Charleston, SC Area

November 28th we started down Hwy 17 toward Charleston. Stopped at the Hampton/Rutledge Plantation. Had an excellent tour and explanation of this area and how the slaves brought the knowledge of raising rice. They also did all the work of digging, diking and leveling 1000’s of acres of land so a few whites could get rich. The rivers were diked and flooded the land, then when the rice plants were started they would open the gates and let the water out. Another Gullah craft brought over were the sweet grass baskets woven with palmetto strips. Hard to resist buying one, I know how much work goes into each.

Charleston, much more here than we were expecting. The downtown Market, the Battery, a walled fortification that tries to keep the storms away from the lovely old mansions. A very active downtown area, mall stores, but not in a mall. Drove over the brand new bridge to Mt. Pleasant and toured Fort Moultrie, across from Ft. Sumter. Lots of Revolutionary and Civil War history.

On the last day of November we divided to see the things we were most interested in. Ross went to Patriots Point, the Naval & Maritime Museum. He skipped the Yorktown tour since he had toured the Lexington last year and they are sister aircraft carriers. He took tons of pictures and met and spoke with two gentlemen who had served on the ship, now in their 90’s.

I did the old downtown area. The weather was so nice in the mid high 60’s sunny, no humidity. Picked one old restored mansion out of a list of 5 or 6. There are so many gorgeous homes, lots of restoration, the “old painted ladies” look wonderful.

Drove across Charleston Bay to James Island. More beautiful neighborhoods. At the far eastern end there is a National Oceanic Research Station to the west on Ft. Johnston Road we stumbled upon St James County Park. Three miles of it decorated with Christmas lights and a very nice campground we wish we would have stayed in. Would highly recommend it if you’re ever in Charleston.

We could have spent many more days here but decided to keep moving south while the weather was still gorgeous. On December 1st we drove to Beaufort (beau like in beautiful I read). That is how they pronounce it in SC, probably different in NC. We’re in a wonderful State Park on Hunting Island. We were able to snag a spot right on the ocean. No wind, sunny, 65 degrees. I’m loving it. This is the Gullah Country that Pat Conroy wrote about in his books. Many of the descendants of the original slaves still live in this area. The Loggerhead turtles lay their eggs here in the spring. I keep looking for flocks of migrating birds, but so far nothing.

We continue to watch the weather and stay ahead of most storms. To be continued…..