Charleston-Savannah 2023

Spent most of the day hiking at Congaree National Park - about 7 miles. It was both beautiful and interesting. It's an old growth floodplain forest, so lots of very big bald cypress, tupelo and loblolly pine. I'm sure the cypress knees are really trolls, though this photo doesn't show them at their troll-like best. Just a few inches change in elevation changed what plants were growing. Also saw some wild boar, which are terribly destructive invadors, but still cool to see. They could have cared less about us! Had just the right amount on time to visit the McKissick museum at the University of South Carolina. Interesting exhibit about women and textiles (spectacular crazy quilt) and also some oddities like a bread machine from the early 1900's (not at all clear how it worked) and some petrified palmetto root, which turns out to be beautiful when polished.

Starting towards home, but with stupid. We got to Columbia by way of the South Carolina Artisan's Center and Batesburg, SC. The Artisan's Center is an interesting juried collection of art from artists all over South Carolina. We treated it as a museum!  The Batesburg stop was to visit Henry's grandmother's grave. His grandmother more-or-less raised him because she lived with them and his mother was working. It took some doing to find--we knew the name of the cemetery but nothing about where in the cemetery to find the grave. We went to city hall, explained what we were trying to do, and a very nice man recommended we talk to Ms. Gail, and even called her for us. She met us at the cemetery and took us to the grave. So nice! On the way, we though we took a slight wrong turn. We're told Sweden is nearby! Very yummy wood smoked BBQ for dinner... We were there in time for happy hour so got the sliders, one each of pork, brisket and chicken washed down with a quite tasty ...

First up today was going to church with our friends, but this wasn't just any church service. They do a whole series called "God on Broadway". Today was The Addams Family. Several skits and songs, complete with costumes and sets--and worked into the service. Sounds crazy, but it was outstanding. Then to Tybee Island and a visit to the Marine Science Center (inquisitive turtle!) followed by a walk on the beach. Perfect weather, so super nice.

Spent most of the day at the Pin Point Museum. The museum is a former crab and oyster processing factory. All the work was done by hand in cold and difficult conditions. Photo is off the building that was where the women picked crabs, but now has exhibits.The community was and is a very close-knit Gullah- Geechee community. Our docent grew up in the community and still lives there, though has a "regular" day job and doesn't have to pick crabs for a living. She was an excellent story teller and talked about the seafood processing, the culture in general, religion, and language from the perspective of one who grew up with it. Then back to the historic district to wander around and  find lunch that had become dinner (crab cake sandwich, because of course we had to have crab after that).

Started out with a visit too Wormsloe State Historic Site. Got some nice reminders about things we learned previously: tabby construction (a kind of concrete made with oyster shells), and that Georgia started with "worthy debtors" (not wealthy aristocrats) and three rules (no Catholics, no hard liquor, and no slaves). None of the three rules listed very long. Picture shows tabby construction. Spent most of the afternoon at and urgent care place trying to find out what Henry's hand is red and swollen. No definite answer, but he'll be taking an antibiotic and a steroid to try get it under control. More fun was the tour our friends took us on around the historic district and a very nice walk along the river.

Started with walking tour that got us through a bunch of Savannah's famous squares. The focus here is much more on the original colony and  the revolutionary war, not so much the civil war. Fish downspouts are a thing in Savannah, apparently helping keep away evil spirits. Then a visit to Congregation Mickve Israel, the oldest Reform congregation in the US, founded by Sephardic Jews in 1735. The current building was built in 1878. Beautiful, but strange to us as it looks so much like a church, complete with nave, apse and stained glass. We then squeezed in a visit to the Savannah Historical Museum before heading home to our feet up and have a nap before meeting our friends Barbara and Chris for dinner. 

First stop was the Coastal Discovery Museum, another repurposed former plantation, in this case cotton and indigo (not enough fresh water for rice) Best part was a conversation with a couple guys making sweetgrass baskets. I wanted clarification about the materials used, which I got, along with an offer to help me identify the maker of a basket we've had for many years and no longer remember when/how we got it. Anyway, materials are sweegrass, Loblolly pine needles, bullrushes held together tooth strips of palmetto. They don't all have both pine needles and bullets. Next stop was the Savannah Wildlife Refuge, which is another way of repurposing old rice plantations. In addition to the former rice areas, we found ourselves in a cypress swamp. Also saw a red shouldered hawk and an ibis. No alligators, which we certainly wouldn't have harassed and hopefully not fed... Dinner was excellent Filipino food, but with the peanuts, rice and pork belly it got right in with the souther...

Started the day with a super interesting visit to Penn Center. No photos-- the interest is the history of what happened on the Sea Islands at the beginning of the civil war and after. I won't try to repeat it here, but the formerly enslaved did a lot better here than elsewhere for a variety of reasons. Then headed to Hunting Island State Park. Wonderful hike through maritime forest, boardwalks through the marshes and "boneyard" beach. Perfect weather was the icing!

