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Post by breeze on Nov 7, 2016 22:30:57 GMT
I can’t think of any US city that has a greater concentration and variety of historic buildings that can be seen in a morning’s brisk walk than Charleston. Last March we walked street after street after street seeing colorful houses, huge old trees, views of the water, and people jogging or biking or walking their dogs. After four days there, I came home thinking that Charleston provides the best combination of exercise and architectural gems and good food that I can think of. In March, spring is more advanced in Charleston, so it's much warmer than Pennsylvania and slightly humid, something I welcomed after months of wood heat at home. It’s really a long drive for us, 10-11 hours, and before we go back I would like someone to move Virginia and North Carolina out of the way to shorten the trip for us. Charleston is on a peninsula between two rivers. They say that at Charleston the Ashley and Cooper rivers meet to form the Atlantic. In the historic district there is a range of house styles and periods, but the one that seems to be unique to the southeast is the Charleston single house with piazza. The lots are long and narrow, so most houses’ narrow ends face the street. Running the length of the house is a one-, two- or three-storey porch called a piazza that overlooks a narrow green garden. Piazzas are positioned to face the breeze. Usually there’s a low open fence that gives a view of the garden and porch. You can enjoy the view but not enter, though probably an agile person could leap over the fence.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 7, 2016 23:10:26 GMT
SO lovely!! Breeze, I graduated from high school in Savannah & have always thought that area is one of the most beautiful in the US. I've driven through Charleston and was always completely charmed by it but never spent any time there, so this thread is a special treat. I love the detail about how the houses are positioned and can't wait to see more of the local architecture. One of the things I absolutely adore about Charleston is how it's surrounded by gorgeous marshland.
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Post by htmb on Nov 8, 2016 0:24:13 GMT
This is wonderful, Breeze! I've always wanted to visit Charleston, but have never made it there. You'd think, living in North Florida, I'd have put more effort into organizing a trip. I'm sure your thread is going to inspire me. I've read a lot of Pat Conroy books, so I feel like I should know this part of South Carolina well. I guess it doesn't work that way. I had to laugh about your thoughts of moving the states of Virginia and North Carolina, but I completely understand your sentiments.
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Post by breeze on Nov 8, 2016 17:56:20 GMT
Savannah! That's another of the towns/cities in the south that I find so beautiful--also Edenton NC, Wilmington NC, Fairhope AL, and Thomasville GA, off the top of my head. Feel free to add to this list.
I'm a sucker for live oaks.
htmb, maybe you can arrange to have the state of Georgia moved out of your way so you can hop up to Charleston. But Savannah should be a reasonable drive for you. You can go to bixa's old high school and look her up in the yearbook.
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Post by mossie on Nov 8, 2016 20:20:38 GMT
A good introduction to somewhere I know absolutely nothing about, so very interesting.
I also love your idea of moving states, perhaps you can move England for me? Somewhere in the middle of the Mediterranean would do nicely, but close to Paris. I suppose that will have to be moved as well.
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Post by breeze on Nov 8, 2016 21:15:03 GMT
mossie, I'd be happy to move England to the Mediterranean for you. I can set Paris right next to the re-located England if you like. Then I'd put Pennsylvania next to both because I'd really like to go back to England and France.
On the other hand, if Pennsylvania stays where it is, it would be great for me if France were moved to central or South America. That way I could enjoy my home garden in summer and go to France when it's our winter and their summer. Two summers and no winter!
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Post by breeze on Nov 8, 2016 22:02:32 GMT
I was constantly being surprised (poor memory, I guess) when I’d admire an elaborate entry door on the street and then, when I’d walked past it and was looking back over the low garden fence, I’d realize that that door didn’t lead into the house, just onto the first floor of the piazza. The actual door into the house would be halfway along the piazza. Since the street end of the piazza’s first floor is completely filled in by the imposing door and its surrounds, it looks like a house door but it’s just a fiction. It’s a nice excuse for another grand door, though. We arrived on Second Sunday, when King Street becomes a pedestrian street and every dog takes to the street, owner in tow, for some sunshine and conviviality, and maybe something to eat if the owner is a softie. We enjoyed walking along with the crowd while trying not to trip over little kids or the dozens of dogs on their leashes.
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Post by breeze on Nov 8, 2016 23:49:32 GMT
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Post by breeze on Nov 8, 2016 23:51:44 GMT
Here's the missing photo.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 9, 2016 13:48:06 GMT
More beautiful architectural shots, but it's also great to see what a fun and alive place Charleston is. Did you have any of that barbecue?
