I’m thrilled to present this inaugural post by the usually very private Mr. TWS. Enjoy!
Scenes of Charleston
One of the advantages for the guests of a destination wedding is that they get to enjoy serendipitous exploring of a place they might otherwise not have seen. Sweeney and I got to experience Charleston, South Carolina in this way in late September. I haven’t traveled much in the traditional South and neither Sweeney nor I had been to Charleston. Although our short trip was spent primarily with the wedding and family, we were able to get an introduction to Charleston shared in the photos below.
Charleston contained elements of what I think characterize the old South, such as the numerous mansions we saw on our walk in the harbor area and downtown.
The mansions gave us the feel of southern charm and history.
Water is an important attraction to me for every destination and the harbor walk above provided a good view of the Charleston harbor and the large residences that were positioned to take advantage of the view.
Charleston’s Waterfront Park also provided a beautiful walk along the harbor where wild birds seemed to be in a more remote setting.
We had seen flocks of these birds in flight on our boat ride in the harbor the previous evening.
The park also had numerous unique fountains like the pineapple fountain above and at the larger fountains children were frolicking in the spray.
Charleston’s history is well represented in the Old Exchange Building and Provost Dungeon. It played a significant role in America’s independence and also other historic events before and after. Pictured above is Sweenie cozying up to a colonial soldier.
The view of several rooms from the hallway and hearing about the Provost Dungeon made us wish that we had time to take the guided tour.
In addition to the mansions there were many colorfully painted historic residences, well maintained, conveying a feeling of really being in the old South.
Gardens and flowers were prevalent in the historic downtown. I can never resist taking flora pictures and like the slight differences among indigenous flowers of the places we visit. I selected the one above from the many I took in Charleston because the orange flowers and butterfly were themes in the wedding decorations; it seemed a fun coincidence.
There were many tempting restaurants along our walk. We opted for a rooftop one that afforded bird’s eye views of Charleston.
The sunset wedding cruise the previous night afforded views of the harbor, including the dominant Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.
Although I saw many beautiful and charming sights, the bride and her aunt were the best.
Bravo, Mr TWS! Those are lovely sights you showed us. I for one would enjoy experiencing old southern comfort.
Thanks for the comments. We really enjoyed Charleston and hope to get back. Southern charm is something new for me and we’ll have to be more attentive to finding opportunities to experience it.
Love the pineapple fountain!
Thanks. It was an interesting fountain but the pineapple made it amusing; I wondered if that was the artist’s goal.
Great job on your inaugural post, Mr. TWS! I haven’t been to Charleston yet but it has always fascinated me. Beautiful pictures of such a charming town. Love those old south mansions and that pineapple fountain!
Thanks for the comments. With more time it would be really fun to tour the mansions.
Bravo ! Mr TWS did a fine job !
Thanks.
Congrats on excellent travelling info to Mr. TWS. I agree with Sofie – that pineapple fountain is divine.
The other fountains had little kids playing in them though it was a very overcast day. Thanks.
Congratulations on the inaugural contribution Mr. TWS 🙂 Nice photos and love the pineapple fountain.
Appreciate your comments.
This is such a feel-good-post! It’s nice to have a little city-tour with a mixture of sights that caught your eye and that you were impressed with. I always associated Charleston with the dance from the Twenties -now I know better: it’s the home of the mighty pineapple fountain;)!! But seriously: I really enjoyed the tour, so thanks, Mr. Sweeney, and hope to read more from you:)!
Thanks for the encouragement. We regretted not carving an additional day out for sightseeing.
I’ve long wanted to visit Charleston! Almost got there once, but the Thanksgiving Holidays got in the way! You have stoked my wanderlust something awful!
I hope you go and enjoy it. We’d like to get back with more time. Thanks for the comments.
Well done Mr. TWS! I’ve lived in the South my entire life, and have never visited Charleston. We are making an effort to explore some of the smaller destinations like Charleston around our home. I hear there’s plenty of great hotels and food, so I should feel right at home:)
We feel the same about the San Francisco Bay area. There’s so much to see with just driving trips. Thanks for the comments.
