More CHARLESTON, SC Gardens & a Sinful Chocolate PRALINE

Here is the last of my Charleston April trip pictures, it was a balmy 85 degrees that day and I took over 300 pictures... and I promise , this time I will show a little of the Dock Street Theatre inside, and my favorite candy store in downtown Charleston.

Scout's honor.

Here we go...

Even the cemetaries here have beautiful surroundiings.

The gates of this downtown garden are open every time I come to Charleston. They have a yardman or men always working. I don't have a yardman, but my husband does have a yardlady...

moi.

White Point Garden park , down at the curve of the Battery. They renovated the outdoor structure, and it is not nearly as beautiful as the old one. Lots of pigeons, dogs running around, people picnicking, cannons pointing out to the water, and general lallygagging go on here.
It is a peaceful large park though.

People get married here, take lots of photos , etc. Ok, let's leave the park and show you some more gardens, houses....

Here is a view of the sidewalks, very uneven, dangerous to walk on while you are gawking and oohing & awing at the homes and gardens. Keep alert here folks !

My beautiful lovely gardenlady , I had to show her again, she is hidden behind a Bed & Breakfast. I always go back and photograph her with the guests staring at me like I do not belong back there.

Don't care.

She is magnetic to me.

If I was a thief I would steal her, carry her and her 500 lbs. to my garden...but alas I am not a thief.
Plus I am not nearly that strong.

So, she stays in her hidden place safely.

Ahhh, here was a little Zen house gardener, they had all kinds of Zenny stuff around their garden. This was on their front steps.

 Ok, here is the front of the Dock Street Theatre on Church St., right down from St. Philip's church. It has been closed for renovations for a good 3-5 years, but when I got closer to try to peek in the windows...I see it is open to the public.

A nice young lady working at the front desk was peeking back at me.

My pictures of the inside are few, and not so great, but what a treat it would be to go see a play in the oldest Theatre in the USA !

 It was very dark inside , as you can see. The stage is down front.

 They have all these chairs to sit in at the balcony level.

 Gigantic mirrors, antique gilt at the top of the staircases. That's the culprit , in the mirror, that did not read the sign on the stairway that read, " NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ALLOWED. "

As my flash reflected off this giant mirror and looked like a bomb went off, 3 times in the entire building.

Down the steps and out, the sign about NO FLASH Photography is right there in the middle of the two doorways.

I got off quickly after reading it with no fussing by the young lady at the door, as her back was to me and she was conversing  in the bar area of the theater.

Yeah !

Off to the candy store...

This is right down on the corner on East Bay street, by the market. They always have cold Cokes in the little glass bottles in a tub by the door, and free public restrooms. Plus, look...

 Free samples of home made pralines

I made the mistake of taking a free sample of the chocolate praline once here, you see, I do not eat alot of candy...but I do love chocolate. Which means when I exercise , I am careful not to destroy my loss by gaining with candy.

But...

once you get a taste of these pralines, and the chocolate surpass the regular...you will be hooked.

My second mistake I made, was once I became hooked on these, as I get one, just one ( I could eat 5 ), for my ride home every time I visit...

I asked the chefs back there what are they made of ?

They go..

Pounds of sugar, Pounds of pure butter, pounds of pure whole cream, pounds of pecans, and pounds of anything else they can find in the kitchen that has an exorbitant calorie count.

They throw that in too.

So I ask for one, I ask the young lady or young man to find me the smallest one , and then I pay my insane 2.50 for one,

Pure sinful indulgence.

So much for walking for 3 1/2-4 hours taking pictures of beautiful Charleston, those calories I burned are hopping right back into my body with about 6 bites on the ride home.

I need to go work in my garden the sunshine is calling me,

Bless you today,

Gina 

" Love bears all things, believe all things , hopes in all  things, endures all things, Love never fails. " I Corinthians 13:7-8

SPRING Garden Views of CHARLESTON, South Carolina

 

Walking through the downtown historic neighborhoods of Charleston, South Carolina is something every gardener, and garden lover should do. So many ideas, so much inspiration, and since land is at such a premium here....home owners seem to go out of their way to cram as much beauty as possible in their yards. In this entry I will show some small gardens I found, some sights and glimpses of overflowing gardens, and the a little something about the Dock Street Theater ( the oldest  theater in the USA ), and give you a head's up on the best candy shop in the city.

Here we go:

Lots of entry gates into side gardens, this one was left open

Famous cobblestone streets here, these are not everywhere, but enough for you to see them now and again

Lots of small statues on top of fence columns here

Favorite views you can see, are through the typical wrought iron gates and fencing ....into the gardens. I am always mesmerized by these glimpses into someone's gardens.

 Another side gate leading into a yard

I

I took a picture of this lovely windowbox planter, and then coming around the side...I startled the homeowner, who was gardening in her small front yard. the pictures below are from her garden, I believe her name was Barbara, because after I talked with her a bit...and I was walking off, I heard a neighbor walk up and say  her name.

She likes to use monkey grass as much as I do ! Great for bordering here.

Goodbye to Barbara's garden and off to more !

Japanese maple overshadowing foxgloves & boxwoods.

Opposite side , flanking the other Japanese maple grouping.

Lots of center round accent areas in the gardens here, anyone can do this at their home.

Overflowing azaleas

Lady Banks rose is everywhere here

I loved this, it reminds me of an area in my front yard that I made a circular accent area last Summer.

Here was a rose garden with brick herringbone accent pathway

I took this shot near the Coast Guard station there on the Battery. A bunch of women were having a tea party on the front porch of this house, I called out that I was simply going to take a picture of the garden in front...they all jumped up and hid. They had dresses and hats on.Too funny.

A renegade rebel homeowner on the Battery in a gazillion dollar house , that decided to give the Historic Foundation a thumb to the nose and put two of these out front , flanking the porch. A neighbor down the street has two pigs on their porch. I was thinking, amusing for us to see, but if you owned a 6-20 million dollar home on the Battery , and had your house done in the beautiful traditional Charleston style...then this wouldn't be so funny everyday.
Guess I'm a fuddy-duddy about Charleston showing it's true glory.
At least these are better than the two large pigs two houses down.

 This entry is getting too long, I have about 20 more pictures , so I will make another entry later. I am going out to my yard and trim some of my bushes, with my trusty garden companion shown below.

 She can look rather regal when she's not being such a spaz of a lab , like she typically is.
More later, bless you today !
Gina

" These commandments I give to you today are to be in your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. " Deuteronomy 6:6-7