Charleston Trip - Day Three

Day Three - The Historic City
Wednesday had been designated our day to spend in Charleston proper. Since the rain prevented our carriage ride on Monday when we first arrived, we decided to start our morning with a ride. Carriage rides throughout historic Charleston are a popular tourist activity. The kids would have fun riding it and I would have fun listening to the guide as they took us through the city and discussed Charleston history and landmarks.

There are several carriage companies but we chose Old South Carriage Company. There are three routes that the carriages are allowed to take; which one you get is entirely a matter of chance.  Our route took us through zone two, which goes through the heart of the city. Here's Zara in front of our carriage and our noble steed, Dave. Our guide was young but excellent and I enjoyed our ride immensely. 

After our carriage ride, we tried a handful of doughnuts at Glazed Gourmet Doughnuts. (I also bought a cupcake at a nearby bakery but it was only so-so. Good cake, not great frosting.) The doughnuts, however, were quite delicious and since we were there near the end of their operating hours, the shopgirl kindly sent us home with a box of a few free doughnuts. 

We purchased a three-day Heritage Pass which allowed us entry into a variety of historic houses, museums, and sites for a discounted price. Since most of the places I wanted to visit were included, it seemed like a good deal. We checked off three of our sites that day -- the Joseph Manigault House, the Charleston Museum, and the Aiken-Rhett house, all located within a few blocks of each other.

We stopped at the Joseph Manigault house first. It was built in 1803 for Joseph Manigault and designed by his brother Gabriel and is one of the best examples of Federal or Adam architecture in the city. It was the city home of the Manigault family who were wealthy rice planters. The family sold the house in the 1850s as the area started to grow more and more commercialized because of a nearby railroad station and moved further downtown. (The Manigault family apparently still has a strong presence in Charleston.) Parts of the property were sold off, it was used as a tenement and a USO office and was apart to be torn down to make room for a gas station when it was saved and preserved. 

A small part of the garden still remains. It was a nice house with a more than competent docent, but maybe a little forgetable compared to the other homes we later toured. 

 Zara kept insisting on taking my camera so she could take some photos too. Most of them are rather blurry but they give a kids-eye view of the world. This is one of the few decent photos she managed to take.

After the Manigault home, we crossed the street to the Charleston Museum. Though the museum complex is modern, the museum and its collections are one of the oldest in the nation. It does have a large and varied collection of items ranging from textiles to natural history to mummies to fossils to historic relics.

Case in point, this old carriage pulled by the bones of a horse.

Zara attempted to take a picture of a dollhouse. They did have a really nice section for kids which was nice. I'm afraid a lot of our trips were geared for adults and not kids.

My favorite of their exhibitions was one called "Killer Fashion" which explored fashion and fashionable trends through the decades and how they hurt the animals hunted and killed for its use (feathers, leather, turtles, ivory, furs, etc.), maimed the people who produced them (hats, dyes, chemicals, etc.) or harmed the wearers (corsets, foot bindings, etc.) It was a really fascinating exhibit. 

Zara's photographic talents on display once again. At least she didn't cut off David's head. Our next stop was the Aiken-Rhett House. It was built in 1820 and remained in the Aiken family until it was sold in 1975 to the Charleston Museum. It was once a very grand and impressive house, one of the biggest in Charleston, but today it is in a sad state of disrepair.

When I read about the house, I was excited to see it. They've chosen to preserve the house but haven't restored it to its original state and you can see what a 200 year old house would look like. But unlike Drayton Hall (which we visited later) and which has a similar mandate, this house was not well cared for and stately but broken down and drooping.

There were huge pieces of wallpaper falling off and paint flaking off. There were holes and chunks of plaster falling down. The only section that had been restored (and had a functioning AC) was the art gallery where they had several statues and paintings.

Also unlike the other historic houses that use docents to guide you through the house, the Aiken-Rhett house relies on an audio guide. It slows the tour down but also provides a lot of additional context and history. Zara was given a scavenger hunt which she really enjoyed. 

The slave quarters above the kitchen. The last occupant of the house pretty much closed down all the rooms and only lived in a small portion of the house. It's sad what happens to old houses that can no longer be maintained. I wish they could do more with this one. It's fascinating to see it in its current condition, but also deeply depressing.

