The Architectural Styles of Charleston                                                 Be Sure to Check Out this Link – Great Tutorial Before We Start Today

 I wrote this short piece after an experience of walking the Charleston streets marveling at the architecture of this place.

Standing on a corner, talking in his soft Charleston voice, I passed Ashley Wilkes, alive and well. Five feet eight inches, slender, his blue eyes matched the oxford cloth shirt he was wearing with the cuffs rolled back several turns. This man appeared as perfect window dressing for the garden tour I was walking. His bow tie and good dress pants seemed a perfect costume for the southern gentleman. Talking to several garden guides stationed on the corner, I assumed he was standing outside his home, a place filled with antiques and portraits of his or someone else’s ancestors. I wondered to myself, could this man have survived anywhere else but here in Charleston?

Continuing on over the cobblestones as the light retreated from the gardens, an aura of mystery seeped into the twilight. It was a moment in time I will always remember. There is now a character waiting in the wings to have me write his story.

Stepheny’s Photographs – 2008

Stepheny’s Bookshelf Recommendation:                                             South of Broad – Pat Conroy – A novel set in Charleston