County Parks, Charleston, S.C.

One of the features that impressed us about the Charleston, S.C., area were the many county and municipal parks and their quality. I swear the county parks were like being in a state park. Awesome!

We visited Mount Pleasant Palmetto Islands County Park, North Charleston Wannamaker County Park and Mount Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park (where the Mount Pleasant Pier is located). And, in the next county over in Monck's Corner, Cypress Gardens, which I'll blog about later.

If we would have had time (and less rain), I would have loved to visit James Island County Park and Folly Beach County Park.

Here's some photos from Palemetto Islands County Park:

There was a large marsh between the park and neighboring subdivisions.
The park is located among several housing developments.

Sidney on a boardwalk across part of the marsh.

A combination bird-watching tower and playground.

You cross this pond using a bridge to get to the visitors' center.

West Wind Winery summer concerts

West Wind Farm Vineyard and Winery has announced it's upcoming summer concert series. They'll take place the first Saturday of each month. Check it out (from the winery's newsletter):

Summer Saturdays Concerts

We are pleased to announce the lineup for this year's Summer Saturdays Concert Series!
 

5th Anniversary Celebration / June 4
ENVISION (Motown, soul)
6 to 9pm

July 2
BIG BLUES BEAT (Oldies, rock)
6 to 9pm

August 6
DOC GREENBERG’S PATIENT JAZZ (Jazz, blues)
6 to 9pm

September 3
TRAVELERS REVISION (Oldies, rock)
6 to 9pm

Wine & Swine 2011 / Oct. 1
KEY WEST BAND (Buffett-style & beach – Parrotheads welcome!)
5 to 8pm

Notice a pattern?  The events are the first Saturday of each month - hopefully making them easy to remember! 

The winery has other events, such as wine dinners, happening during the year, too. Make sure to check out its calendar.

Charleston, S.C.

Recently we took a trip south to spend a few days in Charleston, S.C.

I was expecting a place similar to Savannah, Ga., but it was nothing like that. There is still a lot of history and historic places in the Charleston area, but the look of the city was decidedly different.

Instead of feeling like we were stepping back into time in the historic downtown area, Charleston felt very modern though there were certainly older buildings and homes mixed in.

We did see one cobblestone street and the area near the Battery had many historic homes.

I guess I was just expecting streets and neighborhoods to be more intact. My expectations were too high and kind of tainted my view, I'm sure.

It rained, no poured, the day we walked around the city and visited historic sites. So we didn't walk down too many side streets, mostly sticking to Meeting and King Streets and exploring just parts of Bay (Battery), Church and Tradd Streets.


View Larger Map

Over the next several weeks I'll introduce you to a few things we did and saw during our trip.

First off, here's a smattering of pics from the downtown area, in no particular order:

Pretty sure this is S. Battery. If I'm not right, please correct me!

White Point Gardens, near the Battery.

Chris thought this was neat.

I believe this is E. Bay Street.

The rain didn't slow pedestrian traffic, though I bet it's more crowded when it's not raining.

Hillsville, Va., Downtown Celebrations 2011

It's about that time again! I can't wait for Hillsville's first beach music concert series of the year.

Each show also features a Classic Car Cruise-in. Admission is free and the show starts around 5 p.m.

Here's the dates and line-up.

May 14 -- The Holiday Band

June 25 -- The Tim Clark Band

July 23 -- The Embers

August 20 -- The Craig Woolard Band

September 10 -- Jim Quick and Coastline

Need more info? Call (276) 728-2128, ext. 16; visit www.townofhillsville.com; or email hillsville@embarqmail.com.

Where to Eat: Mitchie Tavern, Charlottesville, Va.

In Charlottesville, we grabbed a bite to eat at historic Mitchie Tavern, located below the hill from Monticello. It serves an all-you-can-eat buffet of an 18th century fare.

Dressed in period clothing, waitresses brought out more food as you requested it. Though a bit pricey at $16, I think it's worth it. The food was spectacular! We ate chicken, black-eyed peas, stewed tomatoes, green beans and roast potatoes.

While there, we also checked out the shops on the property. Here's the metal smith shop where you can buy many different things:

This woman told us about the courting candle. When a young man comes to call on a young lady, the father would set out the courting candle. The father could make the candle longer or short depending on which way he turned the candle's knob.
If he liked the young man, he turned the candle up; if he didn't, there wasn't much candle to burn before the young man would have to leave. Once the candle burned down to the first coil, it was time for a young man to leave.

Monticello and Mitchie Tavern, Charlottesville, Va.

On our way back from Richmond a couple months ago, we stopped by Monticello to stretch our legs. I really enjoyed visiting Thomas Jefferson's old home place and learning about the property.

I wrote and won a DAR award with an essay about Thomas Jefferson in fifth grade, so I sort of hold a special place for him and his home in my heart, as corny as that may sound. It was really cool to visit a place I'd written and read about all those years ago.

Isn't this place gorgeous? It has two large porches extending from each side of it.

Here's the wine cellar and the dumbwaiter used to transport the bottles upstairs:

Here are more photos of the grounds:

Thomas Jefferson's grave.

A big, old tree on the property.

Mulberry Row, where homes of slaves and trades workshops were located.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

If you visit Richmond, Va., I'd recommend checking out the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

The museum's collections include art deco and art nouveau, English silver, Faberge, mid-to-late 20th century and 21st centuryAmerican art, African art and Ancient art. Here are some of the lovely pieces that we saw back in January: