I had a chance to spend a few days in Charleston, South Carolina earlier this week for a conference. The organizers did an excellent job of balancing work and personal time; this left me with a fair amount of time to get out and experience a wonderful historic city.
Charleston is one of the oldest cities in America. As a cradle of the secessionist movement it was bombarded and captured during the Civil War. The aftermath of the war and Reconstruction brought about 100 years of economic stagnation. Lacking substantial economic development funds the beautiful old buildings and homes were never replaced. When things started to grow in the 1970's the conservationist movement was in full swing. A visitor today can easily step back in time and walk among hundreds of homes, churches and buildings dating dating back more than two centuries.
On Friday afternoon, I walked through the city's French Quarter on my way to the Water Front park. Lined by historic homes one side and the ocean on the other, the waterfront park is a treat for visitors. Passing people sitting on benches or talking on the seawall, I was struck by the number of different languages that I heard. Ultimately, I walked all the way down to the White Point Gardens, another neat park containing memorials for Moultrie's Victory on Sullivans Island in June of 1776 and several period cannons. A treat for a history nut.
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| Moultrie memorial and old cannons |
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| Historic homes along Water Front Park |
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| The inscription on the Sullivan's Island memorial. The Society of the Cincinnati was started by Henry Knox after the Revolution. Membership was limited to officers of the Revolution and their descendants. |
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| A cool old tree in the White Point Gardens |
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