Life in the Low Country (Part II)

In Savannah
Spending the next few weeks in Florida


A few additional comments about Charleston.

1.  It is known as the Holy City due to the number of churches of all faiths.  The only church we visited was St. Joseph for Sunday Mass.  It was close to our RV park and seemed like a pretty modern building.

2.  There is a very odd smell here that we later discovered was pluff mud.   It comes from decaying grass and fish in the marshes.  I'm not even going to try to describe the odor - ewww.

3.  We enjoyed some really good barbecue while we were here - a couple of times.  Pulled pork, chicken, brisket - it was all tasty.  The mustard along with vinegar and pepper sauces are unique to South Carolina.  I really liked the mustard sauce.

Ok, we were able to go to Fort Sumter where we learned a lot about the start of the Civil War.  Since we saw the location of the last major battle in Bentonville, NC, we decided we also needed to see the location where the War started.  You take a ferry to the Fort which is in the middle of the bay. Then you have an hour to tour.

The Fort was all but destroyed in the Civil War, but was cleaned up and put into service for the Spanish American War.  It was also garrisoned during both World Wars, but then it was realized that it was not in good enough shape for coastal protection.  The inside of the Fort is essentially ruins now.

We drove to Mt. Pleasant toward Patriot Point.  We stopped at the Waterfront Park and took a walk on the Pier.  I saw these Palmetto trees and snapped a photo.  Palmetto is the state tree of SC.

We stopped at the Charles Pickney House, also run by the National Park Service.  Charles Pickney was involved in writing the Constitution.  The house he lived in no longer exits, and the current home is a museum run by the National Park Service.  He also owned Snee Farm, most of which has been sold and is now housing developments.

We drove through Isle of Palms and Sullivan's Island on our way to Fort Moultrie.  Both towns are resort towns full of beautiful beach homes and restaurants/shopping.

Fort Moultrie had a role in the Revolutionary War through WWII due to the geographic location of Charleston.   The Fort was rebuilt (after combat and hurricanes) and updated several times.

This is the Defense Command Post built before WWII.

Once the strategy behind National Defense changed after WWII, the Fort was turned over to the National Park Service for us all to learn and enjoy.

South of our RV park on John's Island is the Angel Oak Tree.  We couldn't leave Charleston without seeing it ! This tree is over 400 years old and it's huge.  The branches are so big and long, they lay on the ground.  Our pictures can't convey how fantastic this tree is.

Life in the Low Country (Part I)

Currently In: Charleston, SC
Leaving for: Savannah, GA
Next Up: St. Augustine, FL
Then to Orlando, Marathon Key, Siesta Key and Navarre, FL for December and early January

There is so much to the geography, culture, language, architecture, food and history in Charleston that I couldn't possibly get to all of it in a couple of blog posts.  Suffice it to say that Charleston played a major role in the settling of our country, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars along with cultural impacts in the South and beyond.
I will just post a few of our favorite sights.  There is really no logic to what we decided to look at other than the close proximity of these locations to one another.

We spent a day in the historic downtown where we learned that Charleston used to be a walled city.  In excavating for other construction, parts of the old wall were discovered, became small archeological digs, and preserved.  I tried to snap a photo, but so many people were in front of a piece of the old wall, you couldn't see it.

We started at the City Market.  It is all indoors, but there are a few city blocks of artist and crafter booths - many items like sweet water baskets are local to Low Country.

We then walked to Waterfront Park to peek at the famous Pineapple fountain.  I also thought the boardwalk with swings was a unique feature of the this park.

I found this little guy hanging out in the marsh next to the boardwalk.

I was able to get this shot of the Ravenel Bridge.  At 2.5 miles long, it is the longest cable stay bridge in North America.

 Here is a view when we were actually on the bridge!

We took a stroll through the French Quarter with its cobblestone streets.

Then we made it over to White Point Garden.  The gazebo is pretty; there are also numerous monuments to Revolutionary and Civil War soldiers.

Here is the requisite picture of Rainbow Row - I am sure it is prettier when there are no cars!  There are a couple of theories around the reason for the colors having to do with drunken sailors or illiterate slaves getting to the correct location.

