Williamsburg to Charleston

Williamsburg to Charleston
457 miles (10 hours)

Goodbye, Virginia, Hello the Carolinas! We traveled down the historic Albemarle highway 17 opting for the scenic and quiet routes rather than the frenetic but shorter Interstate 75. Passed snow-white fields of cotton, ripe for picking, in 71F of sunshine. Despite an awful forecast it was dry most of the journey – the heavens opened that night with a cracking thunderstorm. We drove into Charleston along the Heritage corridor through miles of flat industrialized side of Charleston to stay a couple of nights at La Quinta.

The following day we drove into the old city and wandered around the “slave market” (where slaves sold goods, not where they themselves were sold!) The black ladies are still there, weaving and selling their sweetgrass baskets and other trinkets. Joining a walking tour is our favorite form of sightseeing, and we had an excellent and flexible guide who took us inside churches, around churchyard grave stones and into the Powder Magazine. This building is the only surviving building of the original walled city, and no wonder, with its 3-foot thick walls! It survived civil war, a hurricane and an earthquake, which between them took out all the other buildings.

Charleston homes have a unique architecture with a grand front door on the street leading to the “piazza” which is an open walkway down the side of the house to the real front door. As living rooms were generally upstairs, this meant the front door could be open for the breeze and the door on the street was for security. It looks really funny. The homes are still the original wood; the black cedar from the bogs was well-seasoned and hardened and lasts forever. Another tradition is the “Charleston green” gloss paint on the front doors and shutters, basically black with a spoonful of green. The homes were one big room wide and a couple of rooms deep. Then there was a compulsory 15-foot gap before the brick built kitchen to minimize fires. Once a fire department was established, most homes built a “hyphen room” to join the kitchen to the main house, and these can still be seen almost everywhere in old Charleston. Sometimes the old kitchens were made into separate houses so we often saw the houses numbers with a half added (70 then 70½). We had a wonderful time peeping into the old courtyard gardens with ancient shady trees, and enjoying the old streets. We enjoyed coffee in the old meeting house, walked along the promenade and sat on the swinging benches by the pineapple fountain.

Finally time to head home along the Ashley River Road,another 393 miles, bringing the total mileage to 5508, and we have enjoyed every one of them. Thanks to the blog aficionados, especially for the great comments and inspiration. Hope you enjoyed the tour too. Until the next time……..G