Monday September 20 Day 74
We are on the road again after a lovely four day stay in Kennebunk, Maine. Ten days in Maine and I am days and days and adventures galore behind in my correspondence. We are just having too much fun to stop and write about it all. My last dispatch was about Savannah which means I should tell you about our time in Charleston and beyond.
September 3rd Day 57 we arrived in Mount Pleasant, near Charleston, and were greeted by a gorgeous campground complete with a fully stocked lake. We made excellent bread dough balls tossed 'em in and Fred photographed the feeding frenzy. It was “catch and release” so why pull them up? Check fishing off the bucket list. We hiked the trail and noted signs telling us to stay on the path to avoid a confrontation with the camp alligator and poisonous snakes and plants. I was not sure the gator had read the sign so we were very careful during our walk.
There was a railroad caboose that had been re-purposed to serve as a rental cabin replete with air conditioning, indoor plumbing and a porch the overlooked the lake. Fred loves planes, trains, and automobiles so he played on it and made me take his picture multiple times. (Wait until you see the pictures of him on the swings in East Lyme, Connecticut.)
In Mount Pleasant US 17 is dotted with roadside stands displaying native sweetgrass baskets, a traditional art form started in that community more than 300 years ago. Slaves brought to the area from West Africa have passed the skill from generation to generation and today their descendants sell these hard to make, beautiful baskets. Maybe we'll save up to buy one next time we come back.
On the way to James Island (Walgreens RX run) we stumbled onto the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site. It was free and way more interesting than 7th grade history class. This 28-acre site was once part of Charles' 715-acre plantation known as Snee Farm. Evidently this guy had a big role in the framing of the U.S. Constitution. Not the actual frame, frame. He lobbied for its creation and helped write it. The visitor center is in an 1828 farmhouse and has a lot of information about the Constitution, Lowcountry plantation life and slavery. I learned a lot about the Gullah dialect which I had never heard of before I came to the South.
All this put us in the mood for some Southern cooking. The guide directed us to a local traditional Gullah restaurant. We were the only white people in the place but the guy at the table next to us took me under his wing and explained what I was eating. He told me to eat several helpings of the beans and that, to him, they were worth his extra diabetes pill. The beans were fabulous and the fried chicken was as good as my Southern Grandma's chicken. Fred would like me to mention that he recognized everything on the buffet since he is from the South, Hey, I just wanted to talk to someone new by day 57.
So, we get back on the road to go to James Island to pick up my meds. We grumbled as we passed multiple Walgreens since we thought we had ordered them from the closest one. Fred stopped complaining when we stumbled upon a farmers market with boiled peanuts that he had been craving. Next we stumble on to Folly Beach whose slogan is “The Edge of America.” It was very “Jimmy Buffet” with all the surfers trying to catch hurricane waves, live music and lots of adult beverages.
We drove home at the end of the day having done nothing we actually planned except going to Walgreens. It was a lovely day.
I know this dispatch is long but I can't end without telling you about the houses in Charleston. I think you all know that Fred looks at everything through the lens of his camera. I'm pretty sure he thinks in pixels. The scenery in south Carolina was vast and varied especially with hurricane Earl adding a unique dimension to the surf. There were so many architectural gems from the 18th and 19th centuries that he just went crazy trying to capture their beauty. He took over 300 pictures in Charleston and vicinity and most of them were keepers! We picked about 50 of the best for the online album. Many have captions describing where they were taken.
One of my favorite homes was the Two Meeting Street Inn. It is a Queen Anne mansion completed in 1892 and it gleams like a pearl. The arched piazzas provide a panoramic view of the Historic Battery, the waterfront and the lush gardens. They serve a “gracious southern breakfast,” afternoon tea and evening sherry. My kind of place until I saw the price tag....$225.00 to $479.00 per night depending upon, evidently, the ceiling height of your room. We slept in the bus.
At some point we donned our hats and flip flops and headed to Isle of Palms Beach. The pictures will show the long lawns of the houses backing up to the beach. They don't show all the cars of beach goers that are parked in their front lawns.
There was so much else to do here but we just didn't have enough time. Fred was really sorry we missed the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum. He wanted to tour the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier that served in World War II and Vietnam. I wanted to visit Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens until I found out they don't produce Boone's Farm Wine.
You should visit this place! Click here to see the rest of the photos...
From the road:
-robin
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