We had planned to go by way of Botany Bay Wildlife Refuge but it was closed for deer hunting, so straight on to Beaufort--and the Kazoo factory. They ship nearly one million plastic kazoos a year. We got to assemble our own kazoos... Spent most of the afternoon just wandering around the historic part of Beaufort, which seems to be mostly about historic homes, but not entirely. The church in the picture was one of the first African-American churches during reconstruction, then a library for Black people during segregation (almost nextdoor to a Carnegie library) and now an art gallery. Plus really nice swings (,for adults!) Along the waterfront. Dinner: another round of she-crab soup, a crab cake and some particularly yummy crispy fried shrimp. R place was particularly nice--on the water, sun starting to set, etc.

Full day! Started with Charles Pinckney National Historic Site. Interesting to see how many fundamental ideas (and wording) in our Constitution came from him. Also got to see indigo plants and read about the process of making dye, but unfortunately no demos. Then on to the Shell Ring trail, a one mile hike through forest and marsh to some 4000 year-old clam shell middens. It was a gorgeous day so really nice to be out in the forest--just us and the mosquitoes. Then into Charleston just in time to tour Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim. The congregation started in 1749, so one of the oldest in America. The current building is Greek revival and was built in 1840. It's generally considered the founding congregation of reform Judaism. And the to Charles Towne Landing, where the first English settlers arrived in 1670, so was the beginning for what eventually became South Carolina. The coolest thing here was a replica 17th century sailing ship such as would have taken goods from South Carolina to...

Started with a visit to the Charleston Tea Garden. It's the largest tea plantation  in the US--essentially the only. It was started in the 1960's and eventually bought by Bigelow. Very interesting to learn how the tea is grown, harvested and processed--the factory is there, too. Essentially the plants are kept at "table height" and they harvest the new growth from above that, so the base plant continuously produces new tea. The shop has multiple kinds of teas for tasting including five kinds of iced tea--all sweet except one. Stopped to see the Angel Oak, a ~400 year old live oak tree. Then to The Charleston Museum (oldest in the country) and evening seeing "Clue"at the Dock Street Theater. Fun and funny. Dinner was she crab soup and a crab cake sandwich.

Finally made our way to Fort Sumter and (re)learned some Civil War basics, especially about the beginning. The only surprise was getting to watch some dolphins right of the island. Then a visit to the brand new International African American Museum. Excellent presentation, tying in personal stories and modern art with the expected historical info. The space under the museum is especially impressive and moving in the way it shows human figures symbolic of the quarter million enslaved people who passed over the wharf.

Spent the whole day at Middleton Plantation, mostly because we started with a tour of the former rice field and learning about rice growing in South Carolina, and the enslaved people on whose backs the fortunes were made. The tour guide is a manager at Middleton, and we talked about many other things as well. Now, of course, it looks like beautiful landscape complete with alligators sunning on the banks. Didn't get close enough for a picture of one! The picture here is a former rice field. The formal gardens felt strange (the Middletons seen too have thought they were English royalty) but would certainly be stunning in the spring with all the camelias and azaleas in bloom. Another yummy dinner, this time grouper cheeks with butternut squash raviolis. Side note: the only rice we've seen on menus is Cajun red rice. We want to try some Carolina gold....

Spent the morning at the McLeod Plantation. The focus here is the enslaved people who made the pre-Civil war McLeods wealthy on sea Island cotton. Excellent tour-she helped us feel how horrible it must have been even while standing under the beautiful old live oaks draped in Spanish Moss. Lunch sat a biscuit place... The squawking goat in the picture was a yummy concoction of goat cheese and fried chicken on the biscuit with s sweet spicy sauce. Beautiful day, so we followed that with a nice walk on Folly's Island Beach (only found one shark's tooth) and then a nap. Dinner was BBQ--excellent (the nurses sauce is quite ok, though I stil prefer NC vinegar sauce). One of the sides was picked veggies. New to us, and really nice with the BBQ. Then to a show called The Music of Charleston. Sort of a historic sampler of music from Charleston different time periods. 

A day in historic Charleston. Walking tour, stroll through the city market (arts and crafts--we managed not to buy anything) and a visit to the Aiken-Rhett House. Our brains are full and feet sore. Photos are off palmetto tree, the state tree and the pineapple fountain. Though not operating today, it's s symbol of welcome. Aiken-Rhett House was interesting in part because it's preserved rather than restored. Better for ghosts maybe, but also means you have to employ your imagination to imagine both the slave and wealthy situations without glitz. Anyway, Aiken was the wealthiest man in South Carolina, which by definition meant the largest slave holder. Sobering... Dinner: flounder stuffed with blue crab!

It's a long enough drive that we decided we needed to do along the way, so we made our way to the Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge. It was a bit chilly, but beautiful, and we managed to admire the longleaf pines that the area is known for and some yellow pitcher plants. Both are worth admiring! Needles on those pines can be up to 18 inches, though we're guessing the ones we got close to were more like 12. The pitcher plants are native, carnivorous plants--fun to see them in the wild rather than a botanical garden. Yummy dinner trip to get us in the low country spirit: shrimp and grits!

 Finishing up packing and other last minute things (like taking the dead bird we found last night to the dead bird freezer! Yes, they are collected and studied...) Plan is to leave tomorrow morning...