Casazza

South Carolina October 10 - 16, 2024	Back to Home Page

Desirae and I met up in Charleston, SC for the 3rd show of our "let's see Hootie as many times as possible this year" quest. We had a lovely sister weekend and then were joined by some Casazza brothers - Eric & Larry. Desirae went back for Fall break and I stayed a few days to continue touristing with the guys.

	We stayed in a trendy part of North Charleston called Park Circle. It was a very walkable area, full of fun shops and restaurants. It had some of the friendliest store owners ever, we spent hours there without meaning to because every store owner wanted to talk. We'd have never gotten our mother out of there!
Together again! Our flights came in pretty close together and the weekend began.

One of the highlights was a horse-drawn carriage tour, it was great.
	You will see pictures of many old buildings, Charleston has so many beautiful old structures.

	This is part of the "Four Corners of Law" - God's Law (the church), State Law (the county courthouse), City Law (city hall), and Federal Law (the Federal courthouse) each of these buildings are on a corner of the intersection of Meeting & Broad street.


	This building had an interesting story about a group of people being barricaded. But I can't remember if they were trying to get in or out! There are some impressive spiky things all along the top of the fence.
They plastered over many of the brick buildings to save the mortar.

	This cracked me up. Open containers are not allowed, but frozen treats are OK so there are "Booze Pop" trucks all over the place.
This is a typical building style where the rooms are all on one side and a porch runs along the other, pointed toward the breeze for cooling.

Day one of the two-day Riverfront Revival music festival. It's something that Darius Rucker started years ago and usually plays as a solo act, but this year the Hootie guys joined in. We got our picture taken with the real Darius Rucker a few years ago and I can tell you that they made this cutout taller than real life.
	People in boats enjoying the festival for free.

Woo hoo!
	Free photo booth if you don't mind the vodka backdrop.


The larger of the two stages.	The Revivalists, they are really good. Not a heartthrob in the bunch, but very talented.


A view of both stages and about half of the festival area.	The next day we went to the market for some shopping, and a little sightseeing.




	We learned on our tour that these circles are hooked to cables that pull one wall toward the other. This squeezes the building together to help keep it standing after a big earthquake a hundred or so years ago.
There are only a few of the original cobblestone streets left, which I can understand because they aren't very practical.

Here we stalk Darius Rucker's house. An Uber Eats driver pulled up in that blue car and went inside. We stood so we could see into the door, but he just left the food so we didn't get a DR sighting.
	Across the street is the impressive Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist

	We arrived back at the festival in the afternoon, just in time to catch Sister Hazel. Unfortunately, the lead singer had to miss, but they did a great job nonetheless. Here, Mark Bryan from Hootie comes out to join them for a song.
Also across the street was this hotel with beautiful ironwork on the balcony.

	Surprise! The Casazza brothers have made it to Charleston and have joined us at last.
Hailey Whitters - she has some great songs, but I did not care for that dress.


Everyone needs their photo taken at the event sign.



We get so few photos taken together, I zoomed in on this one.	Jamey Johnson, he has some truly great songs, but they are mostly sad.

Woo hoo! Collective Soul put on a heck of a show again. They were awesome.


Then a sprint across the festival grounds to catch the main attraction - Hoote & the Blowfish! Dean Felber, Darius Rucker, Mark Bryan, and Jim "Soni" Sonifeld Thank you Desirae for giving up the last few songs of Collective Soul to save us a great spot!

	Darius with our friend VIP Lee in the background
	The guys during the acoustic part of the set.
Lee, really taking it to the accordian

	Two of the Collective Soul guys came out to join the fun. This is lead guitarist Jesse Triplett with Soni and Mark Bryan, and also drummer Johnny Rab came out.
Darius with giant Dean & Mark behind him on the jumbotron.

	Oh man, not only is it the end - this is the very last Hootie show of the tour. Sadness!
Lead guitarists going to town


The next day we got Desirae safely off to the airport and we started a day of touring. We started at the Friends of the Hunley museum. The Hunley was the first submarine and Larry was a submariner, so he appreciated the history a lot.	This was the Pioneer, a precursor to the Hunley.

	The actual Hunley. It's kept in special fluid to preserve it. The famous author Clive Cussler spent 14 years searching for it. It remained lost underwater for 131 years until his team found it in 2000. There is a nice summary of the wreck story here.
The first subs were powered by guys sitting on the bench and rowing. It was hot, back-breaking, dangerous work. More Confederate soldiers were killed while developing the submarine than Union soldiers who died after the Hunley managed to make it's only successful attack.

Next we're off to visit the USS Yorktown, a decommissioned aircraft carrier that has been turned into a museum. Here's the tip of the Yorktown with the Arthur Ravenel Jr bridge.
	Heading out to the Yorktown.


We are way up already, but it just keeps going for story after story. It's huge!	Walking through these tight passages reminded Larry of life on a submarine.

A fun story about the Yorktown's mascot dog.



