Charleston Cauldron

Hot, humid, and hellish. That's a description of the weather for the past two days! Heat indices of 104-109 with high humidity and high real temperatures (high 90s). We know that the coach AC works wonderfully as sometimes we even get a little cool when the AC is set to a reasonable temperature (like 79). Outside, however, it feels like we are being boiled in the hot humid air. Thus, the heading: Charleston Cauldron.

We had a relatively easy drive from Savannah to Charleston yesterday. I hated to say good-bye to cousin Ellen and her wonderful hospitality but it was time to shift our base of operations. So we made the short day's drive to Charleston.

We're at the Oaks Plantation Campground on Hwy 17, west of Charleston. This is an excellent site although it doesn't have enough trees. We have a concrete pad with full hook-up. We got in yesterday and set up our site. It was so humid that I had to go take a shower before Mary would let me back in the coach. Fortunately, this campground has an excellent shower house so I was able to cleanup, dry off and go home. At least to our home, sweet home Fleetwood Fiesta. Supper and a few rounds of Tri-ominoes finished off the day.

We arranged for a car from Enterprise Rent-a-car (I DO have to get a car we can flat tow; I've seen too many RVers who say that pulling a dolly just isn't worth it and since both of our present cars would have to be front-end on a dolly in order to make the trip I may have to change one of the cars). Enterprise picked us up at the campground this morning in a Chevy Camero (yes, Mary really IS flexible enough to fit into the back seat observing that I'd never get out of it if I got in the back seat...isn't it good that the old man is married to a younger woman who can compensate for his elderly frailties?). I could hardly see over the dashboard of the Camaro it was so high! So I asked for something else. We got a Toyota Prius. I don't know if they can be flat towed, but I could learn to like this car! QUIET!!! Well set-up. And NO real key. Just push a button (with the key fob in your pocket).

Then we drove downtown. Where Savannah had the trolley tours, Charleston has coach tours. We took the venerable GreyLine tour. They've had good reputations in cities we've visited in the past and they did not let us down. Chris, our guide and driver, had a splendid knowledge of Charleston, it's history, it's culture, and it's real estate. He could quote the prices at which the splendid old homes we past had brought if they sold in recent years. And let me tell you that even in a down economy these are PRICES not prices. The current recent record is $7.5 million for one of the old houses, although the locals don't understand how anyone could pay asking price for a home that is NOT one of the best of the historic homes when they were only bringing up to 3/4s of asking. Well, you don't need to listen to me indulge my real estate fetish. But the tour was informative, entertaining, and educational. And it was a good lesson in local real estate activity.

Charleston has lots of history, like Savannah, and we really got a good sample of it with both the Grey Line tour PLUS a tour of Fort Sumter. As many of you know, Ft. Sumter was the site where the first shots of the War for Southern Independence, aka The Civil War, aka The Late Rebellion (and a host of other names, depending on where in the USA you live) were fired. Ft. Sumter is on an island at the mouth of Charleston Harbor and although the Southern attack on the island (which was successful) did not result in anyone killed and did relatively little damage, the nearly six hundred day siege that the Union forces later imposed on the island fortress nearly destroyed the works (although they didn't capture the fort until the southern forces abandoned the it). We went over on a tour boat, had too little time there but enjoyed what time we had, returned to shore and had dinner at Tommy Condon's Irish Pub and Restaurant. Mary had a delicious shepherd's pie and I had some very tasty Coconut coated Atlantic shrimp. It was an excellent dinner prolonged by a serious rainstorm.

Tomorrow ... well, we haven't decided what the day will bring.

It is an interesting coincidence that son Vini and his bride Krista are in SC at the same time we are. Unfortunately, they are in Columbia and not Charleston so we can't even get in a brief visit. They'll be gone when the weekend is over.