After our tour was over, we headed a few blocks down the street to eat at the Five Loaves Cafe which serves lots of fresh and locally sourced soups, salads, and sandwiches to eat a late lunch/early dinner. The food was delicious but their dinner menu looked better. Sadly, we were too early for that. Then we headed home for a little rest and relaxation. It was a long day of walking on a hot, humid day and we were spent.

Chattanooga, Tennessee

For spring break a few weeks ago we decided to take a mini-vacation to Chattanooga, Tennessee. I know that doesn't sound super thrilling but Chattanooga is actually a really neat little city and I enjoyed our quick visit immensely. We had stopped in Chattanooga briefly a few years ago (for a visit to Ruby Falls) and I'd been hearing great things about several of their other attractions. David didn't want to take the whole week off and since Chattanooga is only a two hour drive from Atlanta, it was the perfect two-day getaway. 

Of course, 20 minutes into our drive I realized that I forgot to pack my camera and so we had to rely on our camera phones. This would have been okay if not for the fact that the screen on my camera phone is cracked and therefore only takes slightly blurry photos. I stole David's phone for a few photos so some are a bit better than others. 

We left early Monday morning for our drive up to Chattanooga. It's just a straight shot up the I-75 and we were there in less than two hours. (We did have to make a quick stop at a rest stop for Adelaide who is potty training and only feels the need to actually go in a toilet when she's not at home.) Our first stop was Maple Street Biscuits, a local eatery serving up a delicious variety of breakfast and lunch type creations on delicious biscuits. They also had the best sweet potato fries I think I've ever had. I ordered two. 

After filling our faces, we walked the few blocks to the Tennessee Aquarium which I'd heard nothing but great things about. It sits right on the Tennessee River's edge and is divided into two buildings--river and ocean. Unlike the Georgia Aquarium, the Tennessee Aquarium felt much more intimate and more focused on education. It was also much less crowded and I found it to be much more enjoyable. 

We started on the ocean side which also included a butterfly garden. This beautiful butterfly landed on David's shoulder and stayed there for nearly ten minutes, just riding around.

Zara was also interested in catching butterflies.

After a quick snack break, we hit the river side of the aquarium which has massive tanks that you slowly work your way down and through.  I didn't like this side as much as the ocean side but the way it was set up was pretty interesting.

After finishing at the aquarium, we drove to the other side of the river and ate a picnic dinner at Coolidge Park. The park is nested right on the riverbanks and has an old-fashioned carousel, splash pad with animal fountains (Adelaide is riding the lion one above) and a pedestrian bridge that crosses the river. It was a lovely park full of college students from the nearby University of Tennessee.

All these crazy kids and me. I had packed a bunch of food before we left Atlanta which we enjoyed on a blanket overlooking the river.

After our dinner, we packed up and drove to Lookout Mountain in the foothills above the city proper where our hotel was located. As usual, most hotels located right in the city are way more expensive plus you have to pay for parking. But Chattanooga is small enough that it only takes 10 minutes to get from the outlying areas into the city. We picked a La Quinta inn that was brand-new (only built within the last year or so) that included free breakfast (because of course). It was a very nice suite for a great price. I am not looking forward to when our kids get a lot older and we need to get two hotel rooms.

So the next morning after cramming ourselves full of breakfast, we visited Point Park, a Civil War memorial (run by the NPS) that offers a beautiful view of Chattanooga and the valley below.

It was chiller than I expected so we didn't end up spending a long time in the park but it was a peaceful and beautiful spot.

After Point Park, we drove back into the city to visit the Creative Discovery Museum, Chattanooga's excellent children's museum. I haven't visited the children's museum here in Atlanta (again, I've heard mixed reviews), but this one had great reviews. Like most children's museums, it was chaotic and a little worn at the edges but still a ton of fun. Plus, their special exhibit was about what life is like for kids in Korea so of course we had to visit that.

We spent a good couple of hours at the children's museum before we were too tired to go on. We walked down to the Community Pie, a local restaurant that specializes in pizza and gelato. I ordered the carbonara pizza while David got one with fig and arugula. Zara got boring pepperoni. Adelaide insisted on spaghetti and then ate approximately none of it.

After finishing up our late lunch/early dinner, we piled back into the car and drove home. We hit a little traffic getting out of Chattanooga but it still only took about two hours. So it was a fun little excursion. I hope we get out for another trip this summer sometime.

