Saturday
Following in the footsteps of Rhett Butler, today we’re heading to a place of peace, charm and grace!
Today was one of our longer drives, over 5 hours, but the destination was Charleston, South Carolina, somewhere I was very keen to viist. If you know your “Gone with the Wind” you’ll know that Rhett Butler was from Charleston but as well as that, Charleston has the reputation of being one of the most beautiful cities in the American South. Founded in 1670, it is the oldest and second-largest city in South Carolina. The French Quarter is packed with beautiful Georgian Revival mansions that are , mostly, maintained in pristine condition today. The city, however, has an ugly side to it’s history – it was a major port for the arrival of slaves from Africa and also served as a major trading city for the domestic trade of slavery prior to the Civil War. It’s place in the Civil war is very significant, the first shots of the war were taken here, upon Fort Sumpter, which is an island fort that stands guard in the middle of the harbour.
So, we were very much looking forward to visiting the city! We set out bright and early from Atlantic city, expecting a long, failry tedious drive. Hwever after a couple of hours the weather closed in and we experienced one of those incredible downpours that we’ve had aon a few driving trips here – where you can barely see out of the windscreen. This one got a bit more exciting though when all our iphones and my Apple watch started screaming an alert – we were in a Tornado zone. Take shelter immediately!! We kept driving… we didn’t have much choice as ther was nowhere to take shelter. Eventually the skies cleared and I was so glad to see blue sky.
WE carried on and as we neared the city we drove along the “Sweetgrass highway” – Along North Highway 17, sweetgrass basket makers set up roadside stands to sell their wares to tourists and locals alike. The exquisitely-fashioned baskets are a Lowcountry tradition—an American art with African origins. When West African slaves were brought to South Carolina, they brought with them the tradition of weaving baskets from grass with them. The art of weaving sweetgrass baskets has been passed down from generation to generation, from mother to daughter, through the Gullah community who descended from those West African slaves. Originally designed as a tool for rice production, the sweetgrass basket has evolved to a decorative art. We saw dozens of stalls along the highway, many of them were empty but some were covered with an array of the baskets, waiting for a sale’
around 2.30 pm we finally crossed the stunning Ravenel bridge into the centre of Charleston. My only plan for this aftenoon was to visit the Old Slave Mart Museum, which we found easily enough. It covers the, very sad, history of the plight of the slaves that were brought here from Africa and also who were traded for generations within the town.
After the museum we walked back through the pretyt streets to the Charleston City Market. The City Market is a historic market complex established in the 1790s. The market stretches for four blocks from the gorgeous Market Hall, through a series of one-story market sheds. These days it seels mostly souvenirs etc, and had several Sweetgrass market stalls. As well as one stand that seemed to sell nothing but Grits!
It was REALLY hot so we called it quits and headed to our hotel to check in and cool off. Tonight we had a simply fabulous southern meal at “Grace and Grit” . WE shared a local s,oked fixh dip for apetizer and then tucked in to a wonderful salad beforw we finsished with Shrimp and Grits of me and Southern Fried Chicken fo Neil. WE had the “Chefs Table” which, meant we could watch all the action oin the kitchen as they served up several Southern favourites to a packed restaurant. The food was fabulous. Shrimp and Grits don;t look pretty but my dinner was delicious!
Sunday
This morning we drove back over the bridge into central Charleston, heading for the harbourside loction where we could board the ferry to visit Fort Sumpter. The attack on Fort Sumter marked the official beginning of the American Civil War—a war that lasted four years, cost the lives of more than 620,000 Americans, and freed 3.9 million enslaved people from bondage. South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union and in retaliation, the Union army occupied Fort Sumpter – an Island Fort that guards the entrance to Charleston harbour. The Confederate leaders considered this an “act of war” and thus attacked and occupied the fort – the Civil War had begun!
It was another very hot and sticky day, but the ride out to the fort on the ferry was pleasant, with a nice breeze blowing across the harbour. As our tour was the first of the day we were able to watch the raising of the flag ceremony. It had particular significance today – we wre here on Septembe 11 ( 9/11) , a day now known as Patriots Day in the USA and will always be remebered as the day that terrorists attcked the twin towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC. So the flag was raised but then dropped to half mast – the ranger running the ceremony said the flag was also at half mast to pay respects to Queen Elizabeth II. After this we explored the fort.
After about an hour at the fort we hopped back on the ferry for the ride back downtown. We drove the car a little further down towards the “tip” of Charleston and parked in a parking garage so we could explore the particularly historic and beautiful area near the Battery. The mansion in this part of town were stunning, the parks ;eafy and green and the cobbled streets were full of horse carriages ferrying tourists around.
After a long sticky walk we headed back to the hotel briefly to cool off, but then we decided to drive alittle north to visit the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site. Pinckney owned several large plantations in the area ( rice was the crop of cj=hoice here) but was also very active in the establishment of the young nation after the revoltionary war, he made significnt contributions to the Consititution pf the USA and was a signatory to it. The plantation grounds were peaceful and green and full of beautiful oak trees hng with draping spanish moss – something you see everyehere here in the south. So pretty!
Dinner tonight was a delicious Pizza at the nearby “Orlando’s Pizza” restaurant. Tooorw we head inland and up to the mountains , this is the last we will see of the coast for several weeks.
