History meets architecture

My first trip in South Carolina, and it was a good one! I went to Charleston, SC for the weekend and it is a must see for sure. Most of you know that I do not know too much about history and Lord knows, not much more about geography, but I surely appreciated every single part of Charleston. Charleston has not only a lot of war history and war items but history of the first settlements of the nation. The architecture of these homes and businesses combine beauty, function, and historical relevance. There is a purpose and plan for each structure, which I find exhausting to memorize but fascinating for sure! There is in fact a mansion right on the water that has a 500lb canon still in the attic because it was simply too heavy to move once it was launched there so the roof was just built back over it. Sadly, a lot of the wealth that has made Charleston so abundant and beautiful was in large due to slavery.

So I finished my second week at Tuomey Hospital which is going wonderfully. I headed out to Charleston which is about 2hrs from Sumter. It was raining and about 42degrees in Sumter and 2hrs later in Charleston it was 65degrees, rainy and humid! Not such a good idea to have straightened this curly hair of mine the night prior, zing! I stayed at the Holiday Inn Riverview, and yep you guessed it, it has a fabulous view of the river, Ashley river I believe?? The hotel had a handy shuttle that took me right to my first location The Noisy Oyster. I did forget to add that we have a wonderful rehab tech at Tuomey that is in fact trying to get into occupational therapy school at this very moment. When he is not doing something extremely productive, I have him plan my trips for the weekend :) This trip was all planned by Jayson and was perfect due to the fact that he went to The Citadel which is the college in Charleston that trains Cadettes. So Jayson says stay at the Holiday Inn Riverview, and that I did. Jayson says take the shuttle to The Noisy Oyster and that I did. However, when my new pal Dahna (PT) text me to warn me about the flooding that occurs downtown Charleston when it rains......I forgot to remind myself and stepped out of the shuttle into water up to about mid calf, YUK! At the highest point in Charleston, "the nose bleed section", it is a tall 14 feet above sea level, but yes they still can burry their dead in the ground in case you were curious!

The seafood at the Noisy Oyster was fabulous! I did try an oyster for the first time, it was at the bottom of my martini glass and it was horribly disgusting!! The couple next to me though enjoyed 2 platters of oysters and many drinks and each other's tongues for about 2hours! They say that oysters are an aphrodisiac, but they were making out long before they ordered the oysters so I'm not sure how that works? From there I went to the Irish Pub, Tommy Condon's down the street which had an Irish folk band. It was really good to sit and enjoy! When it was time to leave, the friendly bouncer called me a taxi to come get me, or so I thought. A 12passenger van pulled up and Jeremiah got out and let me in. He says, OK darling I will take you to your hotel but I have to pick up these Cadettes first because if they miss curfew.....you don't want to know what happens to them! Well unfortunately we did not get to pick up the Cadettes because they found another ride but I did arrive safely back at the hotel safely for a $3 fee!

Jayson had booked me on a bus tour of the city early the next morning but not before I went to the top floor of the hotel for a buffet breakfast. The view was outstanding and the food was not good! The bus tour though was fabulous! Adventure bus tour and our guide was Judy from Minnesoooota! I cannot escape these Yankees no matter where I travel! I listened intently for 2hrs, soaked in every site and every story. It is truly amazing what this city has endured between, disease, Indians, slavery, war, hurricanes and earthquakes. The buildings are simply amazing, mansions everywhere and the city preservation foundation is unmatchable!! After the tour was finished I was able to tour a mansion on the inside and learn the history of that family. Most of the land has been passed down through generations or now bought by multiple families to afford the land and fill the space. I do believe that the largest mansion is about 24,000sq feet on the inside and the current owner resides on the top floor while the bottom 3 levels are for viewing. He charges $15 for the tour, keeps five and gives the remaining $10 to charity to feed the homeless. Just little stories like these that warm your heart. The tour also included the college, The Citadel, which is one of the proudest colleges I have ever heard of! We have heard of hazing as it refers to fraternities, but this does not hold a candle to the first year freshman, "knobs" at The Citadel. There are mandatory head shavings weekly, they must march everywhere on campus and sometimes in the gutter, they have horrible lounging areas, they must attend and stand in full attention at every home football game while doing push ups at every touchdown, they are not allowed to have phones, they are also put through excruciating workouts and academics! Jayson, the rehab tech, survived this madness somehow! Oh yes, they are called "knobs" because when they have their heads shaved (boys bald, girls 1-2in) they look like door knobs!

Any who, I could go on forever about history stories and fun facts about Charleston, but you should really just go! Spring apparently is the best time to go, in case you were curious. The summers are extremely hot! Oh did any of you know that mosquito's do not fly higher than 13ft? Just a fun fact! On the tour, Judy reports that you must not leave Charleston without trying the she crab soup, and she said that you cannot leave without being 5lbs heavier either! I went right from the mansion to Charleston Crab House for some she crab soup and peel and eat shrimp. The soup was fabulous, sort of like a clam chowder.....they said it is a cream base with the female soft shell crab (actually now days they use both male/female but whatever), and topped off with a Sheri (wine, not sure of the spelling here cuz I don't drink it). After the great lunch I walked over to the market which is open 7days a week 364days a year with only Christmas day off! It has everything from baskets to scarfs, to sunglasses, to T-shirts, purses, spices, candy....etc. I bought a shall and some sunglasses because I had forgotten both in Sumter! I walked the streets of Sumter enjoying its beauty and ended up at a great park with palm trees, a fountain and a pier with porch swings all along it! What a great idea. I stopped at a few places on Jayson's list of must stops and then took the shuttle back to the hotel for a short nap!

Saturday night I went to La Hacienda on King street, which is the famous shopping street in Charleston. Had a great meal and then walked some more in the mist/rain and found a jazz band playing at a quaint restaurant. Ended up seated next to a Neurologist and his spouse whom is a Nurse and they live up north in Wisconsin. Fun to share medical knowledge and the story of my current life with them and to see their reactions! I walked from there to another place called the Blind Tiger for a drink and then decided that although people are extremely friendly here in the South....they are not too talkative to strangers. I got bored and called Jeremiah the cab/van driver for a lift. To my utter joy, as soon as the van arrived 10 drunk strangers hopped in the van before me, thinking this was their ride as well. Awkward sharing a 12passenger van with people you do not know, who have been drinking way too much for reasons unknown to you and now you are traveling to drop them off to a house that you don't know in an area that you don't know! I did make it safely back to my hotel after dropping off the gleeful, newly engaged couple and their celebratory crew, for you guessed it....$3.

Sunday I slept in quite late, loaded my suitcase with the extra toilet paper rolls and shampoos (Ally taught me this trick), and headed out on a beautifully sunny day. I drove around quite a bit, partially by mistake because I didn't know where I was going, but oh well no one to tell me any differently! I stopped at the Battery for some photos, gas station where I think I donated money to homeless kids rather than Haiti relief as they said, then drove and drove around downtown starving and about to pee in my truck! I finally found a parking garage and thought I was walking towards the last restaurant on the list of "must sees", when I kept walking, kept walking, and kept walking. I finally aborted the mission and ended up back on King street where I found a wonderful BBQ restaurant. Loaded up on great food, used the restroom and then found the truck! Drove 2hrs back to Sumter, slept for 2hours, watched the Superbowl and went straight back to bed! I can't say enough about Charleston, it is truly great and I highly suggest anyone to visit!! I will be going back several times while I am here for sure!