Georgia On My Mind

Home again, home again, jigety-jig!

Yes, we’ve been gallivanting around again, those of you who have been with me a while might remember that we like to head South at this time of year in search of some sun.  Our destination is usually the Isle of Palms in South Carolina, but this time around we decided to add a couple of days in Savannah, Georgia at the start of the holiday, and then finish up with a week on the IOP.

Savannah is billed as America’s Most Beautiful City because of it’s old buildings, cobbled streets, green spaces and it’s beautiful city squares, everyone we talked to said how wonderful it is.  So after a terrible 16 hour drive in topical pouring rain for over two thirds of it, we finally arrived at our hotel in Mid-town Savannah.

Typically at this time of year Savannah enjoys temps in the 80’sF (high 20’s to early 30’sC), but that rain we drove through (for well over 600 miles) ushered in a cold front more reminiscent of December than April!  We topped out at 53F (11C) on our one day looking round the old city, and we just weren’t prepared for that at all!  Still, we made the most of it and had a long, but interesting, day.

Don’t be fooled by the “I’m happy to be here” grin, it was Michigan temps and I was wearing a thin long sleeved tshirt and capri’s.  I had nothing else.  Andrew was wearing shorts!

The city is up-river from the ocean but was still a major and bustling port back in the day.  Now the river is more a source of tourist entertainment than trade.

The city is incredibly green, but it was also very dull and overcast making photos difficult, but I liked the old cobbled streets and the iron walkways spanning them.  The buildings to the left are the back of the old warehouses that front the river.

Needing a warm up we soon sniffed out the best coffee shop around.  Savannah Coffee Roasters started out as a coffee importer and roaster many moons ago in 1909.  They used to be just a supplier of fresh coffee to other establishments until a couple of years ago when the company was bought out by an Australian lady who renovated a fantastic old building and opened it up as a cafe.   Now, they still roast their own coffee but they also bake fabulous cakes (Limoncello Cake for me and Tiramisu for Andrew), and have a great lunch menu too.  Their executive chef was the last to train under the formidable doyen of  American cookery, Julia Childs.

Founded in 1733 by General James Edward Oglethorpe representing King George II, Savannah was originally settled to stem the Catholic flow of the Spanish and French Northwards from Florida and Louisiana.  The original city plan and layout was even mapped out before Oglethorpe set sail from England.  This included the 24 city squares that the city is perhaps most famous for.

Like many cities old cities though Savannah has seen its fortunes rise and fall over the years and two of the original squares were lost to redevelopment in the 1950’s before the formation of the Historic Savannah Foundation preserved them and the historic buildings around them.

Oglethope’s original design had trust lots on the East and West sides of the Squares for churches and public buildings and tithing lots on the North and South sides for colonists homes.

Some of the Squares are wonderful, peaceful oasis’s from the bustle of a big city, others now find themselves on the main routes in and out of the city and take a lot of vehicular traffic.  None of the roads go though the squares, so even the big buses and lorries have to negotiate the large evergreen oaks, narrow streets, parked cars and tourists as they make their way gingerly around them!

But I’ll be honest… perhaps it was the cold weather that did it, or the very touristy section by the waterfront, or all the traffic in the city or maybe all the walking we did, but I was seriously beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about.  I know with warmer temps and some sun the place would look amazingly different but I was already beginning to turn my thoughts towards Charleston, the Isle of Palms and South Carolina….

Randomly On My Camera

I take quite a lot of photos over the course of a week or two, most never make it on to this blog, but I thought perhaps I might show you a few once in a while.  Right now there’s a lot of photos of Winter and snow and I could fill up post after post with them but that would get old very quickly!

Trails at our local State Park.

Some Sock Love.

Fingerless Mitts – they match a cowl I made 18 months ago.

Christmas Cactus – Flowering for the second time

Back To The Park For Cross Country Skiing

Andrew had a birthday at the end of February.  Naturally there were Giraffe themed birthday cards and Giraffe themed socks!

