3/11/19 Monday

Last night we had dinner in Hutson Alley next to the Music Hall at a fish restaurant named Coast.  Dave had grilled yellowfin tuna and I had fish tacos.  It was very good.  We sat next to a couple from Maryland and had a nice chat during dinner. 

It was cloudy this morning, but still in the high 60's.  After breakfast we walked down to Rainbow Row - a set of houses facing the water that are all painted pastel colors.  On the way we passed a cat cafe with two of them sitting in the window.

We then walked back to Meeting Street and were on the first tour group to go through the Nathaniel Russell house.  The house was built in 1808 and was quite elegant.

 The house is known for its floating circular staircase which winds up through all three floors. Here is a shot looking up to the third floor and the other is looking down to the first floor.

The photos above show the gold detail in the formal front room, the ornate fireplace mantel in the music room and the bedroom, which had a surprise - the lovely blue chair had a potty seat under the cushion so that the lady of the house would not have to pull a thunder jug out from under the bed or go to the garden outhouse in the middle of the night.  We have seen them before built into chairs, but I have never seen one in an upholstered chair.

We stopped for lunch on the way back to the hotel for Dave's nap and then took a bicycle rickshaw to the horse barn for a carriage ride.  The young lady who was our power source was very interesting: she bikes part time and helps to run a bus with farm fresh food to the poorer neighborhoods in the city.  She graduated with dual degrees in sociology and psychiatry and is doing this until she finds a "real" job.  Dave enjoyed patting the horses.  At one point a passer-by had his dog meet the horse nose to nose.  Neither seemed to mind the experience.  We enjoyed the carriage ride, but found it difficult to hear the whole commentary with the surrounding traffic noise.  One thing we did catch is the driver saying that his grandmother called the Civil War "that time when the Yankees declared war on America".

We walked down to the waterfront and ate at a lovely restaurant called Blossom.  We were going to walk back to the hotel, but it started to rain so we caught another rickshaw.

We were supposed to stay one more day in Charleston, but have decided to head home tomorrow.  We have seen a lot of the city by foot and I'm sure we could find something to do tomorrow, but I think we got a good idea of what the city is all about - Southern hospitality, beautiful hidden courtyards, history, etc..  We will stop in northern Virginia tomorrow night and will be back a day earlier than expected.