>> Exploring Charleston, SC

Let me start out by saying that I absolutely adored our day in Charleston. Our campground (James Island County Park) was conveniently less than twenty minutes from downtown, and the parking in the city were reasonably priced and readily available. The city also offers a free trolley service, which we used to get from one end of town to the other. But even still, Charleston is a very walk-able town. It's flat, clearly marked, and not too big to see by foot if you're wearing good shoes.

We started our day off at the Charleston City Market, which was a bit different than we had pictured. We were expecting more of a farmer's market type place with different food vendors, but unfortunately there were hardly any places to eat. Instead, there were lots of interesting local products and souvenirs to browse and look at. 

We explored the city in a slightly unconventional fashion. We had a few places in mind that we wanted to visit, but we also decided to find a few geocaches along the way. Geocaching brought us to interesting off-the-map types of places in the city, like small parks (below) and gorgeous views from the top of parking garages. It was actually a really unique way to see the city, we saw quirky places, instead of just seeing the highlighted tourist places.

One slightly silly place we wanted to go was the Pineapple Fountain at Waterfront Park. We all thought it was super fun (I mean c'mon..it's a fruit-shaped fountain..) and we splashed around in the water.. in 50 degree weather. ;)

We spent the later part of the afternoon just wandering around the city. We walked along the water, and then just chose random streets to adventure down. We found cobblestone streets, brightly-painted houses, secret gardens, more geocaches, adorable doors, and even the famous "Rainbow Row". Walking through the residential area of Charleston is one of my favorite memories from our trip, it was spontaneous and fun - just like good trips should be. :)

Rainbow Row! 

I loved the soft pastel colors that are everywhere in Charleston. They just make me so happy. :)

The street "signs" were super fun.

Charleston is a sweet city with oodles of charm and we could feel the southern hospitality. ;) Although we didn't drink any sweet tea, we enjoyed some delicious southern-BBQ, complete with the most fabulous biscuits, while we were there. I know that coming back to South Carolina will definitely be a must at some point in my life!

>> Doors of Charleston

Fun Fact:
I really love doors. I think they're super fun and great. Maybe this is strange, but I really look forward to the day when I get to pick out the front door for my house. I loved the doors in Charleston, so I photographed them so you could enjoy them too. :) Lanterns are also very popular in the city, so keep an eye out for the unique lanterns that are above/near the doors! 

To check out more weird posts about doors, check out these posts. :)

>> Fort Sumter National Monument, SC

To read about our first day in Charleston, check out this post on Boone Hall Plantation.

On our second day in Charleston, the rain continued but we made the best of it and got on a boat. Because nobody was going to rain on our parade! ..Or see stop us from visiting Fort Sumter. 

We enjoyed a pleasant 30-minute cruise to the island the fort was on and we had great views of the waterfront fog from the boat.

The Spirit of the Lowcounty. :)

Fort Sumter is best known for being the sea fort where the starting shots of American Civil War were fired on April 12, 1861. There were multiple battles at Sumter during the war, and by the end it was in ruins. The U.S. Army rebuilt the fort, and in 1898 they added the large black Battery Huger, which now serves as a museum and gift shop.

They had numerous cannons in the fort still. These ones were the biggest.. they were huge. Definitely the biggest I've ever seen!

We had a little over an hour at the fort, which was plenty of time to look around, read up on history, and enjoy the rain. ;) If you're a history buff, Fort Sumter should definitely be on your list when you visit Charleston!