I drew heavily on my stock of travel karma this morning. When I called the bell desk to arrange airport transportation, they said it might take as much as 30 minutes to get someone, which didn’t thrill me. But I thought I’d give them a chance before calling for a Lyft, so we headed downstairs.

I expected to have to wait the usual several minutes for the elevator (the Francis Marion is a nice hotel but the elevators leave much to be desired), but there was one waiting for us – and we didn’t have to stop before reaching the lobby. We had to take the stairs the half-flight to the exit because that elevator was broken, but it wasn’t a big deal. And when I found the bellman, he said that the shuttle was ready – we were at the airport and checked in at least ten minutes earlier than I would have believed remotely possible.

This was our first flight on Breeze; we’d sprung for the “Nicer” fare, so we had lots of legroom and overhead bin space. There was even plenty of space under the seats in front of us – so much that I didn’t have to put my backpack in the overhead. The flight left on time and got to Richmond early, too.

And then I ran out of my day’s supply of karma. The first hint came at baggage claim – the belt started moving and then stopped with a loud bang. Twice. Then an agent came out and said they were having belt problems and to move to the next belt, which did work.

Hertz offers “Ultimate Choice” in Richmond, which means we didn’t have a pre-assigned car and could choose from any of the four cars in a certain area. I wanted the Mazda CX-30 until I discovered it didn’t have CarPlay (or at least it didn’t seem to have it), so I went with a Chevy Malibu, which seems to be OK. But when I drove to the exit booth to get my contract, no one was there – there was a hand-printed sign saying “Bathroom Break, back soon”. By the time someone came to the booth, there were eight cars stacked up behind me!

Jeff’s flights were delayed, so we had to kill an hour or so, and then we were off to my brother’s house for Seder. It was a full table with four generations present. They’d gotten a new set of Maxwell House Haggadot for this year – using the original translation, which was awfully dated and hard to follow. But we persevered; dinner was delicious and it was great to see everyone in person.

Passover always begins with the full moon; it was nicely visible from their backyard.

Chag Sameach Pesach!

Today’s touring began with a short bus ride to downtown Charleston and a walk to the Nathaniel Russell House. On our way, John Meffert showed us Rainbow Row, which was one of the first areas successfully preserved by Susan Pringle Frost, who founded the Preservation Society of Charleston.

Our next stop was the First Presbyterian Church (aka the “Scots Kirk”) and its graveyard.

The church is right next to the Nathanial Russell House; Russell was a merchant and slave trader from Rhode Island who made a fortune in Charleston and stayed there; he built the house in 1808. It’s a large three-story “single” house, with an amazing free-flying three-story cantilevered spiral staircase (off limits to visitors).

The house is furnished appropriately to its period (though most of the pieces weren’t original to the house); I wish I could have the desk in the office!

We heard about all of the research that they did to ensure that the colors are faithful to the house’s history. The work continues – currently, they’re restoring the kitchen.

We spent a little time in the garden, but it was only a prelude to what came next.

Our next stop was across the street – we were invited into the garden of the Pruett House. It’s a small garden by Charleston standards, just 240 feet deep (and maybe 60 feet wide); the owner came out to greet us.

It was nearly the end of camellia season, but a few were still blooming.

The garden is divided into four rooms – two mostly grass and two with some hardscaping, ideal for parties.

It was a very nice place to visit.

Our final stop was another private home – it was furnished in beautiful antiques and had been updated with air conditioning and other modern conveniences. I didn’t take any photos because I was overwhelmed!

We returned to the hotel, had a quick lunch at a nearby pizza place, and walked down to Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim synagogue for a tour. The congregation has a long history, going back to 1749. Their first synagogue was built in 1792 and burned down during the Great Charleston Fire of 1838.

The current synagogue dates to 1842 and was done in Greek Revival (unusual for a synagogue!).

The tour included a video about the congregation’s history and a visit to the sanctuary, social hall, and museum. It was well worth the time.

This evening, we had our group farewell dinner at 39 Rue de Jean, just a couple of blocks from the hotel. It’s hard to believe that we all met just three days ago!