Charleston, SC
As a rule, Libby and I don't like big cities very much. As a rule, the bigger the city, the more we avoid it. But for a long time, we had three notable exceptions from our travels: San Francisco, Montréal, and Copenhagen. Now we have to add a 4th city to our very short list: Charleston. What a fun place.
We have been remiss at exploring Charleston. We were spooked by a very nasty experience at Charleston City Docks in 2005, on our first time through here. After that we avoided Charleston except for a couple of brief stops at the Maritime Center. We had dinner here once, and we shopped for groceries, but we never explored the downtown. We did so yesterday and today and we learned what a great place this is.
The bridge. The bridge is highly visible 25 miles out to sea where nothing else from the city is visible. It is right near our slip for the night. Below are night and day views. Note the giant container ship going under the bridge at noon.
As a rule, Libby and I don't like big cities very much. As a rule, the bigger the city, the more we avoid it. But for a long time, we had three notable exceptions from our travels: San Francisco, Montréal, and Copenhagen. Now we have to add a 4th city to our very short list: Charleston. What a fun place.
We have been remiss at exploring Charleston. We were spooked by a very nasty experience at Charleston City Docks in 2005, on our first time through here. After that we avoided Charleston except for a couple of brief stops at the Maritime Center. We had dinner here once, and we shopped for groceries, but we never explored the downtown. We did so yesterday and today and we learned what a great place this is.
The bridge. The bridge is highly visible 25 miles out to sea where nothing else from the city is visible. It is right near our slip for the night. Below are night and day views. Note the giant container ship going under the bridge at noon.
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In Schenectady, we used to live in the historic Stockade neighborhood. We thought that to be charming (and it is). But now, we saw first hand how grand and charming Charleston's historic district it. We love the old houses and especially that alleys between them. I took a ton of pictures but posted only a couple of them below.
After some thought, I realized why Charleston's district is so unique. The houses are far too close together, and the streets are too narrow. It is a massive fire waiting to happen. Indeed, almost every similar urban district like it burned long ago. It is a miracle that it hasn't burned yet. If you haven't seen it, come quick while it lasts. They can't dodge the fire bullet forever, even with modern technology.
Jen, you in particular would love Charleston. Have you seen it?
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If you think the streets are too narrow and the houses are too close together in Charleston, try Europe. My wife and I just returned from a two week jaunt along the Mediterranean and Adriatic aboard a cruise ship, and we were amazed by the barely passable streets in places like Corfu, Taromina, Venice and Dubrovnik. Buildings jammed together, no room for cars on many streets, no rhyme or reason to direction, but the towns are generally charming and full of lfe.
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