Beaufort, South Carolina is a charming, historical Southern town on the Intracoastal waterway. It’s surrounded by beaches (without crowds) delicious seafood and history. In this episode, we share our quick family getaway to Beaufort, a charming historical town in South Carolina. We’re back traveling – mostly exploring the East Coast – and visiting those lessor known destinations. We want you to still have those travel experiences you are thirsting for – especially during these challenging times when you need a break! Beaufort, South Carolina will give you that relaxing break you need, away from the hordes of people, and out with fresh, salty breezes
Today, we’ve put together a list of the best free things to do in Charleston SC to help you stay on budget for your next trip. Aside from our hometown Atlanta, Charleston is my next favorite city in the South! We try to visit at least once a year since there’s always something new for us to see, do, and learn. The city is overflowing with history and the best part is many attractions are free to experience.
Today we are showcasing Traveling Robert’s video, “One Day in Beautiful Charleston, South Carolina.” Robert loves to travel around in his RV visiting destinations all across the USA and today he visits Charleston.
While RVing around Charleston, Robert provides us glimpse’s of historic Fort Sumter, the historic houses, the historic churches, cemeteries and so much more.
Let’s Allow Robert To Narrate His Video In His Own Words
Before we visit this beautiful city of Charleston, let’s enjoy a morning stroll around this beautiful park. Okay, let’s drive to Charleston. The first thing we are going to do today is visit Fort Sumter, and the first ferry departs at nine, and I’m running late. I think we are going to make it in the nick of time. Let’s park here at the aquarium parking lot. I really hope I can make it on time, it is almost nine. This is Liberty Square. The aquarium, this is the Fort Sumter National Monument.
Inside they have this museum but I have to rush through in order to make it to the ferry. That’s the boat. There’s this sitting area and there is the famous Arthur Ravenel Bridge, but as soon as the ferry departs, I am going to the upper deck to get a better view. – Concern to protect the sensitive ecosystem of the Charleston harbor for the convenience of all our guests. Smoking is prohibited on all Fort Sumter tour vessels. – We finally depart and there’s the Carnival Ecstasy, I actually went on a cruise on that ship back in the early 90’s when it was brand new. They have this bar here on the lower deck but there’s no one here. There’s the old custom house, one of the most famous buildings here in Charleston, and there’s the U.S.S. Yorktown.
This small fort in the middle of the harbor is Castle Pinckney, here we see it with Fort Sumter in the background. See all those Church spires or steeples? Well Charleston is also called the holy city because of the great number of churches of different denominations in the city. We’re almost there. The palmetto, the symbol of South Carolina. Fly pelican! (laughs) Well here we are.
Fort Sumter was of great significance during the American Civil War, as the first battle was fought right here. That’s a good trip. We get a very detailed explanation of all the events that transpired here. We are free to roam around, explore every nook and cranny. They are going to raise the flag now. There is Charleston in the distance and the sandbar to the west. Since we are the first tour of the day, we have the honor to witness and some to participate in the raising of the flag ceremony. (applause) This is a good gun, the big one. They have all these exhibits outside with the different cannons and the historic context, and here’s looking towards the sandbar. There is a small museum inside where they give you a more detailed history and they have all these artifacts.
And there is the flag that flew in Fort Sumter during the bombardment on April 1861. This is the flag. These are all the flags that have flown here over the years. (upbeat instrumental music) Oh I wonder what’s down there under the hatch. This was a very nice visit here, Fort Sumter. 31 dollars, very informative, you know the national park service, everything is new like the speakers on the boat were super clear so we could understand everything, it is very well maintained here, and there’s a lot of history that I didn’t know actually, especially that the Civil War started here, of course the wind picks up at the exact moment when I start recording the video. Anyways we’re going to continue exploring Charleston now, that’s Charleston down there, I don’t know if you can see it cause of the wide angle but yeah, that’s where we’re going next.
We head back on the boat in about five minutes, actually I think they’re leaving without me, they’re leaving without me. There he is, he’s gotta make sure everybody gets off the island. Three miles away. Going back to the mainland. Once again, there is the U.S.S. Yorktown, of World War Two glory. One of it’s final missions, the recovery of the Apollo Eight command module on December of 1968. The bridge of course, the Arthur Ravenel opened in 2005 and it has a pedestrian and a bike lane. We’ll cross it later for sure. And here’s another close up of the Yorktown. We’re not going to have time to visit it today unfortunately but it’s on the list.
