Charleston

I absolutely loved Charleston. The city is full of colonial history, antebellum architecture and narrow streets. The place is compact enough to walk around in a day, absorbing the city as you walk between sites. The architecture was beautifully and there was a really eclectic assortment of mismatched colonial buildings.

Charleston was similar to Savannah in its colonial architecture; It had a very different feel however. Charleston was not so swallowed up by tours as Savannah - Savannah is definitely on the edge of being ruined by the grasp of tours and the dumbed-down tourism industry. Charleston had much more of a residential feeling with people coming in out of their beautiful quintessential homes, alleyways seemed like genuine shortcuts to houses rather than the whole place feeling like one stagnant museum of a snapshotted time in history.

The market was a great place to walk through, not just because a lot of it was air conditioned and there were toilets. The trinkets and products sold at the market seems for the most part authentic and boutique. I would recommend Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit if you’re interested in trying southern calorie dense delicacies.

Head down to the Battery by the sea and walk along the pedestrian walkway. Then walk back up through the residential area surrounding Kings Street. The houses are grand and showcase the classic antebellum features of white columned balconies and iron clad embellishments.

We headed into the Old Slave Mart museum where enslaved African people were reportedly bought and sold by their American captors. The museum was interesting and had a depth of information.

We had a look at Rainbow Row, a row of houses painted in the colour of the rainbow. It was nice, the colours were kind of faded and I didn’t really see any outstanding architecture on these houses compared to other streets in the city.

We attempted to pop into Circular church on Meeting street because, despite my lack of religious persuasion, I am enamoured with religious architecture. The church was locked which I feel sums up the irony of Christianity. A couple, who were also trying to access the church ended up being a pastor and his wife (a teacher) and assuming we were also disgruntled worshippers. They offered us a prayer out on the street and this act of kindness sums up the experience we have had of American people in general.

We booked our Air BnB in the less expensive area of North Charleston. It was only a 10/15 minute journey out of Charleston and ideal for travellers like us who were moving on in the morning to a new city.