Charles Towne Landing

Last week, we finally made a trip over to Charles Towne Landing when Mike's family was in town.  (You can check out the rest of the kid-friendly things we did in Charleston while they were here by clicking here.)  Located across the Ashley River from Downtown Charleston, Charles Towne Landing is the original Carolina colony settlement.  What's great about the park is how interactive it is.  We started inside, walking through the Exhibit Hall to see a history of the area and settlers before and after they first landed here in 1670. (FYI, we liked this museum way more than the Charleston Museum downtown.)

After learning all about the history of the area, we headed outside to the 600+ acre park to explore the trails.  We followed the map they gave us to easily catch every site throughout the park.  Our first stop was the Animal Forest: otters, bears, bison, bobcats, skunks, and even a puma!

Also on the property are remnants of the original settlement, replicas of cannons and the fortified walls, Legare-Waring historical home, and The Adventure.  The kids' favorite was definitely exploring The Adventure, a replica of a 17th century coastal trader.  This type of ship would carry supplies, provisions, and life stock between the colonies and the West Indies.

The Landing site is now one of 47 South Carolina State Parks (see the full list here).  While a day trip to Charles Towne Landing costs $10 per person ($6 for kids), they have an awesome deal for $75 where you can get a whole car-load of people into all 47 parks for a full year!  We can't wait to head back to Charles Towne Landing to ride our bikes as well as explore even more state parks with our pass.