One of the many displays that are all around the ship. We tried to do the audio tour but didn't have the patience so we winged it.	These guys are so often standing in the same pose! You'd almost think they were brothers...


Enjoying the sunshine on the huge flight deck.	Larry doing some Top Gun action.


More of the flight deck and downtown Charleston across the water. Also Fort Sumpter is over there somewhere.	There's also a battleship for touring but we were getting hungry so we skipped that. We ate at the restaurant you can see in the background, it was lovely.


The boys were too hungry to work up a smile.	I can show them how it's done, I'm still on my Hootie high.

A nice view of the battleship, the Yorktown, and the bridge from our lunch spot.
	Now we're in downtown Charleston where I led a walking tour of what I learned on my horse drawn carriage ride. We started at the Pineapple Fountain.


I asked Eric to pose, not realizing what I'd get.	Some of the fanciest houses are at the tip of the peninsula.


	A fountain that I liked on a monument


Another picture of that spiny fence topping. I bet that keeps the fence-hoppers at bay!	Larry wanted to see the St. John the Baptist cathedral so I got another chance to stalk Darius Rucker's house. Not even an Uber Eats driver this time!

The beautiful St. John the Baptist cathedral



We popped into a pub and enjoyed some time on the lovely patio with a live band.	We ate dinner at a taco place that had the funniest menu ever!


We walked around Charleston until we got sleepy. This was a beautiful courtyard we passed.	The next day was a big day, starting with the Angel Oak just outside of Charleston.

	It is believed to be between 400 and 500 years old. Everyone gets quiet when you see it, it's impressive to say the least.
The tree is 65 feet high with a circumference of 26 feet.


Next stop, Savannah Georgia! The oldest city in Georgia, it originally had 24 squares (parks), but now has 21. They are all beautiful and unique.	We took a hop on/hop off trolley tour, which was a great way to see the town and learn some history.

We love those live oaks.



The Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist - basilica means that it's big, which it is!	A glimpse of the inside, it feels like something you'd see in Europe.

	The organ was amazing! I would love to hear it played.
One of many beautiful stained glass windows.


This is part of what was once a huge graveyard in the middle of town. When they wanted more land, they just moved the headstones and built on top of the graves. (So said our tour guide.)	There was a story about why the window and door frames were so crooked, it was done intentionally, but now I've forgotten why! This lady does a much better job at capturing the beauty of Savannah than I did.


The gold-domed City Hall building was so impressive, we went inside. After passing through a metal detector, we were allowed to look around.	The dome as seen from the inside.


We hadn't seen the ocean at all on this trip, so we headed to Tybee Island for a glimpse of it.	Here we are with the light house.

	The ocean! We weren't dressed for a beach walk or else we'd have enjoyed that.



Soaking up the beach vibe.


Getting tired after a long day of touring.

Desirae and I met two ladies at the Riverfront Revival festival who run a Davis Produce east of Savannah. They said, "You have to come see us!" Naturally, we thought that would never happen, but it turns out they are on the road to Tybee Island. The boys were kind enough to let me to stop in and say Hi. She didn't really stop talking, so I had to take a picture of her in mid flow. :-) She was giving me stuff left and right, she was so sweet!
	After the 2 hour drive and a long rest, we headed into Park Circle for dinner and a rousing hour at the arcade bar. They had my all-time favorite game, Area 51!


The next day we thought we'd stop in to a plantation and ended up spending 4 hours there.	This is Boone Hall Plantation, with a wonderful Live Oak Alley and a very professional setup. They had so much to see and do and learn.


The plantation house is much newer than the plantation itself. It's had a long and interesting history of ownership, including some kind of Russian bigwig.	On the carriage tour, there were alligators a plenty in the plantation's lake.

	I was told that the slave quarters very rarely survive in today's plantation museums. This one has a whole row of them, with each one containing a different exhibit.
Eric made a friend.





	This shows the ladder up to a sleeping loft.


	They have a dock on the inland waterway that they used for shipping. Now it's a beautiful spot for corporate events and weddings.


A rare look at the house and grounds with no one on it.

The gardens
	The smokehouse


Larry & I with the lovely oak alley.

Next stop - downtown Charleston for a fantastic meal. The rooftop at the Charleston Crab House was wonderful.
	Eric on vacation. Two pairs of glasses, happy face in place.


Next up - Top Golf! It was Larry's first time, but it won't be his last.



	On our last evening we wanted to visit a rooftop bar in downtown Charleston. Here we are in the swanky hotel The Vendue.

The view from the rooftop
	This was the description of a beer on the menu that totally confused me. I thought someone was describing the beer as a mixture of dirt and water with a bad odor!

	The next morning I flew out early and the boys headed off on their road trip to Tennessee.
A look at the building where we hung out.

As we went in for landing in Kalispell, I realized I had seen the last sunshine I was going to see for quite some time!
	The brothers in Tennessee. They visited Rusty & family, saw an underground waterfall, visited Cooter's Dukes of Hazzard museum, saw Steve Earle and Ricky Skaggs at the Grand Ole Opry, and much more.

	Back to Top