Charles Towne Landing

On April 17 Donna and I visited Charles Towne Landing just outside of Charleston, the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Carolinas, started in 1670. We had visited there once before shortly after arriving in South Carolina, and we had been looking forward to visiting again. Once again, we enjoyed it very much. There are several pieces that add up to make it a very neat place to visit: the historical aspect; a visitors' center with many exhibits conveying the history; an animal forest that represents animals that lived in South Carolina during the time of the settlement; a reproduction of a 17th century sailing vessel; and beautiful grounds with a nice trail network.

Some photos from the animal forest:


Bison. These creatures are HUGE!




A tom turkey strutting his stuff


Nice view of the Cooper River bridge in the distance.


The sailing vessel, The Adventure








Self-portraits




Nice shot by Donna


Cool old-style lock. There were several of these around the various buildings and on-board The Adventure.


Beautiful grounds






Cormorants


Donna photographing the cormorants. :-)


Gator and friends


Neat vegetation








After departing Charles Towne we went into Charleston proper for a few hours before heading home. We had an excellent dinner at The Noisy Oyster and spent some time walking along the water and visiting the market and other shops in the area. Donna snapped a neat photo of a container ship with a sailboat nearby. The sailboat was likely pretty large but sure looks small compared to the container ship.