“Isolation tends to exhaust the energy charge of the soul. Association with one’s fellows is essential to the renewal of the zest for life and is indispensable to the maintenance of the courage to fight those battles consequent upon the ascent to the higher levels of human living. Friendship enhances the joys and glorifies the triumphs of life.” The Urantia Book (1776.2) (160:2.8)
Flower outside
Nathaniel Russell House
Tommy agreed to give us a walking tour of downtown Charleston; he does frequent volunteer work there and has an excellent appreciation of things historical. The first stop was at the Nathaniel Russell House; no, I do not know the name of this flower that was located on the grounds. I had taken the house tour before with Tommy but it was still interesting. It is a fine example of what houses looked like in the early 19th century. It has been fully restored and filled with period furniture wherever possible. Next stop was lunch at Gaulart & Maliclet, a tiny French restaurant on Broad Street. The limited space was efficiently used and the food excellent. The waiter said the place had been virtually unchanged, including the menu, for over thirty years. We noticed a nearby patron grinning at our banter and so we struck up a conversation with him. He worked in the library at the nearby College of Charleston.
Other stops were at the council chambers of City Hall where
there are larger than life-sized portraits of George Washington, Andrew Jackson
and other notables who had visited the city.
We walked to Waterfront Park where we enjoyed swinging on the swings and
watching the harbor. We then went on to
City Gallery where there was an exhibition of paintings by Olga Stamatiou
titled “Let our Voices Emerge.” The
theme concerned the women of Islam seeking liberation from the traditional
aspects of their religion, represented by Burkas.
Michael Slaying the Dragon, St. Michael’s Episcopal Church
The final stop on our informal tour of the old part of
Charleston was at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church located on the “Four Corners
of Law.” This corner is so named because
buildings for city law (City Hall), county law (county courthouse), federal law
(federal courthouse and Post Office) and God’s Law (St. Michael’s Church) are
located on it. Blessing the sanctuary of
St. Michael’s is the above stained glass window depicting St. Michael slaying
the dragon, which is based on Raphael’s painting.
After leaving Tommy (he had something else planned and could
not join us for dinner) we went to Mt. Pleasant and walked on the boardwalks
over the marsh until time to eat. There
are those who are upset at the cost to purchase the land and build this park,
but in spite of that it is a lovely place to walk and enjoy Charleston
harbor. There were two artists painting
the picturesque scenes along the boardwalk.
Water’s Edge Restaurant is located on Shem Creek where shrimp boats are
moored. They have tables along the
waterway, but none large enough for our party of seven so we were seated
farther from the scenery outside. Dinner
was a lively affair, I have never seen that group so animated and joyous; Betty
Lou can have that effect! After diner we
gathered at Martha’s house for further discussions. It was a most enjoyable day and evening.
Kershaw-Cornwallis House Being Eaten by Metal Monster
Marty was busy so we had little time with her, just time for a
quick visit. Two Revolutionary War
battles were fought in Camden, the British under Cornwallis won the first one
and the second the Americans under Nathanael Greene won. A monster was not actually attacking the
house General Cornwallis lived in and this is not a Photoshop trick (I should
be so good), it was just happenstance but it does look rather ominous.
Wandering Urantian Captured
I did make the mistake of getting too close to the stockade at
the Revolutionary War site and as a result became entrapped. Eventually I did make my escape, after a few
photographs naturally, and was able to go on my way.
Next stop Western North Carolina!
