• Charleston: Historic Heyward-Washington House

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    The girls hanging out by the kitchen at the Heyward-Washington House.  The kitchen house contained all the cooking, washing, and upstairs it has a servants quarters.

    The girls and I visited The Heyward-Washington House when we were in Charleston recently.   We got there a few moments before the tour so we were able to spend some time walking through the Heyward-Washington House kitchen and gardens.  It was nice to take a walk through the gardens first thing in the morning.  We were so excited to explore we didn’t get a picture of the front of the house.

    Thomas Heyward, Jr was the owner of this house.  He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and was in the militia during the American Revolution.   During President George Washington’s stay in Charleston he stayed at the Heyward-Washington House.  In the late 1700’s the house sold to John F. Grimke.  Grimke served in the Revolutionary War and the father of Sarah and Angeline Grimke.  Sarah and Angeline were known for speaking out against slavery and were asked to leave Charleston.  Earlier this year the Brina had done a research project on Angeline Grimke so that was really neat to find out her family lived in this house.    It was Charleston’s first historic home that was turned into a museum.

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    Girls in the kitchen.  It must have been a super busy kitchen many years ago.

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    Touring the gardens of the Heyward-Washington House.

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    Walking through the gardens checking out all the plants.

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    Brina in the garden.  She is very concerned we are going to miss the tour because we are walking through the gardens!  She was good about keeping track of our time!

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    Beautiful purple flowers in the garden.

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    Touring the Heyward-Washington House!  The girls were the only kids and the tour guide had them do a scavenger hunt looking for various items throughout the house.   It made the tour a little more of an adventure for the girls and they earned a free gift at the end!

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    A neat house to explore!  The Heyward-Washington House part of Historic Charleston!

  • Book: “Very Charleston” by Diana Hollingsworth Gessler

    Our family loves traveling together and whenever Jake goes to Charleston for work we try to tag along (works better when schools out).  We have a lot of great memories in Charleston, South Carolina.  Over a year ago we got the book Very Charleston: A Celebration of History, Culture, and Lowcountry Charm by Diana Hollingsworth Gessler.   This book has been a huge hit especially with the kids.  It is packed full of great information about Charleston.  The illustrations are detailed in beautiful watercolors.

    • Historical facts – Civil War, Citadel, Slavery, Crafts and more
    • Places of Interest – Forts, Beaches, Churches, Museums, Plantations, Shopping and more
    • Popular Local Festivals
    • Interesting People from Charleston
    • Famous Places to Eat & Traditional Charleston Recipes
    • PACKED full of great tidbits of information about the Charleston area

    This is an excellent book if you are planning on traveling (or moving) to Charleston.  It’s enjoyable to read and you’ll learn pieces of history too.  Every time we go to Charleston we bring this book along to read together.   Our kids LOVE it!