Beautiful Charleston

Drayton Hall Plantation House
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11/20-21/2008

Checked out of Myrtle Beach today and drove the 100 miles to Charleston, SC. What a wonderful city it is. Mike and I visited here a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed this place. It is a must see for anyone traveling to this part of the country. We stayed at James Island County Park which was recommended by several people and we can see why. It is beautiful and has a wonderful RV section. After getting set up we took a short drive to visit the Angel Oak. This is the most enormous oak tree we have ever seen and it is estimated to be 1200 years old. The James Island County Park was in the midst of hosting their annual “Holiday Festival of Lights” – a Christmas light show that is ranked as one of the top ten in the country. After dinner we took a drove through the festive displays and I took a few photos.

Drayton Hall from the Ashley River
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On Friday we took a drive along Ashley River Road, location of several historic plantations. On our last trip we visited Boone Hall and Magnolia Plantation – this time we decided to see Drayton Hall, the oldest preserved plantation house in America that is open to the public. It was built in 1738 and is a great example of Georgian-Palladian architecture – everything in perfect balance. It is unfurnished without running water or electricity and remains basically unchanged. It survived the Revolutionary and Civil Wars plus numerous hurricanes and earthquakes. It was sunny and beautiful today but windy and cold so we didn’t walk the grounds except for a brisk stroll to the Ashley River. From there we drove into Old Charleston. The majestic homes there are amazing and very, very expensive. It’s one of those places that looks much as it did during the Civil War. The Civil War started near here at Ft. Sumter which is located on the Sullivan Islands just across Charleston Harbor. The Ravenel Bridge is very majestic and can be seen from just about everywhere in Charleston. We had dinner at the Charleston Crab House which is located on the Intercoastal Waterway and it was delicious.