High Museum of Art

September 26th was the Smithsonian's free museum day. Being the museophile that I am (totally just made up that word), I insisted that we visit one of the participating museums in our area. I picked the High Museum of Art for several reasons. David and I had visited the museum pre-kids, but we had never taken the kids there and haven't really visited any art museums with them. We've tended to favor natural history/history museums that are a little more interesting for kids. The High is an excellent art museum but it also has a hefty admission price so I definitely wanted to take advantage of a free visit. Plus they currently have an exhibition of Mo Williem's artwork and I thought the girls would be interested in that since they love the Pigeon books. 

Our first stop, of course, was the Mo Williems' exhibit. He's the author/illustrator of several children's books including "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" and "Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs." His pigeon series are some of the girls' favorites. Adelaide has been reading "The Pigeon Needs a Bath" to herself every night for the last two weeks. 

They had several tables and chairs set up in the exhibit with lots of his books and David laughed to realize that we've pretty much read all of his works. His style is very fun and whimsical, much in the style of Dr. Seuss. 

After the Mo Willems' exhibit, we stopped at the outdoor patio to eat some snacks and enjoyed a very large exhibit of apples and pears. 

We then hit the Family Learning Center which had a cardboard bus (with a pigeon at the wheel!) which the girls loved dashing in and out of. They also had some puppets and blocks. 

They also had an exhibit about the design of the Coke bottle being that this is Atlanta (home of Coke) and Coke's 100th anniversary. It was a fascinating exhibit. But I love anything that has to do with design and American culture. 

We then toured the permanent collection of European and American art. The design of the museum is really interesting. The four floors are assessed through a series of ramps that line the interior of the museum space and culminate in a huge open sky light. 

At the bottom floor of the main wing is an art installation called Utah Sky by Michael Lin. Adelaide thought it was wonderful to dance across the flowers....

...and then plopped herself right down to make flower angels or something. She was having a grand ole time. 

It rained all weekend and was still drizzling pretty steadily as we left the museum but the girls wanted to play on the spinning tops, an interactive art installation in the museum's courtyard. 

They are made from a variety of ropes and pipes of various designs and colors and spin like the Tea Cups at Disneyland. 

The girls and I (with Benjamin strapped to my chest) got inside while David pushed us around and around. I used to love the Tea Cups but I may be getting too old. I felt quite sick getting off but the girls loved it. And although we emerged with wet butts, we all enjoyed our day at the museum. 

Colonial Williamsburg

We currently live about 20 miles from Williamsburg and since Colonial Williamsburg is the history nerd's Disneyland, I have been dying to go. But, the price of admission is currently out of our price range, I couldn't justify a visit. Then I learned that you can actually visit the city without a ticket, you just can't go inside any of the homes or partake in many of the extra tours, demonstrations, and programs. That was fine by me, I just wanted to wander around the city and breathe in the history.

We actually visited the city briefly a few weeks ago to meet one of David's oldest friends, Renee. We ate a late lunch and then wandered around the "Revolutionary City" for about an hour. We even got to see their military review that they put on every day at 4:30. Since it was outside, we didn't need a ticket and we could to watch them shoot muskets, cannons, and march to a fife and drum band. It was pretty cool.

 That first visit (however brief it was) whet my appetite for more, so I convinced David to go back for another visit last Wednesday. We packed ourselves a little picnic lunch and strolled through the town, enjoying the old buildings and soaking in some of the history.

 

Of course, I would love to go back again sometime soon and actually pay to go into the houses. I might just go back by myself and visit the decorative arts and folk art museums (which you can pay to visit on their own for a much lower fee). 

 We still had fun with what you can do, though. You can go into all the shops (of course) and I lusted after the old soaps, candles, dolls, clothing, toys, and slateboards. And to his credit, when I told David that someday I'm going to have to buy all that stuff, he just nodded his head and said, "I know."
 

 It was a relatively chilly day (and a Wednesday), so there weren't many visitors which made for a very pleasant visit. It warmed up in the afternoon. 

 This tree was awesome and twisty.

 And of course, this is the cutest baby bear ever.

 I just love Zara's big grin in this photo.

Yup, I definitely want to go back again soon. I would seriously spend a week here, just enjoying all the tours and programs. It also reawakened my desire to go to William and Mary. Maybe some day.