Thursday, 26 November 2015
Thanksgiving Day
Charleston, SC

This morning we are both sleeping late and fighting blossoming colds.  The staff at the Hilton Doubletree have been especially nice, cleaning the room at whatever time we ask and providing extra coffee, ice, and tissues.  By noon we are feeling better and ready to meet the gang in the lobby.  We are being joined by my cousin Art, so that makes seven of us for Thanksgiving dinner at Magnolias.

Our reservation is for 12:30pm, because when Judy made reservations back in August, the only times available were 12:30 and 8:30. When we arrive at the restaurant we can see, indeed, that it is very popular and every table, even at this early hour--is occupied.  In spite of last night's dinner and the early hour, we are all ready to enjoy another wonderful meal, starting with excellent Bloody Marys.  The menu offers a wide selection of foods, but Will and I opt for a traditional turkey, dressing, and sweet potato platter.  Others at the table choose less traditional options, including oysters, roast duck, roast pork loin, and crab cakes.

After lunch, Art leads Judy, Les, and me on a walking tour of the historic homes that line the cobbled streets between Broad (the center of banking and law) and the Battery that looks out over the bay to Forts Sumter and Moultrie.  The typical ante-Bellum Charleston house is two or three stories, with long porches lining each story.  The sides of the houses are turned to face the street, so that the porches are open to a more private garden and driveway.  Most of the houses have been restored beautifully; the underlying brick or wood construction covered with smooth stucco painted in a variety of colors.  They are owner-occupied or investment property.  In other parts of the city, this type of house is usually sub-divided into apartments.  My grandparents lived for many years in a second-floor apartment in such a house.

There are a few shops and boutiques in this part of the city, but the real shopping is a few blocks away on King Street.  Two important historical structures are St Philip's Church (with John Calhoun in the graveyard), and the Dock Street Theatre, the oldest continuing playhouse in the States; both are on Church Street.  Zoning regulations have kept restaurants and grocery stores out of the historic area, but there is a very large 24-hour Teeter-Harris not too far away. 

The Battery and White Point Gardens mark the end of the peninsula, and are the site of the grandest homes in the city.  These are mansions rather than homes, with sweeping bay windows, large porches, and round porticos.  Revolutionary and Civil War cannon still line the waterfront.  

Art has been an excellent tour guide; he has many wonderful stories of old Charleston.  When we reach the Battery, I decide to head back to the hotel, but Les and Judy continue their walk with Art.  I take a slightly different route back to the hotel, passing by Rainbow Row (supposedly the setting of Porgy and Bess), and turning up State Street, which runs parallel to Church.

Each of us is doing his/her own dinners tonight. Will and I find Tommy Condon's Irish Pub just a few blocks away offering burgers and sandwiches, along with live music provided by three Irishmen on electric fiddle, bass, and drum. Then it's back to the hotel and the end of a perfect Thanksgiving Day in Charleston.