When you think of Charleston, you probably think of historical, pastel coloured mansions, The Charleston (dance), long, hot days, bug-filled nights and possibly a group of entitled dimwits from a reality show called Southern Charm. Thankfully there’s more to it than that.
| City we’re visiting | Charleston | State | South Carolina |
| State Facts | |||
| Capital: | Colombia | Nickname: | Palmetto State |
| Motto: | While I Breathe, I Hope | Bird: | Carolina Wren |
| Tree: | Palmetto | Flower: | Yellow Jessamine |
| Main rivers: | Savannah, Pee Dee | 8th State Settled: | 23 May 1788 |
The Airbnb we stayed in is part of a large Charleston ‘single’ or ‘half’ style house (meaning that it is suited to long narrow pieces of land where the appearance from the street is that the home is one room wide), split into 3 separate apartments with the long porch/piazza on the upper floor and 2 doors. The first door appears as a normal front door but is really only entry down to the side of the house where the true entrance to the home is.
The path through time displayed through the Colonial, Georgian, Federal, Classic Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Victorian and Art Deco, homes and other buildings in Charleston has seen 502 acres of the city declared a National Historic Landmark District. The neighbourhood we stayed in is slowly being gentrified, only going slowly I suspect because of the rules and regulations around doing so in such an historical place.
Charleston was founded in 1670 so it seemed appropriate to take a guided, horse-drawn carriage tour to discover some of its secrets. Something about the clip clopping drowning out Master P’s whining adding to the ambience… not so helpful for taking photos as you will soon see. Most of the houses are in reality not tilted!
Our dryly humoured tour guide Al (Charleston Carriage Works), an architecture and history buff withstood his grumpily disobedient stead (Jake) and filled our minds with a very different Charleston. Earthquakes, fires, slave uprisings and plantations are all a part of Charleston’s history and evidence is all over the city when you know where to look.
Historical features included large ‘earthquake’ bolts that were used after an estimated magnitude 7 earthquake in 1886. These bolts pass through the existing masonry, effectively tying opposite walls together to provide stability to structures that survived but were unstable.
At least 104 mounting/carriage or upping blocks still remain in their original positions outside of homes or public buildings and are a protected entity. These generally consist of a large block of stone next to the curb, used to assist in stepping down from a carriage.
There is some beautiful examples of decorative wrought iron work adorning various buildings, the history of which began in 1772 when a wrought iron communal rail was shipped over from England and installed in St Michael’s Episcopal church. The local blacksmiths began to create more elaborate designs as the wealthy in the area began to use wrought iron for their gates, fences, rails, a status symbol I’m sure, however over the years through various natural disasters much of it was lost. Many blacksmiths continued the wrought iron tradition. Philip Simmons (1912-2009) was a famous iron-worker, and his work can be found in various locations throughout Charleston and various museums in the States.
Following our tour we wandered around the Charleston City Market where most of the fare was hand-made and picked up a few trinkets to remember our stay. I bought this hand drawn illustration of the gates of St Michael’s. Artistry in both the original ironwork by J.A.W Iusti (who arrived from Germany in 1820) and this rendition.
Special K’s passion for a good, fresh oyster was satiated at a nearby restaurant and then we took a drive over the Cooper River on the Arthur Ravenel Bridge to Mt Pleasant, Sullivan Island
On our way to Savannah we stopped for lunch in a forgettable town called Beaufort, where we geocached for the first time. If you’ve never heard of Geocaching, neither had we until Master P and I started reading The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase by Wendy Mass. One of the main characters excitedly recounts his experiences with Geocaching and you’d better believe that the thought of mini treasure hunts along our travels lit Master P and I’s fire so I downloaded the app a few weeks before we set off on our Farewell Tour, made sure I could understand the app and BAZINGA! We found our very first geocache! We were all pretty pumped and the thing I love about it is that if you need to travel by foot from point A to point B, it is a fantastic way to keep the kids interested and perhaps stumble across an area that you wouldn’t have necessarily come across otherwise. For more information on geocaching click on the link <–.
| City we’re visiting | Savannah | State | Georgia |
| State Facts | |||
| Capital: | Atlanta | Nickname: | Peach State |
| Motto: | Wisdom, Justice & Moderation | Bird: | Brown Thrasher |
| Tree: | Southern Live Oak | Flower: | Cherokee Rose |
| Main rivers: | Chattahoochee, Flint, Savannah | 4th State Settled: | 2 January 1788 |
Earlier this year I did a wreath making class (just a couple of hours) at our local Michael’s (craft supplies) store. The class was a complete waste of time however the lovely lass that took the class (who had never made a wreath before!!), happened to have done her Fine Arts degree in Savannah. As I hot glue gunned a heap of faux flowers and foliage to a wreath base, she wrote me a fantastic list of ‘must do’s’ (it was just her and I in the class) which did not disappoint. Ice-cream from Leopold’s was definitely some of the best we have ever had (I highly recommend the Butter Pecan and Master P also recommends the mint chocolate chip). Leopold’s, a Savannah institution since 1919 had a line of people out the door even though it was November.
