Charleston on Foot. Walk, bike, bus!

The wheels on the bus go round and round, / round and round, / round and round. / The wheels on the bus go round and round, / all through the town.

Ever interested in adventure it seems, I recently began traveling on Charleston County’s mass transit, CARTA, system.

6am. Waiting for the little bus:)

The decision was made for more reasons than the obvious: instead of $30 to drive my car back and forth from Edisto Island, with gas prices hovering at $4. a gallon, it would cost me about one gallon’s worth to use the Trolleys and Express and Link buses to get go downtown to Charleston, and back home again. My goal was also to conserve resources (money AND energy) to live closer to my eco-conscience, and well….to challenge myself learn a new way of doing things, including getting up early. I also knew I would be stepping into a whole new world. New worlds are rich resources for artmakers:)

I live on a largely undeveloped barrier island an hour from Charleston. Over half of the island is permanently protected by conservation easements on private land and The Edisto Island Open Land Trust. There is a twenty mile two-lane road that winds its luscious, serpentine moss drenched path to the sea from the nearest highway, the legendary US 17 that makes its funky way from Charleston to Savannah. Turns out a little county LINK bus travels back and forth to Charleston once a day.

free Trolley service all over downtown Charleston

I suppose that one of the great gifts an artist has is the developed habit of using everything to make something else, which I call art. The moment we give ourselves permission to stop and take in information without judgment, opinion or naming, is the rich one, the one that allows us to receive and see new things, new opportunities, new beauty and experience.

This new world on the buses and trolleys and on foot has offered me as an artist, a rich meal. I hand sweet Niecy, the driver of the LINK bus that leaves Edisto just after 6am, two dollars and twenty five cents. She hands me a transfer, and I am good for getting off at The Gibbes Museum or my gallery on Broad Street. Once downtown the beautifully appointed brass and wooden Trolley buses are free, for wherever you need to go downtown. There are three routes. Just find a sign, stand there and hop aboard.

Early Morning Trolley Riders

About Charlotte Hutson Wrenn

I was called to be an artist. And as an old old midwife said to me "If the Lord wants you to do something, you won't have no good luck' til you do." So, here I am, sharing what I love, longing to illuminate the work of art, which is everywhere.

‹ Beauty

The Creative Life. Flow as a path to Joy ›

Tagged with: CARTA, Charleston SC, eco- consciousness, Edisto Island, EIOLT, public transit, Spencer Art Gallery ll, Tricountry LINK bus, walking
Posted in 1, art, Arts & Culture, beauty, Charleston South Carolina, creativity, Green, sustainable living, travel