Experience Charleston - Walking Around

I think the biggest takeaways about Charleston are the hospitality and the beauty. We experienced the hospitality with the generosity of the Tafts and Rubins. We really appreciated the way these couples opened their homes for us.

It seems that the best way to experience Charleston is by walking around. All the driving around we did on the weekend did not compare to what we saw, learned, and felt by walking around.

On Friday evening we went out to dinner with Liz and Tom Taft and my sister Martha. The restaurant is on the other side of the historic district near the College of Charleston. Instead of taking a car or a cab, Tom opted to call two pedi-cabs! Kermit and Tom piled in one and Liz, Martha and I got in the other. I never did this before!

A pedi-cab is a cart attached to a bicycle. Guests sit in the cart that is pulled by a person with very strong legs! It was a total blast. Our guy wove in and out of traffic, dodging people walking and cars through very heavy Friday evening first-day-of-Spoleto traffic.  The 4 mile ride for three of us cost only $16. Awesome. Pedi-cab driver goes on my list of retirement jobs for sure!

On Sunday afternoon, while Kermit and I were with Dick and Deanna at the aircraft carrier Yorktown, Tom and Liz brought Martha to the boat. She gave them a tour of our boat and Mike and Judy welcomed them to One September. Again Tom and Liz were very gracious. But I am not sure I picture either of them living in 500 square feet of boat space in the near future!!

L: Mike, Katherine, Edie, Judy plus a few others we don't know

Joe Rubin - tour guide extraordinaire

Joe on the steps of the temple

On Monday, Joe and Edie Rubin took Martha, Kermit, Judy, and Mike on a walking tour. Joe is very knowledgeable about the history, buildings, and people. Sareanna left Charleston on Monday morning so they didn’t join us. We miss them already!! Jim and Joy stayed back at the marina because Joy wasn’t feeling well. So the rest of us spent the entire day walking about 10 miles up and down the pretty city.

We stopped in the oldest Jewish synagogue, saw Charleston College, and walked up and down the streets looking at buildings, homes and gardens. We had a great lunch when our legs were about to give out. And we had ice cream at Belgian Chocolate Gelato, quite a taste treat.

We stopped at a little stand under a building to see a woman making traditional grass baskets, a specialty of the out-islands in Georgia and South Carolina. She learned her craft from her grandmother who learned it from her grandmother.

The lady making baskets; she was almost finished with this one

The men pick the reeds and sea grasses from secret spots around local plantations. Her aunt Viola is 96 years old and still lives on the plantation where she was born and where her family worked as slaves. She is famous for her sea grass baskets.

The United Church of Christ

These baskets are very expensive, some costing hundreds of dollars. The technique comes directly from Africa. I bought a small, inexpensive wreath and was rewarded with a big hug from this lovely woman!!

L: Judy, Edit, Katherine

L: Edie, Katherine, Martha from the back

L: Mike, Martha, Joe, Edie, from the back

They encourage swimming in the public fountains!

Rainbow Row - this is the Taft home again

Southern children are so adorable!

We have at least 400 pictures so there is not enough space for them all. Plus we don’t want to subject you to so many photos. So we will post the pictures in Picasa if you are interested.

I think it will be interesting to create some picture files based on themes like sunsets, Kermit and me together, Rusty, our friends, gardens, flowers, and sunk boats. That way when you ask us what is our favorite moment, we can select something based on a theme without boring you to death with a million photos!!

On Monday afternoon we returned to the boats hot and tired to find Darryl and Lisa from Why Knot made it to Charleston!!! So we had a great pickup dinner using the leftovers from the Taft Looper reception. After dinner Joe and Edie Rubin stopped by with their friends Teddy and Rose.

It was a great weekend in a great city with great people! We send major thanks to Martha Fewell, Liz and Tom Taft, and Joe and Edie Rubin for their gracious hospitality. 

It was the best weekend ever!!

Next up: on the road north with the goal of arriving at Moorhead City/Beaufort NC on 6/1. Martha is joining us for the week. We will dive with Martha and the good folks at Blue Region Scuba on Sunday. I can’t wait!!

Exploring Charleston - Entertainment

Rainbow Row on East Bay Street in Charleston

My sister Martha is dear friends with a couple that owns a home on “Rainbow Row” in the historic district.

Tom and Liz Taft are extraordinary hosts.

Martha and Liz are camera shy

On Friday evening when we arrived, we cleaned up and put on our nice duds. Liz picked us up and took us over to their home for cocktails then took us to dinner at a great restaurant, “Fish”, near Charleston College. 

This home is amazing!! Rainbow Row is a row of houses painted in a rainbow of colors – yellows, reds, pinks, and one home in Carolina Blue – that is their home. Next door we learned Martha Stewart was staying with her entourage in the pink home. We saw her on Sunday while we were walking around. Judy dared me so I walked right up to take a picture but didn’t get a chance. I saw the great lady though!! She is not as tall I as I thought she would be.

Tom and Liz loan out their home to guests with famous names too. But I am not talking!

The guest bathroom is AMAZiNG!!
I want one...

The Taft home was built in the middle 1700s. It burned and was rebuilt a few years later. The first floor was a shop. The second floor was originally a family room and the master bedroom. The kids slept on the third floor and the servants in the attic.

People walk right in the garden

The home has been completely restored, even winning a prestigious designation for the best rehab of the year, most closely resembling the original building.

You enter the property from the garden gate. The Charleston tradition says visitors are always welcome when the gate is open so while we visited several times people walked into the side yard and started taking pictures of the fountain! Beyond the side yard is a back garden with a swimming pool.

