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| The slave auction house |
Saturday, 10/10/15 in Charleston, SC
Today was forecast to be rainy all day so we decided to take in a couple of museums before leaving this charming city. First was one of the many slave auction houses. Though there were more than 40 at one time, this is the only one remaining. It was turned into a museum as a way to never forget the difficult and sordid history of Charleston's slave trade.
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| One of the curators explaining what we were about to see |
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They did a great job documenting the way slaves were
traded and sold, used and abused |
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| It took quite a while to take it all in |
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| One of the fountains at Charleston's harbor |
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| Another of the fountains at the harbor |
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| Oops. You didn't see that! |
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| We talked with some artists painting ... |
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| ... these buildings, sans cars |
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| A lovely, restored 1700's alley |
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| Most homes had secret gardens attached to them |
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| Where the city used to keep its gunpowder stores |
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Inside the restored magazine where the ceiling was packed
with tons of sand to keep incoming mortars at bay. It also
protected the town in the event the stores exploded. |
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| Timing was perfect for lunch as the rain had just started |
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Look out Mark!
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'Nuff said! LOL
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We tried to make the best of the
rainy weather. |
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We really wanted to tour a couple of the beautiful churches.
Too many weddings today, though. |
After checking out the 2 churches we wanted to visit, we hoofed it the mile or so over to the Charleston museum which was the first museum ever established in the US. Though it was raining, the weather was fairly warm so the trip wasn't so bad. As it turns out, it was worth the effort.
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The skeleton of a right whale that had gotten
lost in the Charleston harbor in the late
1800's. Sadly, its killing was quite the
spectacle at the time. |
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| Remember these old roadside signs? LOL |
In its early days, the museum wanted to be a place people could come to learn about other cultures. It is still that way.
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They even had a mummy whose facial
wrapping had been partially removed
to prove it was a real mummy. |
It turned out to be the museum that just kept going. Tired from all the walking and sensory overload, we finally left. It was quite a museum!
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| The H.L. Hunley was the first submarine ever built |
The sub was manually powered by 6 men turning the prop from inside the sub. Brought from Mobile, AL in 1863, it was the first sub to ever sink an enemy ship when it sank the Federal blockading vessel, Housatonic which helped end the Union blockade of Charleston.
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Pooped after a long day, we waited on the marina's van to
pick us up. |
We arrived back at Samba around 5:00 and relaxed with a final sundowner & dinner before Barb & Mark left to return home. We all agreed that it was a wonderful week with lots and lots of memories.
Sunday, we moved Samba from the city marina to the Harborage marina where she will remain for 2 weeks while we return home. Stay tuned for the next leg of our journey.
See you on the water!
Jim & Carol
