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Old City Market
Dinner at Anson's
I Can See Clearly Now The Day Has Dawned
looking south on east battery streetStrolling along
Stroll down some of the prettiest streets in the United States and enjoy beautifully preserved architecture, often with a nod to modernity like on Rainbow Row, where once dilapidated slums were restored to a now affluent neighborhood. I wouldn’t normally opt for a ghost tour. It seems to reek of tourist trap and is too dependent on the dramatic abilities of the tour guide. Doreen had been more than accommodating on our trip up the coast from Florida, stopping in numerous brewpubs on my quest for the perfect pint and here was my chance to do something that she wanted to do so I coughed up the extortionate fee and hoped for the best. Since it’s one of Charleston’s main attractions, there were quite a few groups going out at the same time, which was my first sign that it would be nothing special. Our guide was all of 20 years old with a squeaky voice that irritated as well as carried no authority over things alive let alone dead, and we grew bored after 15 minutes of the 90-minute tour. We wanted to just saunter off the tour but were too embarrassed to do so and breathed a sigh of relief when it mercifully ended. Without saying, “I told you so,” I made fun of her choice of how to spend our last night in the charming city. Neither of us had been remotely scared the whole tour but now we found ourselves walking back to our hotel in the dark, talking playfully about the feeling you have when you are really frightened, when the hairs seem to stick up on your neck. Surprisingly we both were most afraid of children’s dolls when sleeping in friend’s kids’ rooms and the mere thought in the dark started to give us the spooks. We were both in sandals when we noticed at one point that we were walking through a scattering of palmetto bugs the size of clothes pins! We quickly ran with caricaturized high steps to avoid any of the creatures catching a ride on our foot ware, feeling the adrenaline that only true fear can bring on. Afterward, we laughed at how silly we must have looked and that we could have saved the money and done a fine job of scaring ourselves next time. And besides, that would leave more money for the brewpubs too.