I love Charleston! And it was fun to see your perspective on it Mr. TWS. My parents moved to Hilton Head Island, SC over 10 years ago, so I’ve been lucky enough to visit Charleston many times. A perfect destination for a wedding!
We felt the same way about the wedding and were pleased it worked out so well for a special niece.
I love Charleston. I think it’s an easy place to get to know as a tourist and to feel at home. And there are lots of opportunities for tourists to do what the locals do, like go to the farmer’s market on marrion square on saturday and eat at downtown restaurants like Perlz, hyman’s jestine’s and hominy grill. it’s also a much more kid friendly town than Savannah. There is a great playground across the bridge in Patriot’s Point.
Thanks for the additions. Lots more to see when we get back there.
So interesting to read stories about Charleston. I was born and raised in South Carolina and all of my family still lives there. Charleston is probably the most popular destination in the state. People love the beauty and history of it. I still call it ‘home’. 🙂
Your comments are really good to hear; they confirm our guess of what it would be like to live there.
Mr. TWS you are a very smart man re comments on what sights are best. We loved Charleston & Savannah on our tour down there last year. Love the history of the place & thoroughly enjoyed the walking tour we did with Tommy Dew. We learned a ton. Also enjoyed a tour of the private gardens of some of the homes in the downtown core.
Thanks for adding to the many additional things to do there. I believe those choices were less intellectual and more from the heart as well as expression of good taste.
What a lovely post, particularly the sentiment at the end! I’m also a fiend for finding water when I travel – I find it to be very calming and thought arranging. Plus I’m a bit of a fan of reflections for photography purposes 😀 Looking forward to many more posts – as I discovered when I finally got Vera to start writing – once you get a taste for it you won’t want to stop!
Thanks so much for the comments. I love water but I had never really thought about reflections and how much I enjoy them in photos.
Bravo, Mr. TWS. Nice debut. You nailed it with that last line.
It’s lovely when you get to attend a destination wedding that’s in a place as lovely as Charleston. Looks like you had a lot of fun. The bride looks beautiful.
Charleston was lovely and the bride beautiful. Thanks for the comments.
Mr. TWS, You’ve raised the bar and I can hardly wait to show The Scout of TravelnWrite what the ‘other half’ can produce. You did a great job with a wonderful place!
What a great excuse to visit! Looks charming – I’d love to visit the Carolinas – haven’t made it yet
Welcome! I hope we see more posts. Looks like a beautiful city.
Way to go Mr. TWS! 🙂
Charleston is on my list of places to visit…hopefully next year!
Charleston looks pretty cool. I could certainly see myself living in one of the giant mansions down by the water. Preferably within view of that awesome pineapple fountain!
Lovely post, that fountain is beautiful!
I’ve always wanted to visit Charleston even though, as I’ve now realized, I had no idea what it looks like or what the attractions are. This post has done a great job educating me. Good work, Mr. TWS!
Wow, those mansions are stunning! There is so much of the US that I haven’t seen and now have the bug to explore!
I’m going to a destination wedding in Charleston next year. I have only visited the city for a few hours before, and I’m looking forward to exploring more…. might even make it a week 🙂
I can’t imagine any of the “Mr.s” in my life jumping on my blog. I am determined to get my brother to do a guest post… Anyway, Charleston is so gorgeous. Loved these photos. And congrats to the bride!
Great that you were able to see Charleston this way. Nice inaugural post!
Way to “Follow your FUN” in Charleston! Were you able to walk down Market Street through the covered market? That is one of my favorite things, but possibly because I was raised around a mom and sister who are dedicated shop-a-holics! I will be visiting Charleston again in March and would love to know the name of the roof-top restaurant you ate at! It looks lovely.
I hope you will check out my blog, http://www.thefunlife.net, to see the updates after my trip! I’ve just recently posted about Tybee Island (my next weekend getaway), which is just outside another historic southern town, near Savannah, GA.