Today we took a brisk walk through the old "walled city" of Charleston, stopping now and then to read from the AAA guidebook. It was fun to feel like we were walking through the past, a past of both beauty and sorrow, of both master and slave. This city is so intimately connected to the institution of slavery, but somehow, out of those dark years came a huge amount of beauty that still remains, beauty that both whites and blacks (I hope) can appreciate and enjoy. We walked and talked and learned a lot. 

Some sights along the way . . .

A brave fern growing out of a wall

One of the many beautiful backyard gardens

A house with a garage right through the chimney

relaxing in the hotel atrium

Cia in the atrium

Inside an Anglican church

Marion Square, just outside our hotel

My dearest in one of the countless gardens in Charleston