Charleston's Museum Mile

Here are some pictures of our miles of walking and touring the historic houses of Charleston. We ( specifically me) had to be careful walking on the above sidewalks. This was an accident waiting to happen for a klutz like me. The Museum Mile has the most on one walk to see. It still took us a couple of days to get to what we toured and we didn't go to everything. It sounds corny but this trip was much like a second honeymoon. We toured all of Newport, Rhode Island mansions and the Biltmore in North Carolina on our honeymoon. We were in our element in Charleston with all of the history and great places to eat!

So here are some of the places we made it to.

The Heyward-Washington House was a home of Thomas Heyward, signer of the Declaration of Independence and a home George Washington stayed for a week visiting.

This is the back of the house and the kitchen building. Kitchens were always detached from the house to prevent any chance of house fires.

Slaves did the cooking and the laundry in these two rooms.

Laundry Tub

The Nathanial Russell house was home to a Charleston merchant in 1808. This house was beautifully restored with gold leaf crown molding.

I had to go to the Powder Magazine and get these pictures for Lindy and Paige. We had just read about the magazine in the Felicity American Girl books from the Revolutionary War. They really got a kick out of seeing the kegs of gun powder just like they were described in the book.

Built in 1713 this is Charleston's oldest building.

The Calhoun Mansion is not on the official Museum Mile because it is still privately owned yet open for tours. The movie The Notebook had scenes filmed here when it was empty between owners. The woodworking was unbelievable. The current owner has all of their art and collectibles displayed throughout the house. Quite a lot to take in! They must employ someone full time to dust, I have never seen so much stuff!

The Edmondston-Alston House built in 1825 is also a beautifully restored home with an incredible view of the harbour. We waited for our tour to start on the porch. I tried out the joggling board which was fun.

Just the door is beautiful.

This church is just a few doors down from our hotel. We stopped in one day and took a quick peak. All of the stained glass was incredible.

The Joseph Manigault House was the only house that allowed photography. The house belonged to a wealthy rice-planting family. It has been restored and has furniture displayed from the Charleston Museum.

Love this molding detail and this was my favorite china pattern I saw in any of the houses.

Probably my favorite house was the Aiken-Rhett home. Built in 1820 and lived in by the former Governor Aiken it is preserved. The carriage sits in the stables, somewhat falling apart, but feeling like someone just climbed out. The slave quarters were really neat. The tour was audio which was nice because you can take your time. This is one we will definitely be bringing the kids back to.

We really had a wonderful time exploring all of these homes. We took a walking tour on Sunday that was fabulous. We got so much insight on the South, the man who did the tour was a wealth of information. I'd like to send Kyle down to talk with him for about a week! Seriously, next year when we are at the beach I will be sending Kyle and Ethan on this tour with Bill. I don't think the girls will be quite ready for it, but they would love the carriage ride tour. The tour was one of the highlights of our trip, so many great stories.

Well, that's about all on our trip. I have a few more pictures of some places we ate and some other sightseeing. Will try to post if I get a chance! Enjoy.

The Composer is Dead - Lemony Snicket

This book needed a post of its own and not just stuck on the sidebar. Everything Lemony Snicket does is great and this is no exception. I was so excited to stumble across this at the library since we just learned all the instruments in the orchestra.

It is a great story with the inspector interviewing all of the instruments to solve what happened to the composer. The best part is it comes with a disc to listen to the story which is of course enhanced with instruments playing and adding dramatic flair. Awesome! We have listened to this multiple times in the car and Kyle loves the humor!

Our Favorite Author...

is Lois Lowry!

It all started last summer. We began a family Book Club where I chose a book and reserved multiple copies from the library. Bill would read aloud as we all followed along. The girls shared a copy with me and I would show them where we were in the story. Paige had the official "bookmark" job and often we would read on the porch by candlelight and flashlight in our jammies with the fireflies lighting up around us.

So, I picked up The Willoughby's by Lois Lowry. It was a new release and sounded different. Parents wanting to get rid of their kids?! Well by chapter 2 we were all hooked, not an evening could go by without reading this. The vocabulary kept us on our toes and the craziness of the eccentric family was hilarious. We loved the ending and still refer to the Willoughby's to this day. I'd say they have made an impression!

Lindy and Paige are using the Sonlight Curriculum, loosely. We are following the literature and the next read aloud was Gooney Bird Greene also by Lois Lowry. Little did I know what a gem we were starting. Gooney is a rather eccentric second grader who is new at school. She loves to be the center of attention for everything. She finds her place in the class by being the best storyteller. Before I know it Gooney is teaching the class (and my girls!) about story writing. You need a beginning, a middle, and an end. It really helps if you add a suddenly, for a little suspense Gooney explains.

We were hooked! Walking through the library I saw out of the corner of my eye Gooney Bird the Fabulous. The girls were literally squealing that there was another Gooney book. She is such a lovable character, and character she is. We started reading the book when I realized that we were reading the third book and missed the second. I quickly reserved the second book, Gooney Bird and the Room Mother.

Back to Gooney the Fabulous. Gooney teaches the class about fables and creates a class project for each student to write their own fable with an animal starting with the first letter of their name. Guess what we will be doing at the end of the month?? I have Kyle and Ethan reading them too so they know what we are doing. I am going to do a unit study on Fables, Fairy Tales, Legends and Myths. Since we already know the basics from book one Lindy reminded me all we need is a suddenly and we are set to write our fables. She has already chosen a ladybug to represent her L name.

Two days ago we started Gooney Bird and the Room Mother. I could hardly wait to see what we would learn from Gooney this time! Grab your dictionary girls, Gooney has quite the vocabulary and is keeping the class on their toes using their new dictionaries to learn the definitions. Having not done much dictionary work, we had just done a basic alphabetizing worksheet days before. They understood the concept thank goodness because we need the adult dictionary for these words. So while the "class" in the book is looking up the word so are we. Then we read to see if we have the same definition as the story. All the while looking for a room mother when no one wants to be one. I have to admit (don't tell the girls) I had to peak at the end and see who the mysterious INCOGNITO (one of our words) room mother was. I have not done that since I was a kid!

What more can a homeschooling mom want? Great books that are entertaining, funny, and teach. Teach a subject like literature, vocabulary, resource skills, and writing. That is an unusual find. I feel like we have opened a huge treasure chest of ideas.

We have grown quite attached to Gooney and are looking forward to Gooney Bird is so Absurd this spring. Can't wait to see what we will learn from her next! Thank you Lois Lowry for your creative wisdom, it is greatly appreciated.