Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon

The Dungeon underneath the building was used as a pirate dungeon, storage for weaponry and goods, and then by the British as a dungeon for the patriots.

Provost Dungeon

From that point, we walked more. We walked across the whole peninsula of Charleston, from the Cooper River to the Ashley River. We saw Cabbage Row, Rainbow Row and Gallery Row. We saw both churches George Washington attended during his post-Constitution visit to the city, but were not able to go in because it was Sunday and they were having services. I do find it amazing that there are people who go to church in the same building Washington went to church in.

Mercury Statue outside a mansion

By the time we had lunch at a local brewery, we were pretty spent. But a little bit of air conditioning, a good meal and quite a bit of water gave us enough of a respite to keep walking through the afternoon. We got a couple little gifts for the girls, and checked out a few more of the shops around town, too.

Around 5, we took a horse drawn carriage tour through the city, which filled in a lot more history. It was great to be able to look at more of the homes and hear about why they are built the way they are (super narrow and deep).

Single House

We learned some legends about Charleston, like the abundant white oleander that supposedly was used to make Oleander tea during the Revolutionary War and was served to the British soldiers while they stayed with Patriot families in the city. The officers had a high rate of mysterious heart attacks after staying in those homes. And now, it is said that Charleston has the lowest divorce rate in the country… but the highest rate of heart attacks.

Our original plan was to go on a walking ghost tour after we had dinner, but dinner proved to be delicious and very filling. By the time it was over, all we wanted to do was go back to the hotel and take showers. So that’s what we did.

There is still more we’d like to see in Charleston, but it will have to wait for another weekend. Perhaps Stagg’s client will have some more issues and the whole family will have to make the trip.

When we chose to be married on a holiday weekend, it seemed like such a good idea, since there would always be a long weekend for us to use. But we forgot to take into account that everybody else likes to go away that weekend, too, so finding places to stay would be that much harder. And since the weekend sneaks up on us, we are usually out of luck.

This year was no different until one of Stagg’s clients had some trouble in Charleston. He worked with them on the phone for hours to no avail. Finally, on Thursday, he asked what I thought about driving down there to fix the client’s problem and then having a day or so in the city to hang out. Sold!

We had all day Saturday to hang around, and we made the most of it. It was such a happy little surprise.

My mother thanked us for going away so she and my dad could have the girls all to themselves.

When we visited them in Florida, we decided that Stagg and my dad would go on the tour while my mom and I hung out with the girls. At the last minute, my mom encouraged me to go so she could have the girls all to herself. And so I went. On the drive over, we talked about the man who had bought the company and then had driven his Segway off a cliff and died. It made us curious and a little apprehensive about what we were going to be doing.

The first part of the tour was humbling. Segways are very intuitive, but initially, it is hard to get the hang of balancing, starting and stopping. We had to prove our proficiency in the store where the tour started before we left for the actual tour, and all of us were a little nervous that this experience was going to end up being 2 hours of frustration. We wobbled and wiggled and eventually made our way through the slalom course and started and stopped without running the guys running the show over. (well, I came close, but they stopped me in time).

Within five minutes of being on the street, though, it was easy and fun. Our line of 8 Segways tooled along the sidewalk, making sure not to hit our wheels on anything in the way and got to see West Palm Beach, and then Palm Island from a unique perspective.

We went over a bridge, up and down streets, and 20 minutes into the tour, we felt like pros. Although we had been cautioned against using our phones and cameras in any way while riding, we became comfortable enough to pull them out and try to sneak pictures while moving. Each of us was caught more than once, and our tour guide, Mike, reminded us that there was a safety issue involved. So we got better at sneaking.

As we became more proficient on the vehicles, we were allowed to go fast and feel the push back as we topped out at 14 MPH. It was a strange sensation, and felt like we were going so much faster than we actually were. The Segway bar in the front tries to slow you down by forcing you into a more upright position, which slows it down, but it felt like the wheels were just getting ahead of you because you were going so fast.

The day was gorgeous, the weather was warm and we had a great time. We raced each other a little bit, tried to challenge each other to see who could do the detail work with more finesse. By the end of the tour, we completely understand how the man drove himself off a cliff. Segways are giant toys, and it is hard not to play with them.

I mentioned that they are lost to Stagg, and he thought about it for a while and decided, “they are probably somewhere in the house, in the van, in the backyard or at Lisa’s.” Thanks, honey. Seriously? Are you sure you don’t want to change “Lisa’s” to “somewhere else” because that would be just about as helpful.