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Post by breeze on Nov 9, 2016 14:42:49 GMT
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Post by breeze on Nov 9, 2016 14:54:12 GMT
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Post by breeze on Nov 9, 2016 16:29:34 GMT
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Post by mossie on Nov 9, 2016 16:34:39 GMT
Some fine buildings with style. They don't seem to do that nowadays.
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Post by breeze on Nov 10, 2016 23:50:23 GMT
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Post by breeze on Nov 10, 2016 23:58:09 GMT
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Post by breeze on Nov 11, 2016 0:04:41 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2016 0:21:56 GMT
Lovely pictures. We may have taken pictures of some of the same houses, but you would probably remember them better than I -- Charleston
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Post by breeze on Nov 11, 2016 1:11:44 GMT
kerouac, I'd never seen your pictures of Charleston and I'm so glad you linked to it. I recognize at least one building and a few trees in your report.
You sure have a way with words.
Charleston seemed glossier to me this trip, maybe because the curtain was just about to go up on the spring house and garden tour. Since the first time we were there, the shopping street has about doubled in length, and formerly rundown neighborhoods are looking pretty spiffy now. New restaurants are springing up on the northern edge, so it must still be affordable.
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Post by fumobici on Nov 11, 2016 2:11:50 GMT
Wow, this is impressive. There really isn't anywhere out west here that can hope to match Charleston for its architectural bounty across such a sweep of years. That black door near the top of the report somehow made me thank of 10 Downing street! The town has got a very real style doesn't it? The photos are so well captured as well. Oh, and I'd never seen K's Charleston report so this was doubly fun to explore. Thank you.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 11, 2016 3:33:16 GMT
Just enjoying this so much, Breeze. The sheer prettiness of the place is delightful -- like being let loose in a candy store. I haven't been through Charleston in years, but always enjoyed its shabby charm. The spiffed up version is every bit as charming, though. Your photographs are just wonderful, as is your zeal for capturing so many different styles. Any idea what the second building in #10 is? I'm thinking it might be an old armory, or maybe a jailhouse.
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Post by breeze on Nov 11, 2016 15:13:10 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2016 15:19:47 GMT
Oh, that is pork floss, a weird item of Chinese cuisine that I find perfectly dispensable. I'm thinking that it is a very good thing that the recent hurricane did not slam into Charleston. Such a pretty place.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 11, 2016 15:25:39 GMT
Gosh, I love that slice o'wedding cake house. This continues to be such a pretty thread -- those window boxes! I can well imagine that Charleston has some great places to eat.
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Post by nycgirl on Dec 4, 2016 13:57:45 GMT
I've heard nothing but good things about Charleston. Looks like a charming place. I would love to relax with a drink on a piazza, facing a garden.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2016 16:17:04 GMT
Breeze, you really captured a real feel for the city.
The photos are exquisite, and, the subject matter certainly helps.
I have visited Charleston many times and was so impressed by it's charm and character along with how pristine everything looks.
I went on a house and garden tour there and was blown away (I also did a tour of the same in Savannah and was equally blown away) by both the architecture and the utilization of garden space.
Each home presented a different surprise.
I love the food there. We dined at HUSK and loved it.
Best of all is what was mentioned about the surrounding marshland and why it is coined as low country.
A friend of mine would rent a house on Folly Beach every Spring and it was so relaxing and unpretentious.
The only criticism of Charleston that I have heard from people who have lived there is that there a certain snobbiness in evidence. A young couple that we are friends with that now live here in NOLA bought an old house in Charleston and renovated it meticulously. In the meantime, on the social level they said they always felt like they were "outsiders" and just couldn't connect socially. These folks are very likable, savvy, cosmopolitan and gracious. The kind of people one would welcome and embrace. Yet, try as they did, they just felt left out on the periphery.
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Post by nycgirl on Dec 4, 2016 17:37:25 GMT
That's too bad to hear, Casi.
I sometimes wonder if the husband and I ever got upgraded to a higher tax bracket and bought a home in a nice neighborhood, if we would fit in and make friends. Even in diverse, cosmopolitan California, where I'm from, I've witnessed the snobbiness you've described in certain social circles.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 5, 2016 0:12:59 GMT
I don't know if it's a regional thing NYCgirl but I have heard tell of a similar if not the same type of classism if that's what it could be characterized as, also occurring in Savannah. (portrayed in John Berendt's novel Midnight In The Garden Of Good and Evil) .
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