Charleston

Some thoughts on our trip to Charleston.

--This was the first time we left our kids for more than 3 days in the 23 years since our first one was born

--The Charleston area has beautiful beaches

--There are many beautiful, historical old mansions to tour in downtown Charleston, along with many gardens

--The plantations around Charleston grew predominately rice, not cotton

--When slaves were brought in from Africa, the ones who know how to grow rice were twice as valuable as the others

--When Sherman marched to the sea, he burned down all the beautiful old plantation homes except one. The rebuilt plantations and their gardens are still beautiful

--The oldest continuously used church in America is in the Charleston area

--There are many huge old oak trees in the area, some believed to be as much as 900 years old

--Charleston figured prominently in the Revolutionary War as well as the Civil War. Charleston was the first to declare independence from the King George - - before the "Declaration." Charleston had their own " tea party" before Boston did. At Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay, the first shots of the Civil War were fired.

--Charleston is the 4th busiest seaport (shipping volume) on the East Coast. There was a continuous stream of container ships sailing in and out of the harbor

--When heavy rains fall in the old downtown, the storm sewers cannot take the water away fast enough (there is a story about this that will follow later)