wonder why, she could of purchased the block with all her money! Seriously though, there were lots and lots of huge homes for sale, at least every other one was up for sale. Kind of sad when you think about it. These huge homes all empty. Anyways, we finally found a parking spot all the way down, near Rainbow Row, and get out for a few to stretch our legs a bit. I learned from Captain Ron, that back in slave days, that Rainbow Row used to be the market place in Charleston and if the ladies of the house needed something from the market they would send their slaves to get it. Because most slaves did not read/write or recognized numbers to locate an address, the ladies of the house would just say, "go to the yellow house for some eggs, then to the pink house for coffee and sugar, blue house for ..... "and on and on, hence the name Rainbow Row.
So We walked along the southern end of the board walk for a bit then loaded back into the car and drove to a parking garage near the craft market. It's been about 6 hours since we had breakfast so we decided to stop for lunch at the first available place. We found "Mad River" bar and grille on North Market St. and popped in for some burgers and micro brews. It wasn't until I was seated and sipping on my "Beach Bum" beer that I noticed th
is place used to be an old church, complete with stain glass windows. I suddenly felt sacrilegious drinking a beer in a church! We refueled then hit the market. It was just OK. Had some interesting stuff. Like the Gullah ladies weaving baskets from palm leaves, but other than that, it looked like a giant flea market. We ducked into a couple of art galleries to cool off from the heat and found some wonderful paintings and blown glass. Afterwards, we walked back to the car, drove up to the marina, and bought two tickets for the Carolina Belle harbor tour. It's a 90 minute narrated boat tour that takes you past downtown Charleston, rainbow row, and the battery, then to
Fort Sumter, Isle of Palm, Mt. Pleasant, then the boat turns around and you pass the big battle ship USS Freedom something and end up going under the Cooper River Bridge. I got some cool photos from that angle! After the bridge, the boat turns around and we headed back to the maritime marina. We saw a few dolphins swimming along with the boat which was pretty cool. Afterwards, we were pretty wiped out from the drive, the hot day, and all the walking around, and the boat ride, so we decided to check into the hotel, clean up, and rest for a bit.
homes where the Battery HOA would not let Oprah buy a home. Wonder why, she could of purchased the block with all her money! Seriously though, there were lots and lots of huge homes for sale, at least every other one was up for sale. Kind of sad when you think about it. These huge homes all empty. Anyways, we finally found a parking spot all the way down, near Rainbow Row, and get out for a few to stretch our legs a bit. I learned from Captain Ron, that back in slave days, that Rainbow Row used to be the market place in Charleston and if the ladies of the house needed something from the market they would send their slaves to get it. Because most slaves did not read/write or recognized numbers to locate an address, the ladies of the house would just say, "go to the yellow house for some eggs, then to the pink house for coffee and sugar, blue house for ..... "and on and on, hence the name Rainbow Row.
So We walked along the southern end of the board walk for a bit then loaded back into the car and drove to a parking garage near the craft market. It's been about 6 hours since we had breakfast so we decided to stop for lunch at the first available place. We found "Mad River" bar and grille on North Market St. and popped in for some burgers and micro brews. It wasn't until I was seated and sipping on my "Beach Bum" beer that I noticed th
is place used to be an old church, complete with stain glass windows. I suddenly felt sacrilegious drinking a beer in a church! We refueled then hit the market. It was just OK. Had some interesting stuff. Like the Gullah ladies weaving baskets from palm leaves, but other than that, it looked like a giant flea market. We ducked into a couple of art galleries to cool off from the heat and found some wonderful paintings and blown glass. Afterwards, we walked back to the car, drove up to the marina, and bought two tickets for the Carolina Belle harbor tour. It's a 90 minute narrated boat tour that takes you past downtown Charleston, rainbow row, and the battery, then to
Fort Sumter, Isle of Palm, Mt. Pleasant, then the boat turns around and you pass the big battle ship USS Freedom something and end up going under the Cooper River Bridge. I got some cool photos from that angle! After the bridge, the boat turns around and we headed back to the maritime marina. We saw a few dolphins swimming along with the boat which was pretty cool. Afterwards, we were pretty wiped out from the drive, the hot day, and all the walking around, and the boat ride, so we decided to check into the hotel, clean up, and rest for a bit.After relaxing, changing clothes, (and a couple of Jameson and Gingers), we feel re-energized. Boo played on his I-phone and found us an outdoor dinner spot with a view of the water. 
