The rally was held at the James Island County Park which is also the location of the Annual Holiday Festival of Lights. John and I drove twice around the park to see the lights (singing Christmas carols!) and we also walked across the street from the campground to see additional lights on walking paths that led to food vendors and a carousel. It was a beautiful display of holiday lights...
Here is their holiday sand sculpture...
Here are some moving light displays...
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| Leaping frog |
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| Jumping horse |
And one video that I thought was pretty cool...
For our first day of planned activities we all boarded a bus and went to downtown Charleston. First up was a 1-hour horse-drawn carriage tour of historic Charleston. Our campground neighbors Phyllis and Al were our carriage partners and we enjoyed the tour with them.
It was nearly impossible to get good pictures on the tour so we will return on one of our free days.
Next up was a box lunch picnic at Liberty Square. After lunch we boarded a boat for a 30 minute cruise to Fort Sumter. Confederate artillery opened fire on Federal troops in Fort Sumter to start the Civil War. Not realizing how terrible the war would be, the battle was watched by many civilians in a holiday mood. During the war the fort was reduced to rubble but remained in Confederate hands until General Sherman's march through South Carolina in 1865. Today the fort is maintained by the National Park Service and has been partially restored.
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| The boat we rode to the fort |
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| Do you see the ghost in the flag? (in the middle, 3rd star down) |
We returned to the campground around 5:30 after a full day!
Our second day of planned activities began with a bus ride to Patriots Point followed by a tour of Boone Hall Plantation and last but not least, a delicious dinner at Hyman's Seafood Restaurant.
Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum is home to the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown as well as a destroyer and a submarine. The Yorktown participated in WWII and the Vietnam War and recovered the Apollo 8 astronauts.
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| Dentist chair |
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| How would you like to bake 10,000 cookies? |
Also at Patriots Point is the submarine USS Clamagore and destroyer USS Laffey. The submarine was commissioned in 1945 and had a 30-year career. The destroyer was commissioned in 1944. While operating off Okinawa in April 1954 she was nearly sunk by a massive air strike of 22 Japanese bombers and suicide kamikazes.
Inside the submarine
The destroyer
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| The Avenue of Oaks |
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| Some of the oak trees are massive |
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| Boone Hall |
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The interior of the house was beautifully decorated with period furniture and spectacular Christmas trees
in every room. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside.
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| Row of slave quarters on the property |
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| Today polo horses are kept in the stables |
We finished the day with a dinner at Hyman's Seafood Restaurant in downtown Charleston as guests of Forest River RV. The building was originally built in 1890 as a dry goods store and converted to a restaurant in 1987. It is still owned and operated by the Hyman family. Dinner was delicious and we had a great time chatting with Phyllis and Al and Jack and Patsy.
To get a better look at Charleston we went back on our own on one of our free days. Charleston is called the Holy City because since it's early days it emphasized religious freedom. There are over 20 historic churches in Charleston. Here are a few that we saw...
Many of the houses we saw have the porch on the side of the house with a door at the end facing the street. In the past, residents would sit on their porch and leave the door closed if they wanted privacy and opened if they were accepting visitors. People back then would give the residents privacy if the door was closed and they would not even glance towards the porch. Men would touch the brim of their hats to shield their eyes.
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| A restaurant known as SNOB |
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| The old jail |
The Charleston City Market was established in the 1790s. It stretches for 4 city blocks. It was a place for farms and plantations to sell beef and produce and also provided a place for locals to gather and socialize. Today it houses vendors who sell souvenirs and other items ranging from jewelry to Gullah sweetgrass baskets.
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Confederate Museum which displays Confederate artifacts and
other items from the city's Civil War period.
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| Even a cobblestone street! |
And the waterfront...
After a day of sightseeing, we stopped for dinner at Fig, a restaurant recommended to us by our daughter-in-law Andrea. We're so glad we went. It was delicious!
Loved, loved, loved the Appetizer...
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| Tartine of Beef and Preserved Tuna with beet & olive tapenade |
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| Mustard Crusted Wreckfish w/brown butter, capers, chanterelle, polenta |
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| Creekstone Strip Steak w/frisee, Benton's bacon, poached egg, crushed potato |
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| Sticky Sorghum Cake w/rum raisin ice cream |
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| Cookies and Cream Profiterole w/chocolate sauce |
On our second free day we biked 5.5 miles through the park on paved paths. It was a beautiful sunny day with a high of 60. Perfect for bike riding!
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| Alligators! |
The picture above is pluff mud which is a slippery, shiny brown-gray, sucky mud with a distinctive smell like none other (rotten eggs). It is found on the tidal flats and grass salt marshes. If you get stuck in it it's recommended that you crawl out on your belly like a fiddler crab.
Charleston is a beautiful city filled with history and southern hospitality. The Holiday of Lights is sure to put everyone in the Christmas spirit. We enjoyed meeting and getting to know fellow RVers. It was a great rally!
On December 15 we packed up and headed for Orange Beach, Alabama our winter home until February.
We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May 2018 be filled with health, love, and adventures!
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