Charleston day 2

 Our first impression of Charleston was far from favorable. We went back today to see some sights on our want list. Charleston is horribly congested in the downtown area. It really does not have a central business district. What it does have is narrow two lane streets. If you choose the inside lane it is a sure bet someone will be trying to turn left, without a signal. If you choose the right lane it will suddenly become parking spots. All this adds to near gridlock. Charleston is home to the Citadel University, College of Charleston, Medical University of South Carolina. Yes, there were young people everywhere. Parking is at an absolute premium as you might expect.


 The city is referred to the "Holy City" around here. It does have an abundance of churches. Could not get to most of them but here are a few photos.

 The last photo is one of a Church known as the round Church. It sets in the middle of a cemetery which is right on Meeting street, a main road.

 While no where near as charming as Savannah,it is not without it's own charming buildings.

 This cobblestone street was so uneven and rough it was difficult to walk on.

 We did tour a small museum, The Old Slave Mart. What we learned was that slaves used to be traded on the street. City fathers thought this unbecoming so they changed laws so that they had to do the trading inside. This building was the largest and only survivor. We also learned that those traded were born here, not brought over from Africa. In addition free blacks were buying and selling slaves as well. All to make a profit and there was a sliding scale of worth based on age/sex/condition and skills. The traders were the middle men between sellers and the buyers. Unfortunately no cameras allowed inside.

  Charleston has taken some old buildings and created a nice area. It is known as City Market This area changed our opinion of Charleston. While we have no plans to return, we no longer think as negatively about the place as we did. Remainder of our time will be spent at various locations in the countryside, plantations, old and current and a winery/distillery!