In our wandering around we also saw this house.  Take a look at the flag on the lower front porch - I couldn't resist!  Plus it provides another example of the types of houses in the older part of the city.

Finally, we met up with our friend Elizabeth Baczek at Mac's Place - a Chicago bar right in the historic area of Charleston!

Soda City

Currently in: Charleston, SC
Next Up: Savannah, GA
Heading to Florida

Yesterday we were in Columbia, SC with a terrific tour guide, our niece Julie Wiemerslage.  She is a GA for the cross country and track teams at the University of South Carolina.

COLA is the abbreviation for the city of Columbia.  Hence, the nickname Soda City.  Clever.

First, we checked out the Soda City Market.  It is a farmer's market plus a venue for crafters and artists.  There were also several food trucks and other bakery booths.  All in downtown Columbia! Look hard and you can see the capitol building in this photo of Johnny and Julie.

After brunch, we decided to visit Sesquicentennial State Park, also known as "Sesqui".  What a beautiful place!  It was built in 1937 by the Conservation Corps as part of FDR's New Deal.  The name honors South Carolina's statehood.
Julie told us she runs here on a regular basis.  We hiked (let's be honest, a nature walk) around this lake.

The picnic shelters had actual fireplaces in them, and fires were burning on this chilly fall day.  I didn't snap a photo since there were a lot of kids around and I didn't want to freak anyone out.  But I had never seen this before and thought it was a great idea.

Then we saw this cool bridge.

Awww-such a cute couple

Julie did some research on turtles when she was in college, and low and behold, look who was waiting for us.  Little guys on the lower logs below.

After the great hike and excitement of the turtles, Johnny declared "we deserve a cocktail!".  Julie suggested a restaurant in the Vista area of Columbia that they are trying to gentrify.  It was an area of old warehouses, some dating from the post Civil War.  It is now a fun area of shopping and restaurants.  Given that the Gamecocks had just beaten Florida Gators at home, the place was hopping!  And fun.

Thank you Julie!

Rain, rain go away

Currently in: Charleston, SC
Next Up: Savannah, GA on our way to Florida for December

Once we left OBX, we stopped in Fayetteville, NC for a couple of days on our way to Charleston.  We were only there for 2 days, but it rained essentially the whole time - including the day we left.   Undoing the hook-ups and getting the car attached to the RV is challenging enough in dry weather, much less a cold rain.  But we did it!

The rain did give us an opportunity to catch up on the regular household stuff: laundry, paperwork, shopping and a little organizing.  Plus, I finally got the Instant Pot out and cooked in it for the first time on the road!

The honey chicken was delicious and quick-  ready to eat in 30 minutes.  And easy clean up which is so helpful in the RV.

First Flight

We left for Fayetteville today.
We will be in Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA soon.
Then on to Florida!

So here is what we saw when we went south of the bridge that crosses into OBX.  There is a memorial to the Wright Brothers first airplane flight.  It actually is a National Park, so our annual pass came in handy!  We learned a lot about the process the entire Wright family went through to support the brothers' dream.
These four markers designate the landing places of the first flights that took place on December 17, 1903.  The park also has a tall memorial structure and recreated camp structures where Orville and Wilbur lived while they worked.

A life size sculpture was dedicated in 2005.  It memorializes all those who witnessed the first flight.

We then proceeded further south to Jockey's Ridge State Park for a picnic lunch and walk among the dunes.  The entire State Park is sand.

There was a hand gliding class taking place.

And several families taking advantage of the nice weather to fly kites.  There are many kites stores along the main drag throughout OBX, which we didn't really understand why until we got here!

Finally, we drove along Cape Hatteras National Seashore.  Of course we had to stop at Bodie Island for, guess what, another lighthouse!
The Outer Banks is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic due to the number of deadly shipwrecks caused by weather and turbulent sea waters.   Current storms continue to reveal the remnants of ships that have wreaked in the past.

OBX has been one of my favorite places so far.  If you ever have the chance to visit, jump on it!

