Charleston

I forgot to mention in my last post...

Something else that happened in that fun-filled July weekend:

We left for Charleston, SC on July 21st at 6 am.

So all of our running around happened just before we left town for 8 days. It might go without saying that we were completely exhausted come Sunday morning, waking up at 3:30 am to ensure that we had everything packed that we needed. This was a little more important for Jon because he needed supplies for his class that he was taking. I think the exhaustion worked in my favor, though, since I actually slept on the flight this time.

Jon and I met his parents and Tammy (who works for his parents) there in Charleston for a faux finishing convention. We rented a house in Johns Island, which put us about equal distance from the convention, the beach, and downtown Charleston. We only had one vehicle, which made it kind of difficult to do anything for long periods of time (like hang out on the beach) because we were always having to pick someone up from class. It wasn't too bad, though.

Monday was the only day that no one had any classes, so we took advantage and went to visit Boone Hall Plantation that morning. Boone Hall Plantation is really beautiful and huge, with a fantastic driveway that uses the trees and the moss to naturally cool you down as you enter the plantation. We were a little disappointed that they only let you go in 3 rooms in the house. It was the hottest day (103 degrees!) of the whole week, and the house was the only place that was air conditioned, so we were wishing we spent more time in there! It was neat, though, to tour the grounds and see what crops were grown and harvested. Walking through the slave's cabins was also really interesting.

Boone Hall Plantation

The long driveway

Inside the slave's quarters

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to visit another plantation, Drayton Hall. Jon and I had already been there on our last trip out there, but we thought we'd visit again, since it was so cool the first time. Drayton Hall is so different from Boone Hall, in that it is completely original. There is no furniture or anything inside the house at all. It is really interesting to walk through a house like that, knowing that little to no restoration has been done since the family last lived in it. It was built in 1738 and originally faced the river, since that is how people arrived to Drayton Hall back then. However, when the roads were built, the back of the house became the front. It wasn't too difficult to achieve this, because the house is totally symmetrical.

Drayton Hall Plantation

Ashley River, right in front of the house

*Us*

Downtown Charleston is probably one of my favorite places so far to visit. The area is so rich in history, it's unreal. So different than here on the west coast. The houses are big and interesting. Each one is trying to out-do the one next to it. Something I thought was interesting is that most of the original houses are built just one room wide, with a long veranda or balcony on one side. This was so they could get a natural cross breeze through the house because there was no air conditioning back then!

One of the best things we got to do was swim in the ocean. The water was so warm - so different than what we are used to!

We had a great time on our vacation!