Charleston, SC Wednesday May 30, 2012

While waiting for tropical storm Beryl to head far off-shore, we spent the day walking around Charleston. In the heart of the city, just off the city mmarket, are many old southern mansions.  Many of these homes have lovely gardens and fountains. Some of the streets have a small gardens that intersect the winding city streets. Below, Gordon and I cooled off walking along this garden walkway. 

Even though it was a hot and humid day, we were relatively cool amidst the lush gardens.

We were surprised to see gas lights on some of the homes in the historic district.

The planters on the window sills were lush with local plants.

There are some beautiful church steeples gracing the heart of the city.

We toured the Calhoun Mansion which was built in 1876 and is now privately owned. Below is one of the fountains of the home's  formal gardens.  The home is filled with Victorian furniture, antiques and art from around the world.  

There are many walking tours or horse drawn carriage tours that one can take to see the historic  and waterfront district. Gordon captured this picture of one of the horse drawn carriages.