Wild, wild horses

Currently in: Shawboro, NC  near OBX (that's how they say Outer Banks)
Next up: Fayetteville, NC a stopover on our way to Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA
We will be in Florida the whole month of December

We are staying in a campground about and hour and a half from the North Carolina Outer Banks.  So, we drove back and forth for a couple of days.  The first day we went north of the bridge to the island.

We visited the historic town of Corolla.

I'm really loving lighthouses these days, including learning about the keeper's houses and families.  This one was built in 1875 and the brick was left unpainted to distinguish from other lighthouses on OBX.  The keeper lived in the white house with his family.

We climbed the 220 steps to the top, and here was the view.

In this same historic area was an old chapel, a schoolhouse and this lavish hunt club, called Whalehead, that was built by Edward Knight and his wife in 1925.

The Knights dredged the water around the club to create a private island for themselves and then realized that only their friends with boats would be able to visit them.  So, they built this bridge from the mainland so they could entertain more people. Both the home and the bridge have been restored.

Finally, we made it out to the beach north of Corolla.  Only 4x4 vehicles are allowed to drive on the beach, so we were lucky we could take the Jeep out.  It was fun to drive on the beach; thank goodness it wasn't too crowded.

 
The beach homes are beautiful.  Lots of them are rentals.

Sand Dunes are everywhere.  We climbed lots of them in search of the elusive wild horses we were told that frequent the beach.  We had given up, happy with the beautiful weather and wonderful day that we spent.  Then, on our way back, we encountered this:

Right on the beach.  Having lunch!  It is said that these wild horses are descendants of Spanish Mustangs left by early explorers.  We felt very lucky to have spotted them.  They are just beautiful.

After such a fun day, we stopped for a late lunch by the water to celebrate!

           

City of Oaks

Currently in: Shawboro, NC (Outer Banks)
Next Up: Fayetteville, NC on our way to Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA
We have the month of December booked in Florida!

So I spent much of the last few days "under the weather", as my mother would say.  We did have the opportunity for a couple of outings, but I wasn't as quick with the camera so not the variety of photos.

We had a nice bike ride along the Nuese River Greenway in Clayton, NC.  Those Greenways are popular in NC!

We also had a very interesting morning at the Aloha Zoo in Cameron, NC.  It is a rescue zoo, so all of the animals came to them from various dire situations.   We were able to get much closer to the animals than the Brookfield Zoo, which was cool.  Here are a couple of our favorites.

White Bengal Tiger

Wolverine (a bit hard to see)

We got back to the campground for a cookout, ND game, and the weekend trick-or-treaters in costume.  Just like home!

We also toured the Bentonville Battlefield, the last full-scale action of the Civil War.  Our southern tour guide told us that during this battle, the "Federals" took over the home of the Harper family and used it as a hospital during the 3 day war.  The family moved upstairs, which most likely saved their home.  We learned a lot about medical treatment of casualties during the Civil War.

The battlefield was reminiscent of Gettysburg, with monuments and graves.  We also got to see actual remains of trenches that were dug during the battle.  There was a driving tour as well so we could geographically understand how the battle unfolded.  The markers described how the Confederates put up a valiant fight before succumbing to being outnumbered.

On our last day near Raleigh, we did a walking tour of the "City of Oaks" named for all of the native Oak trees.

We saw the old water tower from 1887.

The 1883 Executive Mansion still has hand made bricks lining the sidewalk.  The bricks were made by prisoners and some have the original signatures of the prisoner who made them.

I found the architecture in Raleigh particularly interesting.   The mansion above is in the Queen Anne style, while the Heck-Andrews House, one of the first houses built after the Civil War, is in a style called Second Empire.  The style includes mansard roofs and square based domes.  Very different.

The Mordecai House here is the oldest house in Raleigh on its original foundation.  Built in 1785 and updated in 1824, it is an example of Greek Revival.











We then drove around the historic Oakwood neighborhood and I felt at home with several Arts and Crafts as well as Victorian Painted Ladies homes.  The varied architecture adds a lot of character to the city of Raleigh.

We also found a cute little area called the City Market, named for the historic market hall .  Very reminiscent of the West Side Market in Cleveland.  Full of shopping and restaurants.  We had a delicious southern lunch including biscuits and cornbread, along with Brunswick Stew.