Charleston Vacation, Day 5
On our last day in Charleston, we decided to take the Water Taxi from Mt. Pleasant to Charleston. Ben really wanted to see dolphins, and we read that this was a good way to do so. Yeah, not so much. This was the only really disappointing part of our trip. The boat ride was nice but anticlimactic and not really worth the price.
After landing in Charleston, we set out walking to several of the churches that we saw on our horse-drawn carriage ride, walking down the narrow and historic streets filled with impressive architecture and windowboxes full of colorful flowers. By the time we made it to our first church, the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, we were all dripping with sweat from the crazy humidity. Thankfully the air conditioner was on full blast. The church was beautiful, crisp and white. Unfortunately one of the parishioners told us they plan to paint the ceiling like the night sky, which I think will not be an improvement.
We set out walking from there toward St. Michael's Church, which features pew boxes inside. They were actually locked - I guess only the family who owns the box can open it?
Continuing our tour of Charleston, we walked to the Old Exchange and Provost House, where the Declaration of Independence was read aloud to South Carolinians, where the US Constitution was ratified, and where George Washington danced one evening. We didn't tour, be explored the gift shop and what we could see from the entryway, and yes, appreciated the cool air.
Our next stop was the Dock Street Theatre, the oldest theatre in the USA. It was really cool to see. I wish I could attend a show there.
We then made our way to St. Phillip's Church, one of the most prominent churches in Charleston due to its location so close to the Market. We wandered through the old church graveyard, one of the things that makes Charleston so unique. With the crepe myrtles, Spanish moss, and ancient tombstones, the graveyard is quite picturesque, although I can imagine it would be rather creepy at night.
We had some time to kill before the next water taxi back to Mt. Pleasant, so we went back to the market and purchased some of Charleston's trademark pralines, then went back down to the waterfront to eat them while waiting for the boat. I took a moment to wander down to the famous pineapple fountain, but mostly we just sat in the shade and tried to keep cool.
The water taxi took us close to the bridge and the USS Yorktown before we docked and disembarked. We were all starving by this point, so we went back down to Shem Creek, where we watched dolphins playing in the creek while we waited for our meal.
After lunch, we decided we had enough time to drive to the famous Angel Oak Tree on our way to Edisto Beach. Well, what we didn't realize is that the Angel Oak actually closes at 5pm. We got there with 15 minutes to spare, so we wandered around in awe of this huge tree until they kicked us out. The tree is 400-500 years old and measures 66.5 feet tall and 28 feet in circumference. We were all very impressed.
We finished our trip with a visit to Edisto Beach, which is known for having great shells. We did find tons of shells, but didn't get there at the right time for the unique and most desirable types. It was very much high tide, so there wasn't a lot of beach to walk on, and the waves were crazy - we definitely didn't go swimming. We enjoyed walking the beach and collecting 2 and a half buckets of shells before darkness fell and we had to return home. We were treated to an amazing sunset in the distance on our drive back to the city.
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