And of course she recommended a steamboat ride. We boarded the Georgia Queen, whose previous life as a casino boat on the Mississippi River ended after a change in legislation, made for a grand trip down the Savannah River. We saw her the night before and she looked glorious all lit up. I’m yet to master night photos however!
A couple of scenic highlights were the infamous Waving Girl statue. The waving figure of Florence Martus and her dog are a prominent feature on the shoreline and there are many and varied legends regarding the real life figure that inspired the statue. The truth (we’re assured by the boat tour operator) is that Florence lived with her brother (a lighthouse keeper) on Elba Island started waving to the ships that went by out of boredom. It is said that between 1887 to 1931 she did not miss a single ship, day or night and waved with a white handkerchief or lantern accordingly. She became quite well-known and ships looked out for her as they came through. Since her death in 1943 this statue was erected, a Liberty ship took her name and in 1999 a Savannah Belles Ferry was named after her.
Fort (James) Jackson, a restored 19th century fort is the oldest standing brick fort in Georgia, saw action in the War of 1812 and the American Civil War, and is now a National Historic Landmark. A reenactment, complete with canon (fake) firing was part of the entertainment.
A couple of other points of interest along the Savannah River.
Post river ride, we started to walk back up the hill and came across a film set. A car was being towed with the director etc sitting in the back of the truck while filming through the windscreen (does that make sense?).
We weren’t too surprised as a vacant lot near our Airbnb cottage was obviously being used to house all of the trailers etc involved with filming and after a quick Google search there were a number of projects being filmed around the place. One of which was a film called Killerman, starring Aussie Liam Hemsworth, who had reportedly been spotted around the traps with his fiancé Miley Cyrus. We decided to stop and watch for a bit. It’s not something you see everyday and Master P found it interesting to see how part of a car chase may be filmed. And lo and behold the area began to fill with more people and out walks Liam Hemsworth himself ready to do his next scene in the driver seat of the car. There were stunt men (2) dressed in the same clothing, one other actor in the car, an entirely different car and even the female star came to visit the set. All very interesting. And yes, Mr Hemsworth is a tad handsome. #teamchris
That’s a wrap Mr Hemsworth. Swoon.
Savannah is quite a striking city and has and interesting lay out that involves 22 historical squares. They are set out among the streets and the edges are lined by homes, inns, churches and museums and provide the city with many areas to enjoy the greenery, admire the many historical statues, have a picnic and, in our case, a failed geocache attempt! As we dug around under the beautifully kept gardens and started attracting suspicious sideways glances, we gave up! We learned that the grayish-green, foliage hanging from the limbs and leaves of many trees and seemingly taking over some of them is called Spanish Moss, but neither originates in Spain or is in fact moss. It is called moss but looks like lichen and is in fact a member of the bromeliad family and is native to many places, including Queensland, Australia where it is known as ‘grandpas beard’. Here is Savannah, in mainly hangs off of live oak trees (the Southern Live Oak is Georgia’s state tree), which I had also never heard of! (I’m sure this is not surprising to those that know me!). Technically the tree is an evergreen, however live oak leaves go brown, stay on the tree and then drop immediately before new leaves emerge in the spring.
An uneventful stop in Atlanta, Georgia followed Savannah but the journey there proved to be SO awesome!
Firstly, COTTON FIELDS! Who knew they were so pretty. As we passed a few along the highway I insisted that we exit post-haste and hunt as down an appropriate cotton field to plonk the kids in the middle of, preferably with a barn in the middle! All wishes don’t come true so I was sans barn but here are my cotton pics.
And then it was off to Juliette, GA for lunch at THE REAL WHISTLE STOP CAFE FROM THE MOVIE FRIED GREEN TOMATOES! With a bazillion quotes, visions of Kathy Bates wrapped in cling wrap and sweet southern accents from the movie buzzing around in my head, we sat down to a plate of fried green tomatoes (delicious) and I swear I could hear the train whistle sounding in the background.
“Buuuuuuuddddddddddyyyyyyyyy!”
“I can’t even look at my own vagina!”
“A big old ox like Grady won’t sit next to a coloured child, but he eats eggs.. shoot right out of a chicken’s arse.”
“Towandaaaaaaaa!”
Ok, I’m done.
Nic x
From Melbourne to Manhattan 