Asheville and Charleston--What Beautiful Places

We had a great time in Asheville. We spent two days at the Biltmore Mansion – walking up and down four flights of stairs, and then through some of the gardens – but what an amazing place it is. The grounds are huge but very beautiful. We also got a chance to drive part of the Blue Ridge Parkway and we ate at the most luxurious McDonald’s just outside the Biltmore. We stayed at a very pretty campground, but it was built on a pretty steep hill. All the sites were terraced and beautifully landscaped.

Monday we drove to Charleston, NC through a horrendous rainstorm. A trip that should have taken about 5 hours took 7 hours. But we made it safely and are in another beautiful campground. Jim sure did a great job of picking the RV parks for us so far.

We took a bus tour through Charleston (in the rain) but had a very interesting guide who told us a lot about the history of the city as we passed some beautiful houses and other points of interest. Charleston extends onto several islands, so there are a lot of interesting bridges to be seen. There are houses called ‘single houses’, unique to Charleston; they are a single room wide with a side ‘piazza’ (porch) where the entrance to the house is. The house itself may be quite large, extending quite deeply into the lot. Houses, churches, and other buildings have a lot of beautiful iron work as fences, balconies, or just as decorations. Of course, a visit to Ft. Sumter is a must. What an interesting place it is. Tomorrow we’re going back to some of the houses we saw on the bus tour and then to the beach so we can dip our tootsies in the Atlantic.

We have now been through 10 states!! Soon we’ll head up the coast to visit Williamsburg and beyond. Some interesting wildlife we’ve seen along the way include wild turkeys, skunks, turtles, egrets, white swans, deer, and Palmetto bugs.