We set off in the morning for Rainbow Row, a row of colorful historic homes that sit near the water. Our walk takes us past more perfect brick and stucco homes nestled snugly together. Always a green thumb wanna-be, I realize every plant I try in vain to grow at home grows wild here. Hibiscus, ivies of every kind, ficus, and sweet potato adorn every wall and garden in great abundance. It’s sweltering hot today, but we’re told that for Charleston, it’s rather cool. Oh. Okay. We alternate walking in shade and sun, and I realize that, unlike the rest of my family, I’m comfortable. Maybe I do belong here. I’ll take this over cold any day.
Our walk along the water toward Rainbow Row yields a wonderful surprise. Rowan (of course, Rowan) spots a fin in the water which he insists is a shark, which the rest of us then spot, which we eventually determine is a dolphin. We watch and watch and enjoy Dolphin frolicking in the waves. Click, click, click goes the camera. We find the area we’re looking for and it’s breathtaking—the colors, the architecture, the gardens. At the end of the street there’s a small art gallery with a dog napping outside. We talk to the owner who’s the artist, an elderly gentleman, with ponytail, beard, and straw hat. The boys happily play with the dog. The artist tells us so much about Charleston, the homes, the history. I venture out back to the courtyard and meet the artist’s girlfriend. His gallery is located in the oldest commercial building in America.
After lunching on yet more grouper (Quill and Gardner) and salads (Asia and Tiff), and IBC root beer (Rowe), we take an hour-long carriage tour. Our carriage fits a group of about 25 people and is horse drawn by Henry, a handsome horse with a blond braided mane. Our horse better be pretty, Rowan had said before we left, and Henry indeed was a beauty. Our tour guide told us everything historical to trivial to amusing, to all combined. Even the kids seemed to be paying attention and enjoying the info.
Everywhere there are men, women, and boys making and selling baskets and roses from sweet grass and palmetto leaves. I decline as I pass by, but always compliment them on their craftsmanship. Always, they smile, nod, thank me, and tell me to have a nice day.
We have yet to encounter a rude local, any litter, any noise, or an aggressive driver. In fact, we decide anyone rude around here is not a local. We decided by afternoon that we’d discovered perhaps a utopia in Charleston. A place that’s called a city, but is really a big town, easy to navigate, aesthetically pleasing in every way, so immaculately clean, temperate, affordable, and ultimately filled with the most pleasant and polite people, must certainly be described as a utopia. I decide if you took the best features of Newport, Newburyport, Portsmouth, Nantucket, Bermuda, and the Caribbean, and sewed them all together, you’d get a really cool quilt called Charleston. It’s that fabric thing again.
Dinner tonight was at Hyman’s Seafood, a popular and apparently famous eatery where the celebs go. We didn’t know the latter until we sat down and we were all sitting at a table marked with plaques showing where various celebs sat and ate their meals. At our table were Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Michael Phelps, and ?. Eli Hyman, the owner (4th generation) who was about our age, came over and introduced himself and surprised us with some rather personal questions like how long we’d been married, where we’d met, etc. I asked why he wanted to know all this and he said we reminded him of he and his wife who’d also met in college, dated for seven years, then married and have four kids, roughly our kids’ ages. He was a friendly host, for sure, and his restaurant’s food was delicious. I had their signature crispy flounder, Gardner had grilled oysters with grits and alfredo, Asia had the buffalo shrimp, Quill opted for his new fave she crab chowder, and Rowe went with the ol’ PB & J.
Part of the reason for our journey here is, I think, to see if we could live here. I could definitely, and I think once Gardner got used to the humidity, he could too.
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