South of Broad

This morning we saw the ominous words TORNADO WATCH on our cell phone homepages and thought twice about our plan to go back into Charleston to see some of the oldest homes in a city which has more old homes than any other in the USA. A couple about 300 years old. Tornado watches are not something we take lightly after experiencing the close call in Colorado four months ago.  And a motor vehicle is not where you want to be when a WATCH becomes a WARNING.

But the weather changed, as it often does, and we drove the 15 miles to ‘South of Broad’, Broad Street being the ancient and present dividing line between the homes of the 1% and the more moderately priced and aged homes in Charleston, South Carolina.

From the oldest home in town, possibly in South Carolina (in its original wood) to the grand brick home in the Georgian style which was the British Invader’s in the 1780’s and the American Invader’s in the 1860’s headquarters, these homes are wonderful.

But as wonderful as the homes are, their gardens are much more so.  In fact, we heard a carriage tour guide tell his paying customers that THE time to visit Charleston is not Halloween (now) but Spring, when the gardens literally explode into expertly landscaped bloom.

We met Jim on South Battery, near the tip of the peninsula city between the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, chopping out 1890’s tiles from his front walk to replace with replicas that cost many times what the originals brought. Jim owns the first floor condo in this 1890’s ‘Richardson’ style home.  A style he told us was only used for about 15 years and while fascinating, never became overly popular in the opulent Victorian Era.  Also unusual is the size of his condo.  Most apartments and condos ‘South of Broad’ would be more like our coach living area, 400 square feet, than his, at 1900.

Jim knows a lot about his home town, and unlike many who buy classic homes ‘South of Broad’ enjoys talking with interested tourists about it.  He shared that the reason Charleston is so well preserved today is that following the Civil War, not only did Sherman NOT burn this seat of rebellion, but in having destroyed the rest of South Carolina’s agri-industry Charleston just literally dried up for the next 20 years, and never caught up with her booming cousin to the west, Atlanta.

I wonder if this gracious old treasure of a town would have boomed herself if she had gotten the leveling and restart that Georgia’s rail center received. Thanks for your time today, Jim!

Lunch ‘North of Broad’, a delicious shared 12” veggie pizza at the Southern Micro Brewery placed us near the City Pier and Mona did some comfortable reading while I shot the area… with my camera.

Fort Sumter and Castle Pinckney, two of the star performers that fateful April 15 153 years ago last seen from Shem Creek Park.

The Ravenal Bridge, under which we began our visit to Charleston, SC. I wonder if Josie is catching lots more blue crabs from that pier?

 

Supper was at home tonight, but just a little ways off from our coach is a Chic-Fil-A and their wonderful home-made diet lemonade and their amazing Ice Dream cones. While never claiming to be ice CREAM, it is an absolute ringer for Grandpa Snyder’s home-made, hand turned vanilla.  Thank you again Mike McDowell for putting us onto that one!

-Ken