A Beautiful Day in Charleston

Saturday, March 21^st

 

We arrived in Charleston at 7:00 last evening, and with a broken ATM in the station, we were without cash for a taxi. By the time we had finished trying to get the ATM to work, there was only one taxi left at the station. Though my Mom was skeptical about his ultra-nice car and attitude, we hopped in and hoped everything would be fine. The man said he could drive us to an ATM machine since he didn’t take cards.

The drive was fairly long, but we didn’t regret paying $40.00 for it when we found out that the driver was a polite, Christian man. He turned on some gospel music and talked about everything from shrimp and grits to Jesus. It was a nice ride! As he pulled into the parking lot of our hotel, I reminded my Mom that he hadn’t taken us to an ATM. We guessed he was thinking there would be one in the hotel, and sure enough, there was! When my Mom asked how he knew there would be one, his response was that all of these “fancy” hotels have ATMs.

 

 

This morning, we got onto the hotel shuttle and were dropped off a couple blocks past the second stop, at a restaurant named Toast, recommended by the shuttle driver. Apparently it is the most popular place to eat at around here, so we waited outside for over a half hour. It’s rated the best breakfast place in the area, but we didn’t think it was anything to rave about. We were seated at a small table next to a group of four moms on a girl’s day out who had already had their daily dose of caffeine.

We mainly walked around and browsed in shops today, until we got on a carriage tour in the afternoon. The tour was definitely a great idea, and a lot of fun! Our tour guide talked the whole time, mostly about the old houses we saw as we rode along, but he didn’t have any set speech, so it was nice and laid back. We were amazed at how many dates he had memorized from when the houses were built, renovated, etc. The weather was perfect for a carriage ride, and we ended up with a really nice group of people on the tour. The beautiful horse, Shaina, wore rubber covers over the metal horseshoes to protect from the heat and hardness of the asphalt. The tour was especially funny when our guide pointed out many houses as his “favorite old house.”

 

 

Our pleasant ride lasted an hour, after which we stopped in a little place for some delicious ice cream. We sat on a brick wall and ate it, while listening to an older man playing his guitar. He broke into, “You ain’t nothing but a hound dog!” almost every time a dog walked by.

 

 

 

 

We ate supper later on at a place called Jim ‘n’ Nicks after going into a few more shops. It was a nice change to not spend the whole day in museums or historical tours.