A Stroll through Haunted Charleston

I recently spent a lazy Saturday wandering through Charleston, South Carolina, with my husband and son. We arrived late afternoon and took a self-guided walking tour through this city's historic streets which are filled with elegant buildings

architectural details

and ancient trees - many which were damaged in Hurricane Hugo, which devastated the city in 1989.

As we wandered through the streets 

we passed car bumper stickers

showing the humor of the locals

We ate at Hominy Grill, a culinary hotspot for all things southern

We ordered a spread of southern staples.....boiled peanuts

thin slices of Virginia ham with pickled okra, hard boiled eggs (see that hot pink color!) and the piece de resistance of all Southern hostesses: pimento cheese dip

While my husband and son feasted on a crab/fried green tomato club and Wagyu beef pot roast, I chowed down on a trio of vegetarian delights; tomato pudding (made with Brioche crumbs), fried eggplant and a heady mix of pinto beans and collard greens (say that 3 times after drinking a pint of Hominy's Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan Brown Ale!)

After dessert (the restaurant's famous chocolate pudding), we made our way through the streets to meet our ghost tour group.

In Charleston, graveyards can be found interspersed between buildings.

In daylight they seem quaint, 

but at night, much spookier.

Many a ghost sighting has occurred at this graveyard...

members of our tour peeked through to see if they could catch a glimpse.

Our guide told us this church steeple shifted in a huge earthquake that occurred in the 19th century --

people fled the burning city in a scene eerily reminiscent of a day in recent history - this newspaper image was dated to September 11, 1886.

Philadelphia Alley was once known as Bloody Alley, where pistol duels - and one sword duel - were fought. People claim they can still detect the smell of gun smoke and hear the shots of pistols firing. Others claim they still hear the eerie whistling of Dr. Joseph Ladd as he made his way one fateful day to the alley to fight a gentleman's duel. Hoping to settle a score with local man Ralph Isaacs over a beautiful actress known as Perdita, Dr. Ladd fired into the air. Isaacs, intending only to shoot Ladd in the leg, misfired and hit the doctor in the stomach. Ladd later died.

I hung back from the group, hoping to detect an echo of the doctor's whistling, but none was heard.

I may not have caught a glimpse of a ghost or heard eerie sounds, but I did take a photo of this quote by the German writer Goethe. Prominently displayed outside Charleston's main graveyard, it is excellent advice for the living that pass by.