Ambling around in "CharlesTown"

So I arrived early in the morning of October 14.  I was able to check-in early to my hotel, even though I had to wait about an hour and a half until 7 AM.

After getting my luggage into the room, I headed off to the Convention Center.  It is a medium-sized space that served the NWA meeting well, as it is not as large of an affair as the AMS Annual Meeting.  It is located right next door to the Coliseum, which is a performing arts venue.  As I walked the 1000-yard distance (that was according to the convention center's website), I started to take notice that I was really in South Carolina with the Palmetto trees lining the streets.

The convention center is located in a commercial area of North Charleston.  To the north of the center is an area with lots of shops and restaurants, anchored by Tanger Outlet store.  On Monday, I spent most of my time at the meeting, venturing away a couple of times.

First, I went out for lunch with the group of ValpU people I met there.  We walked to the edge of the Convention Center/Coliseum parking lot into a wooded area, then on a boardwalk, and then across the Hilton Hotel parking lot where there was a Wendy's.

Later, in the early evening, I walked up north from the convention center into the commercial area, and stopped in at the Wal-Mart there.

The next day, Tuesday, after attending sessions, I decided to take a trek into downtown Charleston.  When I was planning this trip, I had thought about taking the time to go downtown and then go to Fort Sumter.  However, it was closed because the federal government was in shutdown mode.  While I could have still taken a curtailed tour of the harbor, which would have normally included a stop at Fort Sumter, I decided to just head down for an afternoon and walk around, with the hope of returning to Charleston and tour not only Fort Sumter, but also Fort Moultrie, once built of the sturdy Palmettos, which became South Carolina's proud symbol.

I got a quick lunch, and then hopped on the free NASH (North Area Shuttle) Bus, which circulates in a loop in the Tanger Outlet and Convention Center area, and rode it to the Charleston International Airport.  There, I picked up the CARTA (Charleston Area Rapid Transit Authority) bus #11, and rode it all the way to its terminus downtown.  The ride took close to an hour, and I passed through a number of residential and commercial areas in the north suburbs and then the city proper.  Some areas looked a bit worn, even right up into the downtown area.  (It was a good day for an outing like this, with warm temperatures close to 80, under sunny skies.)

After disembarking, I started walking around.  I went to the Visitors' Center to acquiant myself with the historic downtown area.  Historic buildings line all the streets, and many of them look quite resplendent.  At one point, I hopped on a free (and crowded) trolley--there are a number of Downtown Area Shuttle (DASH) trolley routes--and rode it a few blocks as I sought to follow an itinerary I was making up on the spot for places I wanted to see within a couple of hours' time.

As I walked east when where I disembarked the trolley, I stumbled upon quite a discovery: the Charleston Marketplace.  I had no idea of the existence of a marketplace full of vendors stretching for blocks in the median of traffic going east toward the waterfront.  They sold all kinds of handicrafts, apparel, food, and souvenirs.  I kept walking east, looking over all of it.

At one point, I stepped inside a shop, and a man was there weaving roses made out of palmettos, and asked me if I wanted one.  After verifying it was genuine South Carolian Palmetto, I bought one for $2.  (As I continued walking around, I saw some others on the streetsides weaving Palmetto roses.)

Once I reached the eastern end of the marketplace, I headed south on Bay Street.  I passed by Rainbow Row, a collection of houses painted with vivid colors. 

Eventually, I came upon the edge of the waterfront, and walked along it all the way to the Battery.  It was there that I caught sight of Fort Sumter.  At least, I had to assume it was Fort Sumter, because I couldn't think of what else could be out there in that spot in the harbor toward the Atlantic Ocean.  I looked into the water area at the site that began one of the most significant conflicts in US history.

Then I looked around the Park at the Battery, recognizing the site as the one place from South Carolina virtually recreated in the Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego? Amtrak version computer game, which I played often in my childhood.

Then I headed north from the park, taking in views of the resplendent homes, wondering about the lifestyle of their wealthy inhabitants back in the 18th Century when Charleston was a prospering port city. 

I also took note of the site of the hall where the Ordinance of Secession was approved for South Carolina, whereby it effectively lef the United States.  I had thought maybe that action had taken place in the state capital in Columbia, but the info sign in front of the site (now a bank building) made it clear that while the proceedings started there, they came to their momentous end in Charleston.

While walking along, I just had to pose for a picture by South Carolina's symbol, a Palmetto tree.  (Thanks to the woman walking with a man I stopped for taking this picture, to the right.)

Getting on toward 5 PM, I hopped on a DASH trolley to reach the visitors' Center, where I purchased another snow globe for my collection.  Then I waited for the #11 bus to take me back to North Charleston.  This time, being on the northbound route, it dropped me off by the Tanger Outlet.  I got dinner, and then rode the NASH to the intersection near my hotel.

After taking some time to have dinner in the hotel breakfast area, I walked to the bus stop to catch the #104 bus that went along the Montague Avenue corridor.  It dropped me off right by the train tracks, and I walked south about 5 minutes or so to the train station.  There I waited for the northbound Silver Meteor train, which got stuck behind a freight train about 10 miles away and showed up more than an hour and a half late.  In the mean time, I got talking with some of my fellow passengers and others who were there to see people off or pick people up.

I was on my way just after 11 PM and settled in for the night, heading north toward the illustrious Capital city of the United States, the start of my journey home, which you can read more about in a subsequent post...