Day 2

Day Two started out in Charleston, SC.  I'd never been.  It was not quite what I was expecting, but it was nice.  The trees were all big and mossy and the people were so polite.  Everyone is so nice down there, and it seemed genuine.  We took a plantation tour first thing, to Boone Hall Plantation.  It is still a working plantation (no slaves). They grow every kind of fruit and vegetable imaginable.  We took a tour of the main house, but only the bottom floor since it is still a private residence.  They had nine tiny brick buildings, which were the original slave quarters.  They said sometimes up to three families lived in each building.  I don't see how.  They have a tram ride around the property, which was really fun.  We got to see all the farm ground, swamp land and polo ponies.  They have polo ponies! 

Next was a general tour of Charleston's historic district.  There is historic stuff everywhere in Charleston.  Tons of historic homes and buildings, and quite a few of history's prominent people are from Charleston.  And they are proud of them.  We got to see Ft Sumpter, where the first shot of the Civil War was fired, but we didn't go inside.  Rainbow Row was fun.  They do love color. 

We ate dinner at a local favorite, Jestine's Café.  Fried chicken, grits, fried green tomoatoes (neither of which I'd had before).  The bus driver said that Jestine's Café is traditional Southern comfort food.  The fried chicken was the best I'd ever had.  Grits are okay, kind of a big nothing.  Fried green tomatoes are gross.  Just my opinion.  And I got a Cheerwine to drink.  I'd never heard of it.  It's a soft drink, just like a Coke but it tastes like half Cherry Coke and half Dr Pepper.  It was actually really good.  The waitress said Cheerwine can only be found in the South, so I had to get it.

That night we took a cemetery tour, which was my favorite.  We walked all over several pre-Revolutionary War graveyards.  Trivia---what's the difference between a graveyard and a cemetery?  A graveyard is attached to a church, a cemetery is not.  I didn't know that.  Anyhoodle, we heard tons of really interesting stories and saw some beautiful graveyards.  Apparently, back in the day, they really did (accidentally) bury people alive.  Poor fellers looked dead and doctors were afraid to touch them, so they were buried.  Just a little prematurely sometimes.  It was really fun.