Charming Charleston!

Well, here we are on our last day in Charleston! The photo shows the house we are staying in and if you look closely you can just about see our basement window! We are feeling at least a stone heavier with all the food that has been making its way down to our basement apartment via our extremely kind hostess! I have just about lost track of all the goodies that have come our way! We have had Key Lime Pie (an American delicacy & delicious!), cinnamon & raisin muffins, croissants, a top up on the butter for our toast, 2 more apples, a grapefruit, home-made soup, yoghurts & mandarin oranges. She did try to give us a huge pack of cheese as well but as we knew there was no way we would be able to eat it we had to politely refuse! Shrimp and grits was also on offer, but having tasted grits (and disliked them immensely - probably because in appearance they generally look scarily like baby sick!) We could not face them! But what a lovely kind lady! We are going to miss Kathleen! Charleston has tons of charm and sophistication and we have enjoyed walking around the historic district with its cobblestone streets and gas lamps and also along the waterfront admiring the buildings and waterfront mansions like the one on the photo above (top right). What a great balcony that one has right at the top! Colonial Lake is another great place too - and bit of an oasis right in the middle of the town. We found out about an Art Walk (thanks Ruth!) that was on one evening while we were here where you could tour different galleries in the historic district, meet some of the artists and partake of the free refreshments (wine and nibbles!) along the way! We liked the sound of that so went along to mingle with the art crowd. We struck lucky and managed to score a full glass of wine from the second gallery we visited, whereas other 'walkers' we passed had received very meagre rations elsewhere! It seemed we weren't the only ones with a slightly ulterior motive in attending the event as a lady came up to me at one stage and asked "where did you get the wine from?!" One of our favourite hangouts here has been down by the waterfront. There's a long walkway where one day we were lucky enough to see a pod of dolphins just a short distance from the shore - a fabulous sight! There was also a boardwalk pier with adult size porch swings where you could sit and swing and look out at the ocean - bliss! We walked down there one evening when there was a full moon and had this beautiful view from our swing seat! We kept seeing pineapples everywhere in Charleston, on artwork, cards and even the fountain was a pineapple! It seemed very strange until we found out that the pineapple is the symbol of southern hospitality (and we can vouch for that!) It comes from hundreds of years ago when the sea captains returned home from their voyages bearing gifts - the most popular of which were exotic fruits such as the pineapple which was then served at coming home parties for the sailors - and hence became the symbol of hospitality! We also weren't sure if the dance "the Charleston" actually originated here but managed to find out about that as well and learnt that it did! It apparently originated in a black community living on an island just outside Charleston in the early 1900's but became more popular in the 1920's after the dance appeared in a Broadway show. It was particularly popular with Flappers - rebellious young women of the 1920s known for wearing short dresses, bobbing their hair and listening to jazz music - all of which was considered to be extremely scandalous at the time!!! In the above photo CK is just getting ready to "do the Charleston" in the fountain. Scandalous!!! Although like the UK it's autumn (or fall) here it's still really warm so still feels like summer. However the leaves are all falling off the trees like at home - although have never seen a leaf quite as big as this one before! Now that's a BIG leaf! We will be sad to leave here as have enjoyed ourselves staying here (and being looked after by Kathleen!) Not to mention meeting the animals that also share the home. You can see CK in the photo with Simon the dog! Then there's Honey the cat (once a ferral cat that Kathleen adopted and is now completely domesticated!) There is also another dog called Bella but she hasn't sat still long enough yet for me to take a photograph. And there is another bigger dog (haven't seen him much and don't know his name!) but he is apparently very shy! Kathleen says though that Honey the cat is in charge and bosses all the dogs around! They all soon got used to us too and the dogs don't even bat an eyelid now when we walk in the door (which is a great relief to me!) Anyway, think that's all for now but must just tell you about Moe's before I go! It's this fab little restaurant nearby where they have a special on on Mondays and you can get a burrito stuffed with chicken, rice, beans and salad - all for $5. We love our $5 bargains so headed there last night and it was well worth it - they were delicious! As you can see on the photo they were huge! And when you walk in the restaurant all the staff shout out "Hey! Welcome to Moe's!" It was a brilliant place but unfortunately there isn't one near to where we are staying in Savannah - which is where we are heading to tomorrow! So will say goodbye for now - speak to you all again very soon!