Norton travels, USA and beyond: Charleston, SC.

We ended up staying in Charleston until Thursday because of winds too strong for travel, but that gave us the chance to see a couple more Charleston historical sites. We started the week by visiting Charles Towne Landing, the site of the original settlement in 1670. Now it is a state park with a museum, gardens, ruins, a reconstructed ship and buildings. In 1680 the settlement moved across the river to the peninsula location of the current city of Charleston. In the city we visited the Charleston Museum that had a very complete history of the area from the beginning rice plantations through the wars, Revolutionary, Civil and World Wars. We also visited the Aiken-Rhett House that had belonged to a former governor and congressman. This house was interesting because it was not restored, but preserved in its original condition. The next day we went to Karpeles Manuscript Library, housed in an old church building. It is now owned by a collector of documents of historical interest. Most of the ones on display were from the 14 presidents of the United States before George Washington (WHAT?? Wasn’t he the first president, you ask). From 1781 until 1791, the new colonies functioned under the Articles of Confederation, and the president was elected by the Continental Congress. George was the first president under the US Constitution. That part of history usually is glossed over quickly, but some of the names from that period are well known such as John Hancock. By the way, he always signed his name in large script. After that, we went to the Old Exchange House and Provost Dungeon. The tour there takes you into the basement area that served as a British prison during the Revolutionary War. The main floors have interesting exhibits about the historical events that took place in the building.

Thursday we left on Charleston, destination Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We decided to go there because the weather is better than inland. But it is colder than usual still. I’ll talk about Myrtle Beach next week. Have a good week, y’all.