The recently passed holidays are generally filled with religious observances, celebrations, traditions, family, good friends, shopping, and gift-giving and -receiving. With the people we love most, we make memories that can carry us through the difficulties in life. We put deposits in our personal emotional bank so that we can withdraw them when life gets tough. Unfortunately, we also put more deposits of excessive food and drink into our bodies.

These deposits may not be particularly good ones or ones that look particularly good on us ... we need to start making withdrawals by looking at adjusting our choices and lifestyle. We said to ourselves: "Well, it's the holidays -- I'll get back on track afterwards." No flaw in that concept, right? Ha!

The phrase "you are what you eat" begins to flash before your eyes. You are not seeing the proverbial "visions of sugarplums" dancing in your head that you heard about as a child. The more you overeat and drink, the more you feel your body letting you know it is on overload. Too much sugar coupled with less sleep, more stress, and the opportunity to overdo things can be very bad.

Here are some simple and effective Holiday Health Hacks with big benefits!

4 South Battery was built in 1895 by Andrew Simmonds for his young wife, a New Orleans debutante who was given eight names at birth (but everyone just called her Daisy). Andrew, the president of First National Bank in Charleston, constructed this South Battery mansion on the site of an earlier house. As you can see from the photograph, we are not talking an "intimate little cottage."

You could explore Charleston on your own... or you can see the best the city has to offer with Bulldog Tours history, culinary, and ghost tours. You will love it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhFQhfO5PK4

Through the month of December, the Mount Pleasant Historical Commission is highlighting historical attractions and museums within the town. The USS Yorktown currently houses the Medal of Honor Museum. However, efforts are underway to construct the National Medal of Honor Museum on a site within Patriots Point (architect's rendering above). The National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation, a 501(c)(3) educational institution, has been established to design, fund, build and maintain the National Medal of Honor Museum and Education Center, with funding largely through private sector donations. 

16 Meeting Street is one of the grandest Victorian mansions in Charleston and was built in 1876 for approximately $200,000 by George Walton Williams, a successful merchant, wholesale grocer, blockade runner, and banker. The house became known as the Calhoun Mansion because one of the Williams' daughters married Patrick Calhoun, the grandson of John C. Calhoun, U.S. Senator, Vice President of the United States, and Secretary of State.

The Rodgers Mansion is right down the street and around the corner from the Mikell House that we visited last week. Built at a time when money was scarce in the south and most Charlestonians had embraced the "too poor to paint and too proud to whitewash" reality of life here, Francis Silas Rodgers gave Charleston one of its grandest homes.

Frank Rodgers was born in Charleston in 1842 and went into the cotton factoring business with his father. A factor was simply a broker or middleman; most cotton planters used cotton factors located in major ports like Charleston to sell their exports. Even after the Civil War, sea island cotton was a viable export in the South until the early part of the twentieth century when the boll weevil came along.

It's that time of year, folks. The mornings are brighter, and the evenings darker. But don't let those early evenings get you down! Now's a great time to take advantage of the lower angle of sunlight and play around with silhouettes. 

To get the best result with this technique, go out on a clear day at a time when the sun is not directly above you.

94 Rutledge Avenue is one of the truly grand houses in Charleston. Built in 1853 by Isaac Jenkins Mikell for his third of four wives, this house is the epitome of a planter's town house. Mikell was a wealthy planter of sea island cotton on Edisto, and I've heard local author Richard Porcher say that there was no finer cotton in the world than the sea island cotton grown on Edisto Island before the Civil War.

Godfrey KHill is a renowned historian who knows Charleston and its history and always asks people "what is Gullah?" In this edition of "Quintin's Close-ups," I sit down with Godfrey, one-on-one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J34Oc_4I9ws&feature=youtu.be

70 Tradd Street was built in 1774 by Judge Robert Pringle. It is difficult to see the depth of the house and later piazza due to the high gate in front of the driveway, but the house is on a double lot, ensuring enough property for a long driveway and garden to the side. The bay window, added to the front of the house in the Victorian era, adds to the interest of the street façade of 70 Tradd. As you can see from the photograph, the house invites passersby to stop and look.