And rather randomly taking up space in my dining room right now…

Yes, we’re getting ready for a bathroom remodel!  Looking forward to it but not looking forward to it if you know what I mean!

We’re heading up north again this weekend for more downhill skiing and our camping friends are coming with us for a break although they don’t ski.  We have a little condo booked right beside the State Park in Petoskey that we all love to go to in the Summer months and we’ve all taken Monday off too so we’re making a longer weekend of it.  I’m hoping for lots of knitting time in between bouts of vigorous exercise!

2015 ~ The Year Of The Sheep

And as a knitter, I couldn’t let the start of the the Chinese New Year go unmarked, especially when 2015 is the Year of the Sheep.

This coincided with a beautiful article last week on the BBC Website about a new exhibition that opened last weekend at the Rheged Centre in Penrith in the English Lake District.   Titled Herdwick: A Portrait of Lakeland by renowned photographer Ian Lawson who spent five years documenting the sheep, the shepherds and the landscape, and the results are captured in his stunning photographs and book upon which the exhibition is based. You can see more of his photos from this project here, there is a “Look Inside” link which you really must click to see more of the intense beauty of this part of England, Andrew and I’s most favourite, and most missed, part of the world.

The Herdwick breed is native to the Fells of The Lakes and while it’s lambing capacity is low and the wool is much rougher than commercial breeds (like Merino), the Herdwick is prized for it’s robust health, the ability to survive by just foraging and it’s tendency not to stray.   The wool is of a thicker, courser quality and is really good for heavyweight outer garments and for things like rugs, it’s not something to be worn next to the skin, unless you’re a sheep of course, as they’ve been known to survive up to three days in a blizzard completely buried in snow, by eating their own wool.

It’s thought that as much as 99% of the world’s Herdwick’s live in the rugged West and North of The Lakes, and they have now achieved protected status.  They’re not exactly rare, as anyone who has ever walked the hills of this beautiful area of England will tell you, but because their population is all but concentrated in one area they could be decimated by an outbreak of a disease, like the foot and mouth epidemic of a few years ago, which led to the farmers loosing 25% of the 100,000 breed.

This shepherd is walking his flock towards Wast Water in front of him.  Behind him is the imposing bulk of Great Gable, part of the Scafell range which is the highest mountain in England.  We didn’t do too much fell walking in The Western Lakes but Andrew and I have climbed both Great and Green Gable before, Andrew more than once.

Arguably, the most famous of the Herdwick farmers was Beatrix Potter.  Better known for her beautifully illustrated children’s books, she spent a great deal of her life in this area of England, the latter part as a farmer with fifteen farms, and a breeder and protector of Herdwick sheep.  She won numerous prizes at country shows between 1930 and 1938, and upon her death in 1943 left all fifteen of her farms to The National Trust, and per her instructions, all of them continue to graze Herdwick’s today.

So in this, the Year of the Sheep, I encourage you to get your needles out and knit something, or if you’ve never knit before perhaps now is the time to consider taking up the hobby?  But if that’s too much for you to take on right now, you can always show your support of this terrific breed by supporting The Herdy online and physical shops.  I’m particularly fond of the Peep Mug and will be making room in my suitcase for at least one later in the year!  Click on the logo to be taken to their website.

N.B. – Photos copyright Ian Lawson ~ Herdy Logo TM The Herdy Company

Hola Amigos – Mexico Two

 

A few more snaps from Mexico, for those of you sitting looking at the rain coming down!

[We went to Charlie’s for dinner twice and had two cracking evenings.  They have the best margaritas in town, hands down… and if you look closely at the bottle of tequilla you can see why… would Sir like one scorpion with his drink or two???]

 

[Charlie’s eclectic decor.  There’s also a patio garden at the back too.]

 

[Tulum Public Beach above and below.  We were there on a Sunday and maybe saw 120 people in over four hours.  If this had been a UK beach on a sunny day we’d have been elbow to elbow!]

