Day 87: Walking around Charleston, South Carolina.

We decided to stay two nights at Oak Plantation RV Park so that means we have a full day today to meander around Charleston. Before we headed into town however, we drove across street from the campground to finally eat at a Waffle House.

We have seen Waffle House restaurants for the last several thousand miles of our journey. Every time we have driven by, we have always been towing the Airstream or have just eaten a meal. They are not known for having large parking lots so we have always just passed them by. It was well worth the wait. Not only is the food delicious, it is super cheap!

The iPad on the other hand, is not quite as affordable. We parked the van in Charleston downtown right by the Apple Store. Since the iPad came out, I have not yet seen it in person so I had to take a quick gander. It is a very nice looking device and our site looks great on it. As tempting as it is to buy one, I can not get myself up to buying a first generation product or paying full price for one.

Around the corner from the Apple store is the old city market of Charleston. Unlike the city market in Savannah that has gone through various transformations, this one has been very well preserved and still used today as a marketplace.

Only having a single day to see a place like Charleston is a pretty big task. How do you decide where to go?

Thanks to Mila the navigator, she busted out the map and led us to the historical neighborhoods to see the old houses.

Along the Charleston Harbor, we walked by a stretch of historical homes aptly named Rainbow Row after the colors they are painted. Back in the 1700s, these were bustling shops and the heart of Charleston’s commerce.

Some of the homes here are truly magnificent. As compared to the houses in Savannah, these are generally much more opulent. Not to say the many of these have waterfront views as compared to the Savannah homes that mostly look into 1 of their 22 squares.

At the edge of the water is the Charleston battery that protected the town from seaborne enemies back in the colonial era. Today it is a park that is home to this statue commemorating the confederate soldiers. I think they probably wore a little more clothes than this is depicting.

A lot of the houses along the Charleston Battery were tall multi-level mansions with balconies on each level. Since they didn’t have air conditioning back then, the balconies did not face the ocean but rather faced the neighbor’s house. I guess the idea is that the breeze from the water would then blow through the open balconies on hot sunny days.

We once again went to our trusty ol’ tour book and it recommended us to eat at this French restaurant called Gaulart et Maliclet Cafe.

Don’t let the French name scare you because this is a very affordable place serving some very yummy bistro style cuisine.

Of course ice cream is once again on the menu and of course Marlene and Ava did not hesitate to partake. If we keep eating like this, we are going to be massive before this trip is over if it wasn’t for all the walking we do on sightseeing days like this.

Just like Savannah, many of the historical homes are open for tours. The problem with these tours is that each of them want to charge you like they are some kind of amusement park. It is really quite ridiculous that a 30 minute tour can cost as much as $30 a person.

Maybe we should just pretend like we are some kind of rich Californians looking to relocate to get a tour of this house.

After looking around, we actually noticed a lot of houses in the downtown area for sale. These homes being so expensive, you would think most of the owners are upper class folks who are really feeling the pinch like the rest of us are.

I guess eventually, the slowdown of the economy hurts us all.

If you are in the market for a mansion in Charleston, now might be a great time to do it. Don’t forget to invite us for a free tour when you do!

Well, time to get fat again after all the walking around. We saw a Five Guys on the way back to the campground and decided to load up on their delicious burgers for dinner. After a second visit, I would have to officially declare that although it ranks up there as one of the better fast food burgers, In-N-Out still wins hands down. Another burger place we love that hasn’t quite garnered nation-wide acclaim is a California chain called The Habit (formerly The Hamburger Habit), also ranks way up there in my book. It originally began as a little stand back in the 1960s in Santa Barbara and has just recently been expanding all around California. Just thought you might want to know.

Sorry cows, hopefully those burgers weren’t anybody you knew.

over and out,
dan