And we are back and we see dolphins. The next victims. Let’s go find something to eat. Yes I am starving, I skipped breakfast again. That’s where we came from. This is Liberty Park. It is actually called Liberty Square and it is a nice park here by the aquarium and the ferry terminal. It’s actually called Liberty Square. Now let’s go find the parking near downtown. Finding parking has proved challenging, there is this meter but it is only for half an hour, so. I found parking on the top floor, at least we have a view. This is the Cumberland garage. Let’s explore, this is where I parked. One dollar for half and hour, but it is what it is.
Downtown. Okay, here we are, East Bay Street. We’ll go there later. This is one of the main historic streets here. There is Magnolia’s, the restaurant where we ate the last time we were here. There is also Blossom, but my plan is to go to the Lagunitas taproom and beer sanctuary. But I can’t find it. Let me walk around a little bit, see if I can find a place that is not very formal, more like a bar since I am by myself here.
This fountain is a waterfront park, from where you can see once again, Castle Pinckney and Fort Sumter. I finally make up my mind and go for this deserted French bistro, spectacular turkey club sandwich that I wash down with an ice cold beer. Much better now. Well Lagunitas apparently shut down but I ate at this place called East Bay Meeting House. Well let’s explore one of the most picturesque cities in the United States of America. Apparently there were slave auctions all along this street. Here’s a historic building from the 1700’s called the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon. The building has served many functions over the years, it was even a jail during the Revolutionary War.
Here’s looking west on Broad Street, towards the San Michael church, we’ll go there later. Now we are approaching a city block called Rainbow Row and let’s hear the explanation from this fine city guide. – High class people came in and brightened up the area and then in the 1950’s a photographer from Time magazine visited Charleston, took pictures of these homes and captioned his photo, a beautiful Rainbow Row. That’s how it gets it’s name. – Well, there you go, now you know where the name Rainbow Row comes from. The famous Rainbow Row back there, gonna walk a little bit on this street, this is very very picturesque.
Here we are, by Adger’s Wharf, at the southern end of water front park. Nice area for a picnic here. I originally thought that these plaques on all the houses with the year meant that the house dated back to like 1670, but they all have the same year so no, it is just the year of the founding of the city, and the plaque is just an award given to property owners who have preserved their historic homes.
Here, East Bay street becomes East Battery with this promenade and old antebellum homes. Some of these homes are bed and breakfasts. Some, like this one, are museums. I’ve seen that C17 plane flying around a couple of times today. By the way this is the Roper house which you can also tour, dating back to 1838, it originally belonged to Robert Roper, a prominent cotton planter. We are reaching the end and this park here is called White Point Garden. Here is a statue of General William Moultrie, twice governor of South Carolina. Beautiful park. This is a monument dedicated to the defenders of Fort Moultrie. I think I’m going to take a break. There goes another military plane. Nearby here, a joint base Charleston shares runways with Charleston International Airport.
At the southern tip of Charleston stands this other monument to the confederate defenders of Charleston, installed in 1932 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Here’s the famous bandstand, but it’s not used for concerts anymore because the neighbors complained about the noise. Well I’ve taken my break here at the park, now let’s continue exploring. I’m just going to walk back north here on Meeting Street, this here is actually a b and b, it would be pretty cool to stay at an 1892 mansion here. This here is the Calhoun Mansion, the largest single family residence in all of Charleston, and they do have tours but I’m not in the touring mood.
I mean I am tempted to go in, it looks like it is beautiful inside but nah. Not everything is restored here, this one here seems to be in a little bit of disrepair. First Presbyterian Church. They look like they’ve got a delivery. Let’s see the cemetery next to the church. Some important people are buried here. Betcha. I know it is probably rude to be peeking into a private residence, but the pretty garden caught my attention, and this one too. They’re selling something here. Here is the recently renamed judicial center. These are sweetgrass baskets, weaved by gulla artisans, being sold right here in front of Saint Michael’s Church built in the 1760’s.
This one also has a rather large cemetery inside the property. I wonder how all these people would feel if they knew that their final resting place has become a tourist attraction. (church bells) Very thin gravestones. More sweetgrass baskets. This intersection called the four corners of law. That’s city hall right there. Let’s continue exploring. The cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in the distance. This pretty park here is Washington Square. Beautiful oak trees. I assume this is old George himself. That is a FedEx truck right in front of the hall. And here, another church. I can see why they call it the holy city.