 

 

[Meanwhile back at the Posada…. we cooked Liz, the manager, a homemade Italian meal.  Liz has a degree and a Masters degree in English, spent four years as a teacher in Mexico, took time out to travel round Europe including a month in Italy, worked for the Mexican Embassy in London for a year and toured Europe some more before finally coming back to Mexico!  She was such a lot of fun to be around and nothing was ever too much trouble for her guests.]

[Green Backed Parrot Snake which despite it’s name, eats tree frogs.  We were with a guide and a small group on a day tour into the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve and knew this snake was harmless, but he was very inquisitive and we got loads of photos!]

 

 [Muyil Mayan ruins on the edge of the Biosphere]

 

 

[This building is known as the castle and was probably used as a watch tower and a guiding tower to help people navigate through two long but narrow channels between the ocean and two lagoons before you reach Muyil if arriving by boat.  The theory is that fires were lit in the top section where there are three slits and that these were aligned with the entrance to the channels into the lagoon and also the only safe opening across the coral reef from the ocean]

 [Butterflies soaking up the salts from the mineral rich clay.  There were a couple of hundred of them, a month earlier there had been thousands of them!]

[Crossing one of the lagoons heading for the channels.]

[Wild Cows Horn orchids lining the sides of the channel]

 

[Close to the end of our stay we went back to Akumal and walked around the beautiful little town.  The houses here are grander than Tulum and not so close together, we think most of them would have been holiday homes or owned by foreign tourists.  It was definitely more upmarket than Tulum]

[A lot of the architecture, to us, seemed to be Spanish or Adobe style.  Most buildings were simply whitewashed but lushly planted with tropical flowers and palms.]

[Turtle Bay cafe, an absolutely superb place for coffee and fresh pastries.  They also have a full menu and were busy with breakfast when we first went by, we got there just before lunch was in full swing.]

More later perhaps, if you’re not fed up with Mexico by now!

Hola Amigos

Wow, what a trip.  I don’t think I can possibly come up with enough adequate words to explain and describe our trip to Mexico.  Such an amazing country with the most incredibly warm and friendly people I’ve met in a long, long time.  Suffice to say that it took me until Sunday (1 June) to feel normal again and not all dazed and confused!  We got back home at 1am on Thursday morning, and after a few hours sleep it was off to work for me!  No wonder I felt dazed and confused, lol!  Lots of photos here, I’ll try to keep the words to a minimum, and probably do a second post later in the week.

 

[Swimming pool at our little hotel ~ Posada Yum Kin (the sun god)]

[Iguana at Tulum Mayan ruins]

[Part of Tulum ruins.  The only Mayan city to be built on the coast]

[Snorkeling at Grand Cenote.  The Yucatan peninsula is completely limestone, over the years all these caverns and fissures have appeared due to acid rain, erosion and cave roof collapse, they’re a diving mecca, people come from all over the world to dive there as they’re the largest cave system in the entire world, and a lot of it remains unexplored.  We’re not divers but we had a lot of fun snorkeling in one.  You can just see the entry ladder in to the water. This particular cenote was partly open due a to a roof collapse hundreds of years ago.]

[It rained at some point every day during our first five days there, but only for a short time.  The temperature averaged 86F during the day but only dropped to 78F at night and was relatively humid all the time.  A rain storm anywhere usually drops the temperature down but not so in Mexico.  If it rained during the day the temp would stay at 86F but the humidity would go through the roof!!]

[Ooh, that pool again.  I was in the little spa, behind me is the breakfast area and above that is the sun terrace.]

 

[After Rosea, our housekeeper, discovered we were there for our Silver Wedding Anniversary we would return to our room each day to the most amazing towel sculptures on our bed!  I could do a separate post on them as there was a new one every day!]

