As those of you following us on Facebook saw, our introduction to the Carolina Coast was decidedly wet. After pimping out over $70 Cdn for a night’s stay at James Island County Park, we were only able to leave the trailer for about an hour. During that time we enjoyed the park’s amazing dog zone - a huge grassy area, littered with discarded tennis balls, on the edge of a small lake. However, there are signs warning entrants that alligators may be present in the waters, so I almost had a heart attack when Andrew flung the ball out into the depths for Coco to jump in and retrieve! Later, safely back in our “home”, I told Andrew that I would have fully expected him to wade into the water if Coco was under attack and sacrifice himself!
During the night, Andrew had to use earplugs to drown out the noise of pummelling rain. Too bad we didn’t come straight into downtown Charleston upon arrival, because it has an UNDERCOVER parking garage you can stay overnight in for $16!
Anyway, that’s where we are now. We were able to use a 2-hour break in today’s downpour to walk around the Charleston peninsula. For me, being raised in “young” western Canada, the history here is fascinating. There are plaques on many of the buildings marking their construction back to the 1700’s. One large estate in the middle of downtown Charleston boasted how the property has been handed down for 10 generations, making it the longest family-owned home in America. Can you imagine...inheriting an estate? It’s just something inconceivable for us, with Kelowna being barely 100+ years old. Then again, I guess the East Coast has nothing on Europe with lords passing on estates over millennia.
Please note: I am being totally colonial here. Of course I know and acknowledge that these lands were inhabited by First Nations for time immemorial before Europeans came and f’d things up. From what I’ve seen so far, there is more recognition for the aboriginal peoples in the Midwest. Here, nothing. Except acknowledgement of the slave trade and African Americans, which happened post-colonization. It’s like the local indigenous community has been completely wiped out.
Guess I am going to experience more of these epiphanies on this journey.
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