Charleston, South Carolina

Yesterday we traveled to Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston is on a penninsula with the Ashley and Cooper rivers on either side and the Atlantic ocean at the point. Like Savannah, Charleston is another town steeped in Civil War history. In fact Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, is located at the mouth of Charleston's harbor.

Charleston has a historic district that is similar in a lot of ways to Savannah. We took a tour on a horse drawn carriage which was fun and interesting. In colonial times, the city was known for its religious freedom and tolerance and attracted people of all faiths. However, unless you were from the official Church of England, you could not call your building a church. They were usually referred to as "meeting houses." Two of the longest streets in Charleston are named Meeting Street and Church Street.

Many of the homes built along the water front are narrow on the street side, but go quite deep into the property. This was to take advantage of the ocean breezes for cooling the house. The first air conditioning.


Then we took a harbor cruise tour, which took us past Fort Sumter. From the water, you can see the many church steeples that gave the town it's nickname of "The Holy City."