[A day out to Coba, another Mayan city close to where we stayed. These building are all temples of some kind, the Mayans lived in traditional houses made of wood with a palm or grass roof and all trace of these personal buildings has completely disappeared. ]

[These cities would have been completely cleared of all growth, now though, there are more ruins that have been reclaimed by the jungle than there are available to see and look around.  Andrew is standing next to a banyan tree with it’s amazing roots.  It puts these roots out from branches, if it finds ground it roots, what it’s really looking for is another tree to grow around as it’s parasitic, eventually covering the entire host tree and killing it.]

[There is one very tall temple at Coba that you’re still allowed to climb.  I can’t begin to tell you how steep it is and how hard it is to climb in the heat and humidity.  It’s much worse coming down and you can see that a lot of people choose to sit and bump down each step.  I walked down, a step at a time and had legs like jelly by the time I got to the bottom, plus I couldn’t walk down stairs properly for about three days afterwards!]

[From the left: Andrew, Liz who is the manager of the Posada we stayed at, Rob a cave diver from Alaska who has been coming to the area for over 40 years, me and Claudia, Liz’s best friend who was taking a college course in the are and stayed with Liz for a couple of weeks.  What can I say, I suspect there may have been alcohol involved!!]

[Snorkeling at Akumal Bay with the sea turtles.  Akumal means Turtle Bay in English and this is a normal, open Caribbean bay, not a staged area where they keep turtles.  It’s protected about 1/4 mile offshore by the world’s second largest reef and the turtles come into the bay to breed.  We also saw tons of amazing fish and a few stingrays too.]

[We went into the bay with a guide from the bay’s ecological centre and a small group of people (six).  They make you wear a life jacket for the simple reason that it keeps you horizontal in the water; being in a  vertical position and potentially damaging the reef with your flippers, disturbing the wildlife of stirring up sediment with your flippers is strictly forbidden.]

[Andrew and Liz in the Posada.  The Posada is a large white building with everything arranged around two central courtyards inside.  Apart from some pretty flowers, nice wooden doors and the white washed building you have no idea of the paradise that awaits you when you step inside and close the door.]

I think that’s enough for one day, I’ll do another post later in the week with more pics.  Adios!

Ready For The Beach

Time to slow the pace down a little….

 

 

 

Make mine a Mai Tai.  Back in a few!

WOYWW September Edition

Wow, September people, how fast is this year going?  Scarily fast, let me tell you!!  It’s September, the kids have gone back to school or college, the leaves are starting to change, the mornings are becoming misty, the evenings a little chillier and also a little darker.  I’m beginning to think of home baked bread with soup in place of salad and grilled chicken.  I’m beginning to think of swapping shorts for jeans and jumpers for tshirts, putting thicker sheets on the bed and digging out winter pajamas again.  The weather round here though has other plans.  Would you believe that after pulling out winter pajamas for a few nights in JULY, we’ve been staring at the wrong side of 35C (95F) for the last couple of days in SEPTEMBER!

But enough of that. We’re here again this week to link up with the fabulous Julia and her amazing Wednesday linky party.  I missed last week as we were taking our annual trip up to beautiful Northern Michigan.  So while you were busy desk hopping I was busy digging my toes in white sandy beaches, swimming in the crystal waters of Lake Michigan, riding my bike hither and thither, drinking wine around campfires, kayaking (goes without saying), watching amazing sunsets, eating fish and chips made from freshly caught whitefish, sipping locally roasted coffee, buying locally made pottery for Christmas presents (for each other) and dreaming of living in a little cottage by the bay.  Oh, and falling off my bike in a patch of poison ivy!  But we won’t mention that bit!!

My desk has had no action for the last week or so, and I have to find some mojo from somewhere as I have a DT piece to complete for Sunday, and all I want to do is sit and knit!  I’ve noticed something over the last 12 months or so, and that’s every time I go away now I root out lovely little yarn stores and come back with fantastic skeins of wool.  It used to be that I’d look out for craft or scrap booking stores and show you what crafty items I snagged on my travels on a WOYWW post!  But no more, it’s the yarn that draws me in these days, it’s the yarn that I desperately try to stuff in my bag for the trip home and it’s the yarn that I now show you on my desk more Wednesdays than not, and it’s yarn I have for you again this week too!

