time and space: Easter Weekend in the Holy City

WHEN: April 7, 2012
WHERE: Charleston, SC

Sunrise over The Holy City - November 19, 2007

No, we did not visit Jerusalem or The Vatican for Easter. Charleston has long been known as The Holy City, due in large part to the quantity and diversity of churches around the peninsula in downtown. Building code has long prohibited any building in Charleston from being built higher than the highest church steeple. For this reason, any view of the peninsula from surrounding land bodies shows a number of historic church steeples towering over all the other buildings.

Charleston also attracted many different religions during the colonial period, being one of the first cities to offer religious tolerance in the thirteen colonies. Charleston is home to one of only two remaining Hugenot churches in America, the French Protestant Hugenot Church (est. 1681). Additionally, St. Matthew's Church, which boasts a 255-foot steeple, is both the tallest building in Charleston and the tallest church in South Carolina.

St. Matthews Church and its 255-foot steeple. No other building in Charleston is permitted to be built taller than this steeple.

The Holy City - October 30, 2010

Saturday, Stace and I started off the beautiful, sunny, spring morning by heading to the beach.

It was the first time we have been to the beach (or even seen the ocean, for that matter), since we spent the day at the beach on July 31 last summer. It's sad, really, when you live so close, take it for granted, then make excuses for not going more often. It was good to get back to the sand and salt!

Breach Inlet

Colonists fought off the British here in June 1776, preventing the seizure of the strategic stronghold of Charleston (then Charles Town). It was also here, just 3 miles offshore in 1864, that the submarine H.L. Hunley launched, on its way to become the first submarine to successfully sink a warship (the USS Housatonic). The Hunley also sunk a couple miles offshore that same day due to damage sustained from the attack, laying on the seabed until it was raised in August 2000.

(Map of where the attack took place.)

I suppose it's because of the easy access, but we often park at Breach Inlet when we want to stop by the beach, but not make a beach day out of it. Parking is often available and there's not a long walk to get to the beach like there is elsewhere.

Getting reintroduced with the ocean at Breach Inlet

Stace willingly dipped her toes in the water. (Let's just say I'm usually the one dragging her to the beach.) I, however, never even touched the water. I was too caught up taking pictures (imagine that).

My beach babe and I

Blue skies, salty air, fresh breeze...it was good to be back!

Fishing in Breach Inlet...

...even though hefty fines threaten those who enter the waters here.

(Apparently $1,000 wasn't enough to deter dare devils from these waters, so $40 was added on to the fine to do the job?)

Small wildflowers adorning the grass around the parking lot at Breach Inlet

We drove north from Breach Inlet to Isle of Palms, where I jumped out to snap a few more pictures. Morris Island Lighthouse is on the left in this picture. Built on land (Morris Island) in 1876 and surrounded by other buildings, the lighthouse now stands alone in open ocean, hundreds of feet away from land due to the landward migration of the island. Since 1938, Morris Island has migrated 1,600 feet towards land.

Crossing the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, which stretches from Texas to Maine.

After the beach it was time to shop. Stace had done some investigative work last week and found three vintage stores she wanted to visit in Mount Pleasant. The first was this one, Page's Thieves Market, which we especially enjoyed because of the name it shares with our niece. This vintage store looked and smelled like (and probably was at one point) a barn, with all kinds of vintage furniture and appliances. I felt like we were on an episode of American Pickers.

The functioning sign/clock tower outside the Page's Market

My favorite part of the store was a map they had inside on a wall that visitors could place a pin on, marking where they were from.

We placed one on Waterloo for good measure (which already had a pin in it).

After stopping at the vintage stores in Mount Pleasant, we headed over to downtown. Here the Carnival Fantasy was docked prior to one of it's year-round voyages to and from the Bahamas.

We saw the ship again from the bridge as it was leaving Charleston Harbor later in the day, on our way back to Mount Pleasant. Bon voyage!

After grabbing lunch, our first stop was one that we have never made before, even after nearly 2 years of living in Charleston. Just one block away from where we had lunch (and have eaten multiple times before), lies the eastern boundary of the College of Charleston. Founded in 1770, the college is a blended collection of buildings scattered around the center of downtown. The college was founded by, among others, 3 signers of the Declaration of Independence and 3 signers of the US Constitution.

I had wanted to go for sometime yet never realized how close we had been to it on so many occasions. It really is surprising how even still we walk new (and even the same) streets downtown, yet always manage to see something new. It still seems like a vacation to a new place every time we visit downtown.

The Cistern Yard, with Randolph Hall (c. 1828) in the background. The aptly-named Cistern Yard used to be composed of large cisterns where water was stored, before a water and sewer system was installed. The cisterns collected rain water and were once used to fight fires. The cisterns were filled in during the mid-1800's.

I was particularly (puh-ticker-lee...for my in-laws) interested in visiting this building. Though it was once a house, it is now an office building for the college, as are many houses that are now within the grounds of the college. What I wanted to see was the view I had witnessed from this address for months (via an online webcam) but had never seen in person. This LIVE webcam is run by the College of Charleston and I have had a picture link to this camera on my blog (towards the upper right) for months, and I check it regularly. It may sound crazy, but visiting this house (or view from the house, rather) was likened to visiting the White House, Statue of Liberty, or Eiffel Tower for the first time - something you've only seen on TV and in pictures and now you're seeing it in person for the first time.

I know, I'm crazy. But then most of my blog speaks to that fact, so.

Stace in front of the building (the webcam can be seen in the lower left corner of the upper left window).

The view of Physicians Promenade (at street level) from the building.

A private carriage tour passing through the campus

This is one of the buildings for the Department of Communication at the college. Several departments and offices are in historic homes like this on campus. Not your typical office space.

Pillars at the front of Randolph Hall, overlooking the Cistern Yard.
(LIVE webcam of the Cistern Yard).

Stace waited patiently on a nearby bench as I took pictures. Isn't she cute?

Stairs cascading from the main entrance to Randolph Hall (the most iconic building on campus). It was this staircase that Amanda Seyfried walked down in the Nicholas Sparks movie Dear John. The movie was filmed in Charleston and many scenes in the movie show shots from the city that we have been, including the College of Charleston.

It is a beautiful campus in a beautiful stetting. I can't believe it took us this long to finally go walk through it.

Some tiny flowers in a green space on campus.

And not far away was an interesting caterpillar crawling along a brick path.

Another carriage tour

The coats on these two young horses were so vivid and interesting. (I think I spooked them as I quickly walked up to them to snap a photo).

More beautiful flowers

It's like they're looking at me!

After we were finished in downtown, we headed back to Mount Pleasant to attend the Saturday night Easter service at our church. The main campus is in Mount Pleasant but we have never attended a service there until last Saturday. We have always gone to the campus near our house in Summerville. To allow room for first-time visitors during the Sunday morning services, pastors at each campus encouraged regular attenders to attend Saturday night services if possible, to free up seats. Since we were planning to be in Mount Pleasant and since we have never attended a service at the main campus, we decided this was a good time to visit.