Thursday, May 21, 2026 - Provost Dungeon, Slave Mart, Walking Tour

 We started out this morning with a bike ride across town. We purchased an online walking tour "Ghost Tour of Charleston" that started on the east side next to Rainbow Row.  

A note about Lime bikes. They were an efficient and economical way to get around Charleston. We spent around $25 total for two bikes this week. We did feel slightly unsafe however, not having helmets and also riding in traffic without dedicated bike lanes. The bikes are electrically boosted, so very easy to pedal and get up to speeds around 20 mph. We would do bike rentals again, in another city, hopefully with better safety measures. 

The first stop on our walking tour was the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon. Tickets for the  Dungeon tour were around 20 bucks ea. That included a veteran discount and added on tickets for the Slave Mart, nearby.  The exchange and dungeon was an interesting tour, led by a guide.  This was the location of government in the 1700s. George Washington visited, all imports and exports paid taxes here etc.  And, of course, people were thrown in the dungeon for various reasons.  When the British ruled, some of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were temporarily jailed at this location. Displays of 1700-1800 history, paintings and documents upstairs; posed mannequins and tours in the dungeon.

After the dungeon tour, we had a light passing rain shower that really raised the humidity outside. 

Our next stop was the Slave Mart.  Not really recommended as there is no tour or guide, just a series of poster boards. I wouldn't have purchased the ticket in it's own. Also, it's very depressing.

We continued our ghost-themed walking tour west. We shared a set of earbuds and played the tour on my phone while walking. I found some of the history interesting, but I could have done without all of the hokey, spooky ghost stuff.  There are a lot of young lady ghosts wandering around local graveyards.

It was a hot walk and so we took a much needed lunch break in a very nice little cafe named Baba's on Wentworth.  Really excellent sandwiches on thick crusty sourdough. Fruit charged drinks (no alcohol) really hit the spot.

We did little bit of shopping on King and then we rode bikes back to the Airbnb. Dinner was again happy hour at a couple places. This time The Prohibition and Mesu on King Street. At the Prohibition we had a serving of baba ganoush. At Mesu, we had sushi and a smoked chicken quesadilla. Great stuff. 

Tomorrow, we'll grab breakfast somewhere, check out and head off to the airport.  Goodbye Charleston!