I found a wonderful shop in Petoskey, MI which was also the closest town to where we were camping at the local State Park.  It’s the most amazing yarn store I’ve ever come across, called Cynthia’s Too and it’s run by a mother and daughter team.  What set this store apart was the visually appealing way they display everything and the sheer amount of fully knitted up samples for you to touch and try on…. hats, scarves, gloves, shawls, cowls, cardigans, childrens knits, socks and much more.  It truly draws you in, even Andrew picked up a couple of things and asked the lady if she made it and was it complicated, he was as impressed as I was.

So I couldn’t come away empty handed now could I?  That would just be plain rude…. so I asked for locally made yarn and came away with two skeins of Stonehedge 100% wool for a scarf for Andrew, it’s at the front, the red wool.  Then I delved into their clearance bin and found a wonderful sock yarn in desert colours for 40% off on the left and two skeins of lace weight yarn as knitting a lace shawl for me is high on my wish list.  That’s the two greeny/goldy toned skeins on the right and they have to be touched to be believed…. 70% baby alpaca, 25% silk and 5% cashmere!  Also on clearance at 40% off.  The pink socks are still there from the other week, and the white package on the left came from a “relative” of Andrew’s.  That side of the Palmer family emigrated to America in 1847, his descendant, Bernie, has a lot of family history stuff including very old photos and letters to England from America and back again, some dated as early as 1850.  He wrote it all up in a lovely bound book and sent me a copy.

I got most of my sister’s scarf completed whilst on holiday but it’s not in the photo, but I never even touched the socks that I took with me!  Instead I read a couple of books that I took along and bought and started a third!  I really could have done with another week by the lake as I was just getting into it nicely when we had to pack up and leave.  That’s the only trouble with holidays, they’re never really long enough are they?  I’m going to indulge this rather long post and add some holiday snaps, so if you’d like to visit just for WOYWW I’ll send you on your way now.  Chin chin my lovelies!

Petoskey State Park Beach during rush hour!

Kayaking on Little Traverse Bay (Lake Michigan)

Typical Lake Michigan sunset from the sand dunes at Petoskey State Park

 

Bike ride to Harbor Springs

Harbor Springs “cottage” overlooking the bay. I can see me living here, just need to raise the million or two dollars that property is worth!

Beer bubbles highlighted by yet another amazing sunset!

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday – 214

*****Happy Birthday JULIA!!******

Greetings desk hoppers from a hot, humid and thundery Michigan.  It’s been hot, humid and thundery for the best part of two weeks now, nice in between, but it does seem to blow up into a rather nasty storm here most days.  I hear it’s nice in the UK too this week and that, for once, Winbledon didn’t get rained off!

Sorry about not getting to many of you last week, we were away for four and a bit days for a camping trip, and while there I started with a cold that has left me feeling a bit lethargic and out of it.  Not a bad cold by any means, just can’t be bothered to do anything!!  Well, almost anything, I decided before I tidied away those new stamps that were on my desk last week that I could just about manage the brainless task of mounting them on to cling foam, I’m about half way through.  I’m sure that as soon as I feel better and my mojo returns the rest will get left until such a time as I decide to stamp with them!

The bits of paper under some of the stamps are an imprint of the stamp as I like to see what’s in the packet and not peer at the stamp itself trying to guess!  Not very inspiring but I’ve got some other things to show you this week.

I said it’s been very wet here in the last couple of weeks (5.5″ of rain in June, most of it in the last week).  This was our camp table last week at the State Park….. complete with baby fungi growing on it!  I took this macro shot for posterity as we needed to put our outdoor table cloth on it so we could use it!

About a centimetre tall and seriously, seriously cute.  It only rained twice during the trip…. when we were putting the tent up and when we were taking the tent down!  How does it know to do that?

The next thing on show is a new activity offered by this park, every Friday for two hours during the summer you can have a bash at archery with a very modern compound bow.  And yes, we all had a few goes, all loved it and are now all wanting bows and arrows to play with!