Inside the first floor has a living room and dining room plus a kitchen and sitting area in an addition to the back of the house. The original house would have had a kitchen in an outbuilding to protect the main house from the chance of fire. The entire house is exquisitely decorated with antiques and wall murals commemorating the many battles that occurred in Charleston. The chandeliers are amazing.

We visited several times: for cocktails on Friday evening, on Saturday morning with Rusty, and on Saturday evening for a reception for the Loopers. The Taft’s are very hospitable, even ensuring that each visitor had the kind of drinks they like best.

Liz is a great dog lover so she really enjoyed having Rusty visit on Saturday morning. Rusty had a great time exploring the first floor. I was nervous but Liz has always had dogs so nothing valuable is within tail-swiping range!

We walked with Rusty to a dog park down the block and Rusty played with a couple of nice dogs. Then Liz took us home so she and Martha could finish getting the house ready for the reception that evening.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the ghosts. Evidently there is a female ghost that supposedly inhabits the bedroom that Martha uses on the third floor. Martha didn’t see it but Liz has. On Saturday afternoon as Liz was putting on makeup in the master bath (an OMG room) she heard a rustling behind her. She didn’t think anything of it. She thought it was Tom coming in. She looked up and saw a woman from the waist up wearing period clothing just staring at her!!! She texted Tom who was with us and showed us the text!!

There is another story about ghosts. One time Liz was sleeping in a bedroom on the third floor when she was awakened by a dog. It walked past the bed and laid down at the foot of the bed with a big thump like dogs usually do. She kneeled up and peeked over the foot of the bed but there was no dog there!!

COOL HUH!!

Piccolo Spoleto

Piccolo Spoleto is a two week arts entertainment extravaganza held in Charleston annually around Memorial Day. Some events require tickets and others are open to the public. It is designed to encourage the arts among the citizens. It is a big tourist draw too, probably why Martha Stewart was visiting and Steve Martin conveniently scheduled a show that weekend.

This entire program is run by the city government with volunteer leaders and contributions from local businesses. I continually  marvel at the extent local, state, and federal government entities find ways to implement beautiful and creative ways to educate, entertain, and care for it’s citizens. I don’t mean to get political but we have stayed at any number of municipal marinas and attended festivals and events staged for citizens by government sponsors that make our lives better. Spoleto is one of those marvels. Now that I have attended Spoleto, I can’t imagine Charleston without the creative experience.

Green energy creating a green smoothie

These baskets are famous in the lowcountry - SE USA

On Saturday morning we walked through the farmers market which also included a juried art show. I never saw so many people. The last time I saw so many people was at the festivals in Chicago. Our little group of 13 people had trouble keeping together but we enjoyed the experience.
 

Joe and Edie Rubin get series tickets to the chamber concert series scheduled most days in the daytime. Tom and Liz got us tickets to a matinee performance of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” held at the famous Dock Street Theatre with the Handspring Puppet Company and actors from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre Company in London. The Dock Street Theatre building has been a theatre since the 1700s.

The play was interesting. Well, interesting is probably not the right word. It was odd. Puppets helped tell the story. But the puppets, dressed like the people who held them, appeared at the beginning then disappeared and the actors who held the puppets took over. Kind of odd.

The cast members who were not speaking in the scene became part of the background holding boards like 1x5 in different lengths. They moved these boards to represent trees or beds or hammocks or walls, depending on the needs of the scene.

Three puppeteers created the part of Puck, a fairy who causes mischief. The one in the middle held this bucket thing that looked like PacMan. Another guy on one side held a saw and a hammer (not sure why) and the other side held another implement. The 3 guys shared the lines. They moved with kind of a swoosh. It was pretty clever.

I have read or seen this play before. You probably have too. But I never really understood the story within a story until these guys. The folks who played the guys planning a special play for the duke and duchess were absolutely hilarious. The best was this short hairy guy who got turned into an ass in the story. You have to picture this. He appeared on a bike facing the back of the bike with his belly on the seat and his hands on pedals attached to the rear wheels. His butt was in the air. He was wearing a thong. The fairy queen talked to his ass. You have to use your imagination. It was fabulous.

Looper Reception

Liz talking to Edie Ruben in the foreground
Kermit, Tom, Judy H, and Martha in the background

L: Judy, Dick, and Jim in the sitting
 room off the kitchen

After the play we walked over to the Taft house for the Loopers’ reception. We had a great time. The food was wonderful, the home is beautiful, and our hosts were gracious.

L: bartender, Dick, Deanna, Tom,
Joy, Jim, Joe, Mike, Judy, and Martha

L: Mike, Liz, Deanna, and
Judy  in the sitting room

Remember I talked about that open gate thing? Two couples wandered into the garden and Tom invited them to join the group! One couple was a chef from Atlanta originally from Argentina and the other couple was from New York. They just wandered by and got invited to the party. Isn’t that cool?

At the Rubin House

L: Martha, Kermit, Rose,
Teddy, Judy, Mike

On Sunday evening, Joe and Edie Rubin picked us up for docktails at their home in Charleston. They have a very beautiful home, more modern than other homes we saw.

Checking out the snake: Joe and Kermit

We got to explore the beautiful photographs from around the world that Joe and Edie have taken and pictures of their family.

 We walked into their home and went to the back deck to look at their view of the marsh. And the view of two rat snakes getting it on in the tree outside of the patio!! We find adventure everywhere we go.

Later Joe and Edie took us to another Spoleto event, an outdoor concert on the steps of the Customs House. The Charleston Symphony Orchestra played exerpts from West Side Story and a few other vocal pieces. The singers were awesome. No fireworks. Fireworks would have made it perfect. But it was almost perfect!!!