Hilton Head Residency Part 4: Charleston
When I originally summarized my states and got to South Carolina, I assumed that I would one day spend a weekend in Charleston to cross the state off the list. As it happens, we did spend a weekend in Charleston.
On the morning of Saturday, January 7, we did some fun things with Birdie in the morning. We hit the fancy pirate ship themed playground and then walked over to Coligny Beach. It was a bright sunny day, so after leaving the beach we swung by the nearby Frozen Moo for ice cream. All of this served to get Birdie good and tired before we hopped in the car.
Charleston is about a two hour drive from Hilton Head. We arrived as it was getting dark and checked into our AirBNB in the nearby suburb of Mt Pleasant. This followed by dinner at The Mill Street Tavern, which is the kind of place where some people were wearing sport coats and button down shirts, and other people were wearing beachwear. The food was nothing special, but we did have some fresh oysters and Birdie had a great time.
On Sunday, we met M's friends Jess and Ned for lunch outside on the patio of Poe's Tavern on Sullivan's Island, which is a wealthy island community on the edge of Charleston. As the name implies, the Tavern, or at least the menu, is themed after the works of Edgar Allen Poe, who was stationed on the island when he was in the army and set several of his stories there. The the food was pretty good. After lunch, the four of us took Birdie to a nearby playground to run around, followed by gelato at Beardcat. To close the afternoon's activities, we wandered along the beach at Fort Moultrie.
Jess and M were teachers together in the Bronx, and the two of them and Ned hung out together all the time when they lived in NYC. They hadn't seen each other since M left NYC, so it was a no brainer to go over to their house after Birdie's nap. We had a lovely evening hanging out on their back patio with their two children. At one point Ned and I took their golf cart to pick up takeout Mexican food from a place near their house. It was a good day, and we all had a good time.
During out visit to Jess and Ned's house, Birdie encountered their cat extremely friendly cat Figaro, who was the very first cat Birdie ever interacted with. For several weeks afterwards Birdie demanded cat videos. She also butchered the cat's name to become "Figaroku," and for quite some time she referred to all cats as Figaroku.
I had taken Monday January 9 off, so we actually went into Charleston proper. Our major activity for the day was visiting Fort Sumter. Since Fort Sumter is perched on a man-made island in Charleston Harbor, this meant that the ferry ride run by the National Park Service was Birdie's very first boat ride! It was sunny but a bit chilly from the wind. The ferry was a large triple decked boat, but it was pretty empty on a Monday in January. M saw dolphins off the bow.
Fort Sumter itself was very interesting. The ranger talk on the ferry ride over was excellent, and the many signs on the island were very well done. Even if I had been totally ignorant of Fort Sumter's history (which I was not), I would have learned a great deal. In addition to all the history and the sweeping views of Charleston harbor, we saw a mother and baby dolphin from the wall and a lot of seabirds. I recommend it to any history buffs - but don't wait. The ranger said that the rising water levels are almost certainly going to submerge Fort Sumter in the future, and there's essentially no plausible plan to save it. Or really the rest of Charleston, which is a very low lying city (South Carolina has "the low country" for a reason!).
Our original plan upon returning to land was to get lunch in the old town of Charleston harbor before driving home, but Birdie was so tired out by her first boat ride and subsequent island hijinks that she passed out as soon as the car started up. We decided discretion was the better part of valor, and drove directly back to Hilton Head while she slept. Our total time in Charleston proper was pretty minimal as a result. I'd like to go back to do some more stuff in the old town neighborhood one day, preferably before it is submerged.
On the morning of Saturday, January 7, we did some fun things with Birdie in the morning. We hit the fancy pirate ship themed playground and then walked over to Coligny Beach. It was a bright sunny day, so after leaving the beach we swung by the nearby Frozen Moo for ice cream. All of this served to get Birdie good and tired before we hopped in the car.
Charleston is about a two hour drive from Hilton Head. We arrived as it was getting dark and checked into our AirBNB in the nearby suburb of Mt Pleasant. This followed by dinner at The Mill Street Tavern, which is the kind of place where some people were wearing sport coats and button down shirts, and other people were wearing beachwear. The food was nothing special, but we did have some fresh oysters and Birdie had a great time.
On Sunday, we met M's friends Jess and Ned for lunch outside on the patio of Poe's Tavern on Sullivan's Island, which is a wealthy island community on the edge of Charleston. As the name implies, the Tavern, or at least the menu, is themed after the works of Edgar Allen Poe, who was stationed on the island when he was in the army and set several of his stories there. The the food was pretty good. After lunch, the four of us took Birdie to a nearby playground to run around, followed by gelato at Beardcat. To close the afternoon's activities, we wandered along the beach at Fort Moultrie.
Jess and M were teachers together in the Bronx, and the two of them and Ned hung out together all the time when they lived in NYC. They hadn't seen each other since M left NYC, so it was a no brainer to go over to their house after Birdie's nap. We had a lovely evening hanging out on their back patio with their two children. At one point Ned and I took their golf cart to pick up takeout Mexican food from a place near their house. It was a good day, and we all had a good time.
During out visit to Jess and Ned's house, Birdie encountered their cat extremely friendly cat Figaro, who was the very first cat Birdie ever interacted with. For several weeks afterwards Birdie demanded cat videos. She also butchered the cat's name to become "Figaroku," and for quite some time she referred to all cats as Figaroku.
I had taken Monday January 9 off, so we actually went into Charleston proper. Our major activity for the day was visiting Fort Sumter. Since Fort Sumter is perched on a man-made island in Charleston Harbor, this meant that the ferry ride run by the National Park Service was Birdie's very first boat ride! It was sunny but a bit chilly from the wind. The ferry was a large triple decked boat, but it was pretty empty on a Monday in January. M saw dolphins off the bow.
Fort Sumter itself was very interesting. The ranger talk on the ferry ride over was excellent, and the many signs on the island were very well done. Even if I had been totally ignorant of Fort Sumter's history (which I was not), I would have learned a great deal. In addition to all the history and the sweeping views of Charleston harbor, we saw a mother and baby dolphin from the wall and a lot of seabirds. I recommend it to any history buffs - but don't wait. The ranger said that the rising water levels are almost certainly going to submerge Fort Sumter in the future, and there's essentially no plausible plan to save it. Or really the rest of Charleston, which is a very low lying city (South Carolina has "the low country" for a reason!).
Our original plan upon returning to land was to get lunch in the old town of Charleston harbor before driving home, but Birdie was so tired out by her first boat ride and subsequent island hijinks that she passed out as soon as the car started up. We decided discretion was the better part of valor, and drove directly back to Hilton Head while she slept. Our total time in Charleston proper was pretty minimal as a result. I'd like to go back to do some more stuff in the old town neighborhood one day, preferably before it is submerged.