Charleston, South Carolina

We pulled into Charleston on a wet and windy Sunday afternoon and found ourselves at a very pleasant campground on James Island at a fortuitous time of the year. The county run park has the Holiday Festival of Lights -- an annual event where millions of sparkling lights and hundreds of displays are available on a three-mile driving tour! All this is just adjacent to our campground and our camping fee includes price of admission to the show. Early on Sunday evening we did the driving tour with windscreen wipers on intermittent. The whole family was in awe of the wonderful light show we experienced as we drove around the park. It is a wonderful display of lighting and artistry where your head turns left and right to catch all the clever displays (many having an animated effect such as the circling shark that then jumps out of the water or Santa hitting a golf ball that then flies a hundred feet across an open space to "land" a hole in one at the flag or the falling autumn leaves as you pass through a small wooded canopy of trees). There are dinosaurs, christmas themes, underwater themes, deers and elves, bridges, flags and wildlife... the list is endless. It's all done so tastefully that we went out again tonight for a second viewing -- this time by foot since the rain had cleared. A $3/person train ride took us for a 15 minute tour of a "magic forest" that was particularly geared for kids. All in all, good wholesome family fun! We also spent some time today in historical Charleston and marvel at how attractive the town is. We splurged on lunch at a fancy restaurant to delve into the "low country" southern cuisine. All agreed that Fried Green Tomatoes was our favorite. Tomorrow we'll pack up and head to Savannah, Georgia. The rain has mostly cleared but the evenings remain cold. We're told it is unseasonably cold. Irrespective, we've had enough of cold nights and gladly await some (hopefully) warmer Florida evenings.