He called and made reservations and we climbed back into the car and headed for Charleston Crab House for a sunset dinner. Now, I am NOT a big seafood person, but decided that give it a try. When in Rome..., right? Well, when we got to the restaurant and it was packed! Thank goodness Boo made reservations. We only had to wait ten minutes, but it was well worth it for the view! The outside deck had an awesome sunset view along the river. On to the seafood. So they brought out these hush puppies that had chunks of crab in them. I tried it and decided they were pretty good and gave them a thumbs up. The appetizers. I got bold and told Boo I wanted to try the oysters, but only 1/2 a dozen and the McClennanville style oysters on a half shell. Which were oysters baked in garlic and Parmesan cheese. Bewildered, he asked me twice if I was sure. hahaha! He knows me so well! When I said yeah, I am sure, he tried to give me the "it's not the flavor, it's the texture" lecture. I told him I really wanted to try it, so he smiles and orders my oysters and some coconut shrimp. I remembered liking the coconut shrimp at the Rock House Restaurant in Jamaica, so I'm not to worried about those little guys. Well the oysters came and all I have to say is YUM! I loved them! The coconut shrimps were also mouth watering. So thumbs up all around on some seafood! (People, I'm taking baby steps before I can try anything more daring! hahha) Then we decided to order dinner and b/c we had plenty of appetizers, I decided to stick with a salad. The waiter asks if I would like to try the "Crab House ranch dressing". Thinking it's just regular ranch dressing, I say "Sure!" Well, the "Crab House" ranch is actually ranch dressing with chunks of crab in it. Didn't expect that when I was drizzling it over my salad, but after my first bite, I was OK. To be honest, my salad was a bit of a disappointment. Not that it was bad, but compared to the exotic explosion of flavors that the appetizers gave my mouth, the salad was pretty boring. I didn't get to finish it anyways, the sky opened up and started pouring on us. It was already dark by then and the skeeters were coming out in full force, so it was time to leave. Afterwards, we pulled into the Piggly Wiggly and bought some brownies to have for dessert back at the room.
He called and made reservations and we climbed back into the car and headed for Charleston Crab House for a sunset dinner. Now, I am NOT a big seafood person, but decided that give it a try. When in Rome..., right? Well, when we got to the restaurant and it was packed! Thank goodness Boo made reservations. We only had to wait ten minutes, but it was well worth it for the view! The outside deck had an awesome sunset view along the river. On to the seafood. So they brought out these hush puppies that had chunks of crab in them. I tried it and decided they were pretty good and gave them a thumbs up. The appetizers. I got bold and told Boo I wanted to try the oysters, but only 1/2 a dozen and the McClennanville style oysters on a half shell. Which were oysters baked in garlic and Parmesan cheese. Bewildered, he asked me twice if I was sure. hahaha! He knows me so well! When I said yeah, I am sure, he tried to give me the "it's not the flavor, it's the texture" lecture. I told him I really wanted to try it, so he smiles and orders my oysters and some coconut shrimp. I remembered liking the coconut shrimp at the Rock House Restaurant in Jamaica, so I'm not to worried about those little guys. Well the oysters came and all I have to say is YUM! I loved them! The coconut shrimps were also mouth watering. So thumbs up all around on some seafood! (People, I'm taking baby steps before I can try anything more daring! hahha) Then we decided to order dinner and b/c we had plenty of appetizers, I decided to stick with a salad. The waiter asks if I would like to try the "Crab House ranch dressing". Thinking it's just regular ranch dressing, I say "Sure!" Well, the "Crab House" ranch is actually ranch dressing with chunks of crab in it. Didn't expect that when I was drizzling it over my salad, but after my first bite, I was OK. To be honest, my salad was a bit of a disappointment. Not that it was bad, but compared to the exotic explosion of flavors that the appetizers gave my mouth, the salad was pretty boring. I didn't get to finish it anyways, the sky opened up and started pouring on us. It was already dark by then and the skeeters were coming out in full force, so it was time to leave. Afterwards, we pulled into the Piggly Wiggly and bought some brownies to have for dessert back at the room.
The next day, we drove down to Folly beach to escape the pouring rain in Charleston and had a great time. Boo flew his kite, and I chilled on the beach taking turns watching him and his kite and watching the surfers in the water. After a couple of hours, we headed back into downtown to see if the weather had cleared up and to check out the Spoleto festival. It did! We decided to tour the craft Piccolo Spoleto area first. Lots of homemade crafts and interesting art. Then we walked over to the Spoleto Art area and spent a good two hours looking at all the art paintings. There were some really stunning paintings that just took your breath away and just made you stop in your tracks and stare. I tried taking photos of some of the art work, bu
t Boo scolded me and said that taking a picture of the art work right in front of the artist was in bad taste. I think he was just embarrassed. So the photos of the art work that I did take were when he lingered too long at a booth. I just moved to the next interesting booth and snapped away. It was beautiful work, worthy of being photographed and if in fact I did upset any artists, I apologize. By no means did I intentionally mean to upset you and you can rest assure that I have no plans of mass producing/copying any of the art work. Hell, I can't even color in the lines let alone whip up a forgery. Just my way of showing appreciation for your art, since I can't fork over the $12,000 price tag you insist on. :)
t Boo scolded me and said that taking a picture of the art work right in front of the artist was in bad taste. I think he was just embarrassed. So the photos of the art work that I did take were when he lingered too long at a booth. I just moved to the next interesting booth and snapped away. It was beautiful work, worthy of being photographed and if in fact I did upset any artists, I apologize. By no means did I intentionally mean to upset you and you can rest assure that I have no plans of mass producing/copying any of the art work. Hell, I can't even color in the lines let alone whip up a forgery. Just my way of showing appreciation for your art, since I can't fork over the $12,000 price tag you insist on. :)Charleston is a historically interesting place, but it didn't live up to the hype that everyone makes it out to be. Would I visit again?.... hmmmm... probably not. I didn't do any plantation or carriage tours because frankly Scarlet, I don't give a damn. The downtown is old, dirty, over priced, over populated, and in some places, not safe. We're really not the club goer type couple, so the nightlife didn't entice. To be honest, Charleston is just not my cup of sweet tea. To all those who are mesmerized by it's charm, good for you. You'll be happy to know there will be one less person crowding up your beloved cobble stoned streets. :) Til next time. GET OUTDOORS!
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