Charleston, Charleston

Drove up to Charleston today (about 2 hours away). Originally was a walled city protecting the city-folk from Indians, Spanish and pirates, it later expanded into the lush farmlands that the plantation owners worked with slaves and was one of the richest cities in the US. 1 in 4 African-Americans can trace their heritage back through the Charleston slave market. But following succession from the union and the resultant war it never regained its standing. Might have something to do with the fact that despite agreeing to a ceasefire, Charleston never actually agreed a peace accord with the Union and in theory is still at war with the rest of the US.

We went on a horse (or rather mule) drawn carriage tour for about an hour and a half. Had a great tour guide (Reid from Tennessee). Saw lots of real-Southern houses. Some grand and well kept but most not. One recently received an offer of $24m! But even those that are run-down fetch a few million and need pretty much the same spent on them to repair (they are all protected and planning / building regs are a nightmare).

The surprising thing though is that like much of South Carolina there is nothing really there. God knows why anyone would want to live there. The surrounding areas are rural (really rural...... housing way below trailer-park standard). In the city just 2 blocks from one of the majestic restored residences we had to circle the block in the car to get back onto the right route and one block off of the main road was intense deprivation (walls missing from "houses" type deprivation). Can only imagine what New Orleans must be like following Katrina.

Talking of hurricanes the storms returned this evening pushed on us by Hurricane Bill. We're hoping for better weather tomorrow so that we can explore the island a little more.