Day 10: Destination SE - Charleston Tourism and Valentine's Day

Here is a well-known tourist stop in Charleston, which we actually caught on our way out of town on Sunday, called Rainbow Row. I learned from Wikipedia that it is the longest cluster of Georgian row houses in the United States. Apparently, the pastel colors were added during the restoration of the homes in the 1930s and 40s, which shoots the explanation I had heard, which was color coding for shops so slaves could differentiate one from the other (it was illegal to teach slaves to read).

On Saturday, we drove downtown together, parked the car in a ramp, and set off on our separate ways to explore based on our own interests.

Ken walked by the Union Pier...

...and I went to the Old Slave Mart Museum, on the actual historical location where thousands of people were sold into slavery. After my tour, the museum guide, Walter, gave me lots of extra inside tidbits about old Charleston and nearby Gullah sights, including the home of DuBose Heyward, who wrote the novel Porgy, and Catfish Row, the setting for the novel and Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.

Heyward was a descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence; the house (left) is a Charleston landmark. George Washington not only slept there, he spent the week.

Pictured on the right is the entry to the courtyard behind Cabbage Row, a Revolutionary War era structure that was the real place that inspired Heyward's fictional "Catfish" Row.

This was a sight for sore February eyes on a not-very-warm day: a gorgeous camellia blossom, spotted as I walked to meet Ken for our Valentine's Day brunch.

Our day wrapped up under the watchful eye of our Brasserie Gigi bartenders. Ryan, on the right, is about to open his own place, called "Culture." Once again, good food and good company. If we could afford to pay $100 per meal indefinitely, we could eat in Charleston every day for a year and not be disappointed. (True of Asheville, too.)

After our long brunch we wandered through the historic Charleston City Market, right across the street from the restaurant.

A lovely day, but with winter storm Octavia closing in on the southeast, it looks like we will have to cut our vacation even shorter.