Charleston, South Carolina Part one

Charleston South Carolina

Charleston, founded in 1670, it only became a city in 1783. 

Rice and cotton in the early days were important crops and the first export went to England in 1748, $875 worth.

The first shots of the "civil War were fired

It was the home of George and Irma Gershwin, his piano is in the museum.

We stayed 3 days here, we stayed out of the city this time and drove into town then parked in the city parking areas. Some of the parking fees are very expensive at $4 or 5$ for 20 minutes.

There is an excellent  visitors centre where you can book trips and tickets to the events and the busses collect you from right outside.
So the first visit was the Museum, it was Americas first museum in 1773, yes its another one but some are better than others.

Just outside is the replica submarine The H.L. Hunley, an incredible thing when you think when it was made in 1864. The story goes that after it had destroyed its target the confederate ship Housatonic it never surfaced again and wasn't found until 1995 and raised in 2000. The torpedo was mounted on the pole which Don is touching. Propulsion was pure 8 man power they cranked the propeller shaft.

This sub was only built for small folks

Inside the museum the artefacts are split into rooms holding displays of silverware, flags, musical instruments, guns, uniforms, items of torture, battlefield surgical instruments and some of the items from the first ever museum in the US, in those early days it was the only way to see polar bears, an Egyptian mummy, stuffed birds, snakes, all kinds of insects and reptiles.

In civil war rooms you could have spent hours reading all the stories, we just read a few.

Stars and bars

Duelling pistols

We passed a small area in a park where gentlemen duelled, it was right next to the cemetery so it was very convenient.

Guns galore, there were walls covered in gun cases

Guns and swords

The musical instrument room was pretty full here are just a few.

A homemade guitar made by a slave from an old coffee can

More an ornament than an instrument

Gershwins piano

A harp guitar

On the battlefield these were what they used to amputate a limb 

The exhibits shown in at least 2 of the rooms are the original ones from when the museum was first built

Huge, not the sort of thing you want to bump into.

Bottled snakes

A british uniform

A marble clock which was used in the police station

Don and his big gun, again this was taken in Charleston harbour where the first shots of the civil war were fired

The buildings in Charleston are as in Savannah are well preserved permissions have to obtained for everything that you may want to be done.

We loved walking around the town

On the last 3 pictures are buildings where you can get married, register a birth or death, a court, or get divorced, quite a busy place. 

We crossed this bridge a couple of times its so long I could't fit it all in its 2 miles long. Its the Talmadge Memorial bridge

Traditional barbers pole

This "pharmacy" was selling furniture

One of the city market entrances

Inside they sell just about anything, I would have gone back in time to see what was sold

These are beautifully made and this guy has so many puzzle boxes, we bought one, its one thats easy to open

Look what we found yum yum, no we didn't try one

Ok part two next BFN

Don and Glenys

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