This is the circular congregational church. Of course there is a large cemetery in the back. Let’s go to that one next. They have some kind of artillery museum inside. Another time, perhaps. Here we are, Saint Philip’s Church. The state’s oldest congregation, and it is quite an imposing structure. In this one, the cemetery is actually across the street. It is open to visitors, let’s step inside. They let you see the church in exchange for a voluntary donation. This is by the way an Episcopal church, the current building dating back to 1836, although the spire wasn’t finished until 1850. You do have to open these doors in order to sit down for service. (church bells) It is three p.m. This one has the largest graveyard of all the other churches I’ve seen today and the largest mausoleums too. Oak tree. There’s Calhoun, the one with the largest house. Well, there you have it, lots of important people interred here.
More important people over here. I am hot and thirsty and guess what I found, a bar! That’s not Bud Light, by the way, you know I like my IPA. Hm, it rhymes. Apparently it is a huge pub, just a slow time of the day, it was a little bit of a pick me up and now we continue towards the market which is this way, I think. What can I tell you guys, I’m exhausted, I did a run this morning at the campgrounds, and then we did Fort Sumner, and now I’ve been at this for three hours, so just walking around exploring the city. But we have one more thing, one more thing to see before we go.
And that’s right here. Check it out. The city market, I’m going to go all the way to the end and walk you through. Everybody gets freaked out by this little camera, I don’t know why. Anyways, let me show you where we are. That’s it. Right there, that’s the entrance, the main entrance to the, it’s called the city market. I think the cruise ship is about to leave but here we have the market, let’s go in. Okay get ready, for the next minute and a half I am going to show you the market, the whole market, all four city blocks.
This market by the way was established here in the 1790’s, of course it’s burned down and had to be rebuilt, probably several times. (upbeat techno music) Well that was the city market, in a nutshell. I’m going to start walking back to the car. I think we’ve seen enough for one day but hey, there’s the old United States custom house building, right here by the market. Here it is from another angle. And there’s the cruise ship. I remember when that ship was brand new. Well in hindsight, maybe I should have used one of these bikes instead of walking. Caramela’s, this is supposed to be really good. I didn’t catch the music, the cruise is still here, but most importantly, Kia is still here. Well, saying goodbye to downtown Charleston. For now, but we are not leaving yet. You know I wanted to walk across the Arthur Ravenel bridge, but I am not going to do that, at least I am going to drive on it.
Here we go, fasten your seatbelts. It opened as I said in 2005. And it is the third longest bridge of it’s kind in the western hemisphere. And it is wide, eight lanes wide. On the other side is Mount Pleasant. And I want to see this park that has a pier here. Maybe see the view. There’s the famous bridge. This is the Mount Pleasant War Memorial. Right here in Mount Pleasant Memorial Park. But the real reason I came here was to see the bridge from underneath and to walk on the pier. This is very cool, this place here, great views, and I would love to continue exploring but I’m tired, the day is coming to an end soon. Before we call it a night, I am going to have dinner with a viewer. We are going to meet at this barbecue place called Swig and Swine. – You’ve arrived. – Here we are at Swig and Swine, we are about to eat, here’s John Legman, a viewer of the channel, let me. Well the light is not very good but we are going to eat now so I’ll let you know how it is.
In the morning, I depart. Very tempted to drive straight to Miami in one go. Google says it’s only like, eight hours. You see, the challenges we sometimes have on the road when we have to put gas. Must be lovebug season. They just appeared and they’re all over the place. Alright, let’s get back. You know what, I’m going to drive all the way back to Miami today. How hard could it be? I just have to drive through Georgia, into Florida, through Jacksonville at rush hour, way into the dark night, but I’m going to show you that in another video, maybe. If you have enjoyed traveling with us, make sure you are subscribed, and check out my other videos, also share it with your friends, spread the word, and leave me a comment, now if you really really liked it, you have the chance to show your support at Patreon dot com slash traveling Robert.
You can follow and subscribe to Traveling Robert on his YouTube Channel as he visits location destinations all across the USA indeed living the GoodLife. Our staff at Travel USA Discounts love the Traveling Robert Channel so much, we plan to feature his works many more times!
So that’s “One Day in Beautiful Charleston, South Carolina.” Great work Robert!
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