Tastes of Charleston

After a morning of strolling around the city Farmer's Market on saturday, we had some choices to make

on our third day in Charleston – the air was heavy, hot and predicted to rise up into a heat index of over a 110 degrees.  On a walking tour of a southern city located directly on the top of tidal marshes, heat can change your plans some...although you might not guess it by the masses of college students

walking and biking around the mazes of city streets.  The girls found some relief by picking up water guns in the park, then slipping into a smoothie shop to cool from the inside out.  Carly and I decided to hoof it a couple of miles down Calhoun St. to the South Carolina Aquarium for some indoor entertainment.  After a few stops in some public coolers (Starbucks, Public Library), we finally found what turned out to be a very worthwhile excursion.  The Aquarium is known for its contributions in sea

All Sea Turtle species currently on extinction list. Without the aid of bio-medical
assistance such as found at aquarium these grand creatures might no longer exist

turtle rehabilitation – both the Florida and South Carolina coasts as birthing grounds for what have been called the most prehistoric creature still living on earth.  When visiting zoos and aquariums, sometimes you don't see a thing, but sometimes you get lucky and see the very animal in the very pose you hope for.   Carly had a moment on this visit when she sat down on the bench leaning in toward the aquarium window to look at the two circling blue sharks, when our prehistoric friend decided to swim down to our corner and nestled in the rocks for a little eye contact and a great little photo op.

We petted some fiddler crabs and sting rays, watched the Pelicans being fed on the shore of an outdoor

mango creek, then moved onto the final stages of the Madagascar lemur cage (top pic Carly inside the display), and then into gift shop for turtle sweatshirts, books and movies.  On our way out, we decided we might take the covered trolley back closer to our room, and a police officer walked over to us and handed us two

cold bottles of water and mentioned that the heat had risen to 117.  This time we travelled in air conditioning and plotted our next two excursions to be inside at the Charleston Museum and the restaurant 39 Rue de Jean for a little slice of Paris (ratatouille for Julia!)