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| Ashley Hall, Charleston |
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| Ashley Hall main staircase |
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| Entry Foyer |
Charleston, South Carolina
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Main Parlor
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10/24, 25, 26/10
Three nights and two days in the old Southern town on the Atlantic Ocean offered us our first opportunity to camp near the beach and to visit the girls boarding school, Ashley Hall, JoAnn attended in 67 and 68. We pulled into James Island County Park late at night as I described in my last blog. The next day, as usual, we got started a little late after the exhaustion of the previous night. So we decided to drive out to Folly Beach and check out the beach town. On the way we crossed over several causeways that spanned marshes of golden grass woven through with still waterways. Homes on the shores had piered waks with railings that terminated far out in the marsh’s snaking waterways with small boat shacks or just roofed platforms. Most of these walks seem to extend as much as 200-250 feet from shore and appeared to float upon the wheat colored grasses.
Folly Beach was deserted due to the time of year. In fact it looked like a large ghost town. Most services and tourist eateries were still open but there just were no people around. The day was hot and humid so we checked out the beach anyway and wasted almost $40.00 on a lousy tourist trap lunch. We drove down the key and almost every house on both sides of the road was for sale or rent. We did some real basic shopping and headed back to camp for air conditioning. Temperature was in the low
90’s with 88% humidity.
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"Grits are Good for you !" |
The next morning we drove into Charleston to visit Ashley Hall. This should turn out to be a more interesting day. Rolling over the bridge into Charleston we could see there were many huge boats at the Marina, usually a good sign for the existance of a healthy economic base in town.
Charleston is old. although there were many large antebellum homes they all had a moist decay about them. Except for the beautiful waterfront mansions on Bay Street which smelled of older money riding out this downturned
economy. There are still a few sidestreets along the original narrow waterfront with the original stone surfaces. Not flat cobblestones of old but actually round stones up to 8” in diameter. This made for a very rough ride even at crawling speeds with modern suspensions.
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Charleston Carriage House Doors |
With the iPhone gps we zeroed in on Ashley Hall and all the streets were familiar to JoAnn. It took up a city block with one major 4 story classic structure that serves as administration and offices but in the older days also served as dorm rooms. We poked around, looked at yearbooks and walked the grounds then headed down the block to the Hominy Grill lately made famous by Rachael Ray. Food was very good, coffe black and Jo had the Shrimp & Grits - and she crab soup, quite good actually.
Drove along the Bay in old waterfront town and polked around a marina until the skies suddenly poured down while we were way out on the docks with no where to hide! Wet docks are the last place you want to be running in the rain wearing sandals.
So its back to James Park to just kick back, which I try to do as much as possible until RV chores and maintenance beckon. It takes us a little more than an hour every morning to get the Airstream ready to go and the same amount of time when we set it up in camp. There are probably 15-20 steps to go through otherwise bad things could happen quickly on the road. JoAnn has her interiors check list with about 30 items. I take care of the exterior stuff, including the dreaded black water and grey water sewage dump and clean up. Thank god all those systems seem to be working well now. We both work on hitching up and each departure check the turn signals and brake lights then finally we both do a walk around. Then we get in the truck and proceed to get lost!
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| Folly Beach, Charleston |
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| A bit of southern hospitality |
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