Here I am playing at being Saint Georgina busy slaying the dinosaur dragon!  It was a bit hot for the medieval dress though, and my trusty charger was of the two wheeled variety and not the four legged type more normally associated with heroes!!

And talking of heroes, head over to our Julia to see what she has to say for herself this week.  Chin, chin!

Charleston, Part Two

I’m trying so hard to get back into what passes for normal for me round here!  That includes blogging more frequently again and also very soon, hopefully, card making and entering challenges again, not to mention What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday posts once more.  So, whilst I’m sitting here eating my lunch I thought I’d pop up the second post about the Charleston area.  There won’t be as much history or info this time!  More photos, less chat, but you can click on the pictures for a bigger view!

Let’s start with Boone Hall, once a major plantation in the area, it was ransacked during the civil war and this beautiful house was built in 1936, but in an old style, on the site of the original home.  We toured a few rooms inside and it really did look like something from the 1850’s, it was incredibly and beautifully done.

It’s billed as Americas most photographed plantation, and here’s one of the reasons why:

The approach to the hall is along this stunning avenue of Live Oaks, over 200 years old and draped with Spanish Moss.  Live Oaks are a type of Oak tree that remain green all year round, they were something we’d never even heard of before visiting this part of the world.

To one side of the oaks are the old brick slaves houses, beautifully restored and each one depicting the history of black America starting with slavery and ending with the election of President Obama.  It was a very poignant journey through history visiting each of these little cabins in turn.

The gardens at Boone are another feature and are arranged on either side of this main entrance to the house. The white arbors are where the groups wait for the nest available tour, and as I said yesterday, it was full summer in Charleston.  This house has also been used for a number of Hollywood productions, the most well known of which is North and South starring Patrick Swayzee, Kirstie Alley and LesleyAnne Down.

We stayed on the Isle of Palms, a long narrow island linked to the mainland via two bridges yet still only 20 minutes from central Charleston.  It was a fantastic base as we were also only a couple of minutes walk from this fabulous beach:

Although it looked more like this after the one day of rain and thunderstorms that we had at the end of our stay:

We also visited Patriots Point, home to the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier and the USS Clamagore which is a submarine, as well as other static military displays.  That was another great day out and comes highly recommended.

We also spent a fantastic morning kayaking on Shem Creek and out into Charleston Bay where we visited Crab Island to see the nesting Pelicans (it’s a preserved nesting site and you’re not allowed to land at all).  We also was numerous other seabirds and witnessed three dolphins swimming in the bay that kept cresting above the water.  We went on a guided tour even though we’re very experienced kayakers mainly because the creeks are all tidal so you have to know when to go into them without getting stuck and also because the guides are very knowledgeable about the whole area and the wildlife, so they could answer any question put to them and keep you informed about what it was you were seeing.

Another amazing property we visited was Drayton Hall, which is perhaps the most incredible house I’ve ever visited in America, mainly because it’s totally original and completely un-restored, apart from important work such as making it safe and fixing the leaky roof etc.  It’s also completely unfurnished as they decided they didn’t want to showcase it as a property from a certain era, instead they want to show you the house itself.  You’d be forgiven for thinking that this house would then be  stark and uninviting but it isn’t, it actually has the opposite effect and it allows the beautiful old house to absolutely shine.  It’s truly remarkable as it stands, and it’s one of the oldest houses in America, built as it was in 1722.  It’s also quite remarkable that it was one of the very few plantation houses left standing in South Carolina after the Civil War, and rather amusingly, that’s because they nailed signs all around the perimeter of the property stating it was a smallpox hospital!  The Union troops gave it a very wide berth indeed!  It’s also rare as houses go as they allow flash photography inside due entirely to the fact that there are no precious furnishings, drapes or pictures to be damaged.  Unfortunately though my little camera just couldn’t capture the amazing detail of the rooms so I strongly suggest a visit to their website.

