Glimpses of Charleston

A local's eye view

Delicioso

There are some great murals around Charleston. You can find this one on the side of Santi’s on upper Meeting Street — home of arguably the best Mexican food in town.

C’mon Up

This cool entry to an upper floor office can be found on King Street.

Benched

This lonely bench is in Cannon Park. Fortunately it hasn’t flooded like that in quite a while!

Cooper River Beauty

The start to another beautiful Charleston day. The new Cooper River Bridge (I just can’t call it the Ravenel Bridge, sorry) was a marvel (still is!) when it was first opened in 2005. But did you know that the extremely popular pedestrian/bike lane was not part of the original plans? It was only added after intense community pressure.

Pirates Courtyard

The houses surrounding “Pirates Courtyard” on Church Street were built in the early 1740’s and are believed to have been where many pirates, including Blackbeard, hung out while they were in Charleston. To make it a less stressful experience, it is said that there was an escape tunnel that ran from under the house to the harbor — just in case that had some unwanted visitors.

USS Hobson Memorial

This obelisk/sundial can be found in the southwest corner of White Point Garden. It commemorates one of the worst naval disasters in US history — the collision of the USS Hobson (a destroyer) with the much larger USS Wasp (an aircraft carrier) The Hobson was essential cut in two  — killing 176 sailors. The Charleston connection is that the Hobson, was built in the North Charleston Naval Yard and had also been based in Charleston. The stones around the monument were brought in from the 38 home states of the men who died.

Steamy Sunrise

A summer sunrise along the High Battery. The seawall protects the grand houses on East Battery from the battering water, as well as the beautiful White Point Garden — named that after the mounds of white oyster shells that were found at the tip of the peninsula. It also explains why it is sometimes called Oyster Point.

Three Sisters

These houses on Meeting Street are often called the “Three Sisters” due to their similar architectural style. The were not built at the same time, but all were constructed in the mid to late 1700’s. It’s not certain when the nickname was applied to them, but three buildings on Calhoun Street at East Bay (no linger standing) seem to have the prior claim.