Charleston, Moving Along

As gut-wrenching as I suspected it would be, I wanted to see the Old Slave Mart Museum in Charleston.  It was extremely interesting, Reader Dear.  And, yes, heart-breaking as well.

Due to the fact that photos were prohibited inside the building, I will need to leave you with just this one picture of the entrance.  I will couple it with the fact that this photo shows what was once an actual, functioning slave market.  Humans were brought into it in chains, to be bought and sold and owned by other human beings.  Families were often torn apart.  There was abuse and degradation of every description (as we all know).  It is not a "feel-good" museum, but gives one a very important reminder of the frailties of the human soul, the tendency to veer toward a lack of decency and morality, and a true and undeniably ghastly part of the history of the United States.

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However, there were definitely "feel-good" things to see in Charleston, too.  And, nature was kind to us while the HM and I were there!

The arts and crafts mall was delightful, as was this young woman who sold me a piece of the yellow calcite* she was offering.

As she relayed it, someone she knew (I believe it was a relative, but I was not taking notes) was doing some digging for a well (or a building, or some such activity) in Utah, and came upon a mother lode of this fantastic, yellow stone.   I thought for a moment it was the most gorgeous stuff I'd ever laid eyes on!

(Photo does not do this slab of stone justice)





The antique architecture in Charleston was charming.  The water views were even more so (temperature was  warm enough to walk along the bay without complaint [still wearing a coat, however]).
 

The harbor is a beautiful inlet of the Atlantic Ocean.

Viewer Dear, I would love to stay longer in Charleston (would have loved to those few weeks ago, too) but the HM and I, we had to move on.  We wanted to see Savannah, Georgia.
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*Yellow Calcite is a calcium carbonate mineral that is opaque to clear in appearance, and its color intensity ranges from light yellow to deep orange.**
**My favorite thing about it--it's the color of sunshine and happiness.