Market Street in Charleston is home to an old but vibrant covered market, at the entrances to which sit Gullah women. They sell sweetgrass baskets, which are more expensive than they look.

Andrea meets a scent salesman in the Market.

Rainbow Row was on the harborside in colonial times, but warfing out has left it inland by a couple blocks.

The East Battery is one of the most famous and recognizable residential areas in Charleston. It overlooks the harbor, including the distant Fort Sumter.

On the South Battery, overlooking a classic tree-filled the park where Blackbeard the pirate was hanged, Andrea observes some of the nice houses.

On our second day in Charleston we took the National Parks ferry to Fort Sumter, and got this very nice view of Charleston from the harbor. Despite damage during the siege at the end of the Civil War, the skyline across the peninsula looks much as it did two hundred years ago. The spires of St. Philip's and St Michael's churches both predate the Civil War (the latter one is visible at right, and also predates the Revolution). They were used by the Union for targeting missiles sent into the city.

The view of Fort Sumter from ferry. In 1860 this would have been a three-storey brick building rising from a man-made island, and would have been very imposing. It was shelled by South Carolina while the Union still occupied it, and at the end of the war it was leveled to approximately a third of its former height by the Union.

Inside Fort Sumter. The black structure is a World War II defensive fort built over unexcavated debris. Everything on this side is excavated.

A tour guide leads us around the inside walls of the fort.

Still lodged in the north wall of the fort, one of three Union shells is visible. It would have been fired from an island to the south of the fort (by the people depicted in the movie Glory), and it may still contain gunpowder, so look out.

Andrea amid cannon.

Flags above Fort Sumter.

Outside the walls of the fort there is still a lot of debris.

Andrea on the World War II fort.

This is what you get when you ask a passer-by for a nice level photo with the flags directly behind you.

Back in Charleston, a tour guide form Old South Tours takes us on a carriage ride. To the left is the covered market.

Our tour guide in the north of the city.

The carriage tour passes the Wentworth Mansion, the only five star hotel in Charleston. He explained that, contrary to custom in New England, the lookout at the top of the roof is not called a widow's walk, but rather a cupola. Also, when he noticed our Red Sox hats he remarked upon the irony that in the south we are called Yankees.

St. Philip's Episcopal Church, which dates back to the 1830s (though the parish is older and met in previous buildings).

St. Michael's Episcopal Church. This colonial church is famous for the number of times its bells have traveled across the ocean. Cast in London in 1751, they were installed in the steeple and remained until the British stole them at the end of the Revolution. They were later returned, so that's three transatlantic trips right there. But it didn't end. They cracked and were sent to England to be recast. And then the Civil War broke out, and the bells were sent inland to Columbia for safe-keeping. They would have been safer in Charleston, since Columbia burned. But the bell metal was recovered, so it was sent to England again to be recast. But that wasn't the end of it. In 1989 Hurricane Hugo damaged them, so they were sent to England to be refit.

Across from St. Michael's is the classic City Hall.

Andrea at Meeting and Broad.

The cemetery at the Circular Congregational Church on Meeting St.

On our way out of Charleston we stopped at one of the many plantations. Drayton Hall was built over four years starting in 1738, and is the oldest preserved plantation house in the country. It is particularly noteworthy in that the National Trust has decided not to restore it, but rather to preserve it. The paint inside the house, for example, was applied in the late 1800s. There is no plumbing or electricity, and much of the house looks as it did in the 18th century. Here tour guide Bob Barker (yes, that is his name) shows us one of the rooms of the very symmetrical Georgian house.

The view from piazza (southern to northern translation: balcony) at Drayton Hall. You can see where the drive originally ended in a circle at the front steps.

The magnificent wooden stairs in Drayton Hall, with a partial view of the first floor ceiling.

Drayton Hall.

We stopped by Hilton Head, an island that is largely a golf resort, and found this crab on Driessen Beach, one of a few public beaches on the island.

Andrea on Driessen Beach.

Another view of Driessen Beach, Hilton Head.

We stopped for a couple days in Savannah, Georgia. Savannah was the end of Sherman's March, and fortunately he decided not to destroy it, because it's a unique city. It is probably one of the only cities to follow its original plan for such a long time - the plan called for squares at regular intervals around the street grid, and they ended up with 24 (though there are only 21 left today). The city is more famous for its being featured in the book and film Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Here Andrea sits on the porch at the Azalea Inn.

Factors Walk near the riverfront in Savannah. This multi-tiered row of buildings was for many years the place where the world price of cotton was set. The Factors were the accountants who calculated the yield and price.

We toured the restored Davenport House on Columbia Square. The house has a very symmetrical Georgian design. For years it was divided into tenements; restoration included the return if its fireplaces, which had been sold.

Another house in Savannah.

This is Mercer House, the setting for Midnight. Jim Williams, played by Kevin Spacey in the film, bought the house and restored it in the 1980s. He held quite a lot of parties there, but caused a stir when he shot a his assistant, Danny Hanson, in the study. The book was based upon this story. (My site originally said that Mercer House was built by the songwriter Johnny Mercer, who is famous for writing "Moon River" and other songs, however this was in error. It was actually commissioned by General Hugh Mercer prior to the Civil War. Apparently Johnny Mercer tried to buy it, but was refused. The house was completed after the war by a different owner. Thanks to William Hand for the correction.)

The book also features a couple visits to Bonaventure Cemetery outside Savannah, where the poet Conrad Aiken and the songwriter Johnny Mercer are both buried. This is Aiken's grave ...

And here's a bench in Johnny Mercer's, and it is inscribed with lyrics from his songs.

Andrea contemplates Mercer's grave and lyrics in Bonaventure Cemetery.

On the way out of Savannah we went to the shore and rested on Tybee Island Beach. Then we drove four hours to Atlanta. There is nothing between Savannah and Atlanta, unless you count Macon (city bathroom count: 1), so it was a long trip.

We visited the Jimmy Carter Museum and Library in Atlanta on our first full day there. This was the view of the Atlanta skyline from Iranian Hostage Crisis Pond.

Andrea and I pose at the Fuel Efficiency Fountain. Yes, I am making these names up.

Of course the real reason we went on this entire trip was to attend the September 24th wedding of my friend Amy to her fiancee, Dave. The wedding was a success. Here are Amy and her father walking down the aisle.

Amy and Dave.

More Amy and Dave.

Amy's Stepsisters supplied the musical accompaniment to the ceremony.

Beth DeBeech reads: "My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Here he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices. My lover speaks; he says to me, Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!"

Amy and Dave.

At the reception, Beth and Andrea.

Details of the reception bar.

First dance.

Ed, Amy and Beth.

Amy and the bridesmaids huddle.

Amy and Bridesmaid not huddling.

I don't usually don't take photos of the view from the plane, but here's the view from the plane on the way home. It was a particularly clear day, with dark sky above and clouds below. We could see a lot of detail on the ground as well.

We could see a lot of recognizable locations. Here's an island whose baseball team would go on to lose the American League Championship Series in October ...

... and a peninsula whose team won the World Series (finally).