We had a fantastic experience in South Carolina, so much so in fact that I can’t quite bring myself to finish unpacking my suitcase!!  It’s still half full and sitting in a corner of my bedroom, and my car is now proudly sporting a South Carolina state decal on the back.  South Carolina isn’t just a State, it’s a state of mind.

Don’t Faint…. It’s A Blog Post!

And not any old blog post, photos of sunny, beautiful Charleston, South Carolina!  Finally!  It’s hard taking a holiday round here, so much to do when you get back.  And do you remember how appalling the weather was in Michigan in April?  All the stuff we normally do that month like clearing up our large garden, digging over the veg border, stripping and re-staining the deck, washing the windows and putting the window screens back in, etc, etc, just didn’t happen.  So it all had to be done on our return, still not 100% finished, but it also wasn’t helped that I wasn’t at home at all for the two weekends following our trip, so with the holiday, that makes four complete weekends away from home.

Anyway, Charleston.  Lots of photos here interspersed with the history of the city.  This first post is all about historic Charleston itself, look out for another post in a couple of days with other photos of the surrounding area, all photos should be clickable for a larger view.

I’ll readily admit to not knowing a whole lot about American history.  I know about the Constitution, the American Revolution and I’ve heard of the Civil War for example.  I know a bit about the famous early presidents too, like Robert Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln but really, that’s about it.  Not much is it? So we were pleasantly surprised to discover the wonderful, historic and very intimate city of Charleston.  They always say the South is so much different from the North, it’s more polite, genteel and friendly, and we’ve experienced that before in North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia, but in South Carolina they seem to have taken those qualities to a new level.  The Charlestonians are very, very proud of their beautiful city, and are very keen indeed to show it off.

Charles Towne was first founded in 1663 after a land grant from King Charles II of England to eight of his loyal friends after he was reinstated to the Crown  following Oliver Cromwell’s short lived attempt at over throwing the monarchy and establishing a Commonwealth of England.  Seven years later in 1670 the first settlement was established North of the current city on the banks of the Ashley River by English settlers who moved from Bermuda.  By 1680 they had been joined by more English settlers from the UK, Barbados and Virginia and the city was relocated it it’s current location at the mouth of the Ashley and Cooper rivers that empty into Charleston Harbour.

Charleston continued its rapid expansion and was soon the largest and busiest port South of Philadelphia and the fourth busiest port in the nation, behind Boston, New York and Philadelphia.  It’s main cash crops were deer skins, indigo dye for the textile industries, rice, silk and cotton.  In order to maintain this status and grow these crops in such quantities to be financially viable they needed a huge workforce, and to that end, the single biggest import into Charleston was black Slaves from Africa.  So much so in fact that by 1770 more than half the population of the city was slaves.

As the relationship between the colonists and Britain deteriorated, Charleston became a focal point in the ensuing American Revolution.  Twice the British attacked the city, the second time they managed to successfully capture it in what was known as the Siege of Charleston, which was the greatest American defeat of the entire war.  The British occupied the city from 1780 until finally pulling out in 1782, and it was immediately after this that Charles Towne was officially renamed Charleston.  They city continued to boom after the Revolution in a period known as the Antebellum Era, cotton became the major crop of the area, and during this period the wealth of Charleston rivaled that of New York.  Charleston was still unhappy though and South Carolinians became more devoted to the idea that their state’s rights were superior to the Federal government’s authority and in 1830 they passed an ordinance to repeal any Federally imposed law in the State, thus sowing the seeds for the American Civil War some 30 years later.

On December 20, 1860, following the election of Abraham Lincoln, the South Carolina General Assembly voted to secede from the Union, to become an independent state not part of the Union of North and South, and on 9 January 1861 they opened fire on the Union ship, Star of the West, as it was entering Charleston Harbour.  On April 12, 1861, shore batteries  opened fire on the Union-held Fort Sumter in the harbor.  After a 34-hour bombardment, Major Robert Anderson surrendered the fort, thus starting the war.

