Things I Learned in Charleston

We've been back from our vacation in Charleston for a few weeks.  We did a bit of sight-seeing along with plenty of time at the pool/beach.  We ended up doing a short tour of the city and a tour of a plantation.  Came away with at least three new pieces of info that I thought I should share.

1.  Pirates wear one gold earring because that was the cost of a funeral.  Apparently, pirates feared NOT being buried, so if they were wearing the earring and someone found them dead, the hope was that they'd sell the gold and stick them in the ground.
2.  The reason streets are paved with cobblestones?  They came over on ships from England as ballast.  Ships came over empty - but for the cobbles - and the british dumped them here when they arrived.  Filling up on cotton and other American goods for the their return trip.
3.  The roots of the Virginia Live Oak grow "together", when there is at least two of them standing next to each other.  This makes them just about hurricane-proof.