The first things we noticed upon crossing over the South Carolina border on our way to Charleston were the billboards. There are a lot of billboards for guns (religion too, but that’s been the case for the entire south). Assault rifles and bibles seem to be really, really popular here. My camera was in the back seat, but I snapped a fuzzy pic of one (we saw dozens) with my phone on the way to our hotel tonight:

Is it, though?

Other than advertisements for weapons, Charleston is a laid-back city that feels like it hasn’t changed much in the past couple centuries. Walking around the cobblestone streets of the French Quarter, and the tiny Battery District alleys lined with colorful antebellum houses, we rarely encountered moving vehicles. And when we did, they were about as likely to be horse-drawn carriages as they were modern cars.

We started the day with a quick stop at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, which is kind of confusing since the church we visited in Savannah is named exactly the same. I feel like there are enough saints for two major cathedrals in the same general region to each get their own, but apparently the Roman Catholic church disagrees. The cathedral itself was quite dramatic, although I slightly prefer the one in Savannah.

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Again.

Next, we parked the car at White Point Garden, and set off on a walking tour of the southern Charleston peninsula. We injected a bit of fun into our walk by downloading a geocaching app (Hi Laura & Jeff!), and resolved to find our very first cache in Charleston. We picked a geocache located in the heart of the Battery District, and set off on our quest.

We took a scenic route up the eastern side of the peninsula, through the French Quarter, and over to Waterfront Park. I found Charleston to easily be one of the most scenic and enjoyable cities that I’ve toured. Outside of major thoroughfares, cars are rare and most people just stroll down street centers, forgoing sidewalks. There are colorful historic houses, old trees, and gardens around every corner—it’s really nice!

When we finally made it to the general vicinity of the geocache, we were in a tiny parking lot on the corner of two small alleys, partially enclosed by an old brick wall. We checked the app for a clue as to where the cache might be located, and received a riddle to mull over. We’d spent a few minutes searching the area when another couple of experienced geocachers arrived, hunting for the same stash. A short time later, we’d all located the hidden treasure (though truth be told, our new friends did most of the work). This was a really fun experience, and seems like a great way to see new places—we’ll definitely look for more caches in the future!

Our first geocache!

An old-timey car!

We decided to finish the day at Patriots Point, a naval museum across the Cooper River. The highlight here is a self-guided tour of the USS Yorktown, a WWII-era aircraft carrier. I’ve been to the USS Intrepid museum in New York a couple times, and I enjoyed the Yorktown quite a bit more. It really feels like every inch of the ship is open to the public, and we walked nearly all of it (without ever getting too lost, thanks to the arrows painted onto the floor!), and most of the time we were alone (even on a Saturday afternoon!).

We also walked through the very cramped USS Clamagore submarine, which was tiny in comparison, but still really interesting. We skipped the USS Laffey (a destroyer), as it was getting late. The museum is definitely a good value at the normal $22/person price, but we especially enjoyed it at the $6 price we scored thanks to checking Groupon on the drive over. =)

Visiting USS Yorktown at Patriots Point.

Lori onboard the USS Clamagore.

Tomorrow, we visit Congaree National Park. If it doesn’t rain.