Union forces repeatedly bombarded Charleston and blockaded the harbour for the best part of the four year war.  Nothing could get out and hardly anything could get in.  In 1865 Union troops finally moved into the city, taking control of all major sites and the Confederate States of America, which had grown to include Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Virginia and North Carolina, were defeated.

The war had destroyed Charleston, the prosperity of the beautiful Antebellum city was shattered.  Freed slaves faced poverty, discrimination and destitution, their masters often left penniless with the plantations destroyed and the grand homes looted and burned, however industries slowly brought the city and its inhabitants renewed vitality and Charleston began to rebuild and its population once more began to grow.

As the city’s commerce improved, Charlestonians also worked to restore their community institutions. In 1865 The Avery Normal Institute was established by the American Missionary Association as a private school for Charleston’s African American population.  The United States Arsenal was converted into the Porter Military Academy, an educational facility for former soldiers and boys left orphaned or destitute by the war and The William Enston Homes, a planned community for the city’s aged and infirm, was built in 1889.

However, the newly restored and revitalised city was to receive a further blow, this time from Mother Nature, when in August 1886 an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale destroyed most of the city.  The quake was so powerful it was felt as far North as Chicago and as far South as Cuba.  Undaunted, Charleston rebuilt itself for the second time in less than thirty years.

One of the things that really appealed to us as we walked around the city and also as we viewed it from the water on the day we went kayaking was one of the city’s ordinances that states that any building in the downtown area of Charleston can not be higher that any church steeple!  It came into affect between the Civil War and the earthquake and still stands today.  What this means is that this stunningly beautiful city retains not only it’s beautiful buildings and Southern laid back charm, but it manages to do so without looking like every other major city in this country with its banks of bland, huge skyscrapers dominating the skyline.  It is truly amazing to see churches and historic buildings instead of mirrored glass high rises.  Because of this, it has also earned the nickname of the Holy City.

The current economy of the region is propped up by the three military bases in the area but also by German industrial giant Bosch, and in 2009 Boeing announced that their new wide body 787 Dreamliner, which is scheduled to go into production in July of 2011, will be built in North Charleston.  The IT market is also very strong in South Carolina in general, all adding to the almost 30% increase in population since 2000.  And of course, Charleston is still a very busy and bustling container port, the 4th busiest on the East coast and the 8th busiest in the United States.  Plus let’s not forget the tourists, tourism is really big business for the South, especially the coastal towns and cities.

The weather while we were there was quite amazing.  It was still in the high 30’s, low 40’s in Michigan with a few lingering snow and sleet showers too while we were gone.  But in South Carolina it was full summer, with the temps ranging from 75F to 86F, with only the one day of rain.  Everything we expected to see in bloom for the Spring was completely finished, instead all the summer perennials that you might see in the UK and also in the Northern States of America, like delphiniums and roses were in full bloom, it truly was the middle of summer.  All the summer blooming annuals were planted up in tubs, planters and baskets everywhere you looked.  Their “winter” is a short couple of months encompassing December and some of January with highs in the 50’s and lows around 45F!!  They had 3.2″ of snow in February 2010, breaking a 20 yr old record.  They are of course at risk during the summer and early autumn from hurricanes.  The worst one being Hurricane Hugo which came ashore in 1989 causing over $2.8 billion dollars worth of damage.  However, thinking back to this years appalling winter, and 18 years of pretty appalling winters actually, I could live with that!!  Have I sold you on South Carolina yet?  I think I’m ready to move, lol!!

It is a semi tropical, fairly wet climate though, averaging a staggering 46″ of rain a year!  Most in the form of sudden thundershowers, so it’s not like it rains for days on end, and all that rain is what helps keep the place so lush, green and verdant.  It was such an amazing experience and it far surpassed any expectations we might have had of the the South, so much so in fact that we’ve already decided we’ll go again another time.  It was completely worth the bum numbing 14 hour drive there and back!!

I’ll be back with another post in a couple of days with some photos from the beach, kayaking and the plantation houses we visited.