Dec 2007

Logistics:

Miles Driven - 102
Weather - Overcast, 60
Camped at Hunting Island SP, about 50 miles from Savannah, GA

Musings:

I prefer to write the blog entries the day things happen, so everything is still fresh in my mind. However, I'm the one who let myself fall behind, so guess it's better not to belly ache...

Narrative:

Again, Mom doesn't like military stuff so she elected to wait in the RV. She's been reading some of the books I bought as well as visiting most of the same places I have, so is also learning our early US history isn't quite as glorious and noble as we'd been led to believe. Causing us both some introspection...

In the meantime, I looked at the map and our schedule and figured we had enough time to visit Patriots Point and still make it to Savannah tonight. Patriots Point is where the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown retired, South Carolina took possession and has built a nice facility where the old naval shipyard used to be across the river from the historic area. On board is a special museum devoted to the Medal of Honor, which I thought might be interesting. Also although I had visited Battleship Cove already, it hadn't included any aircraft carriers, which I thought might be intresting.

However, the are also other ships and things you can tour here.

First, I went through the submarine. The USS Clamagore was built in 1945 and retired in 1975. At the time it retired, it was one of the last diesel submarines still in service.

I'm not sure why I uploaded so many photos, as we've already toured two or three submarines, but hey - I was there, the submarine was there, got to tour it. Who knows - maybe these will add something new. As always, the hatches were very difficult to climb through, the officer and crew quarters very cramped, and the submarine overall just stuffed with tubing, meters, controls and equipment. One sign was rather cute (if you can call it that), claims to be an old submariners proverb:

"There are only two kinds of ships - submarines and targets"

If you're new to my blog, these are thumbnails, you can click on them to see a larger format and additional descriptions. These are views from inside the USS Clamagore submarine.

After visiting the submarine, I briefly toured the US Coast Guard Cutter Ingham. She was built in 1934 and remained in service until 1988. It is probably the most decorated Coast Guard ship, receiving two Presidential Unit Citations among other awards, one in WWII and one in the Vietnam War. It was rather interesting to compare the Executive Officer's quarters on the Ingham to the Clamagore, as well as the hatches - vast differences between a submarine and surface vessels.

Across the dock from the USCGC Ingham was the WWII destroyer, USS Laffey. I did not take the time to tour this, but learned that it served in the D-Day invasion and also the battle of Okinawa, receiving 5 kamikazi and 3 bomb hits in one 90 minute span.

So finally, after rushing through the first three ships I actually made it to the USS Yorktown. This is the CV-10, built at the beginning of WWII originally as the Bon Homme Richard, but was renamed USS Yorktown to honor the only US Aircraft Carrier sunk at the Battle of Midway. It was a new class of aircraft carrier, 872 feet long and 147 feet wide, in her day one of the most imposing naval ships in the world.

The main entrance to the ship is on the hanger deck ,just below the flight deck. This houses a museum to honor Medal of Honor recipients, but has information on only a small sample of the recipients. I was surprised to learn that one woman has received the Medal Of Honor in the Civil War as a doctor - Dr.Mary E. Walker.

There are also a number of historic military aircraft on the hanger deck. One of these you can actually climb in:

There are a number of self paced tours you can take through the aircraft carrier, we were planning to head for Savannah today also so I skipped the crews quarters and such since they'd probably be quite similar to the ones I'd already seen on the USS Massachusetts. I did take the Flight Deck and Bridge tour, since these would be unique to an aircraft carrier. The tour consists of following some foot steps to get you started up the right stairway, then an occasional arrow or sign - but mostly it's just wander around on your own in the section you want to see. All in all, very cool - I sat in the Captains Chair (of course), played with the main wheel and engine controls... (fortuantely, the ship is permanently stuck in the mud - on purpose, it's how they anchor their exhibits here).

And finally back down to the hanger deck and the main elevator back off the ship (sad to leave her - although if I move to Charleston I could be a volunteer on the Yorktown?)

We did need to get going, but on the brochure I had noticed something about a Vietnam base? Then as I was leaving the dock, there were signs pointing to a Vietnam base off to the right. Hmm, somewhat curious I decided to check it out, although just a quick tour. Sure enough, the Patriots Point folks have constructed a small sample of what a US military base may have looked like in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, complete with a river boat, helicopter, huts, bunkers, and a watch tower that plays 1960's era music while you're walking around. Since coastal South Carolina is also a somewhat tropical, swampy area, it's a pretty effective display.

After this I finally got back to the RV and we headed south on Hwy 17 towards Savannah. Mom was interested in seeing the CawCaw compound, but they turned out to be closed on Tuesday. I had also asked her to look for campgrounds in the Savannah area, the idea being we'd get to town today, then sightsee in the morning. She found another State Park on the beach on Hunting Island, which she thought was about 20 miles off the main highway. It was farther off the route then that, so we'll have at least an hours drive in to get to Savannah tomorrow. But we probably won't get there too early. There is a lighthouse here you can climb but it doesn't open until 10. We're right on the beach, lovely barrier island with lots of Palmetto trees. It was pretty dark when we got here, so we'll have to see what it's like tomorrow.

Logistics:

Miles Driven - 30 (Backwards, but really a RT)
Weather - No Wind today (bridge was almost fun to drive!), Cool but Sunny
Camped at Mt. Pleasant KOA again. Mom needed to get some prescriptions filled at Walmart (need to pick them up after 9AM in the morning, so I can sleep in a bit), which is right next to KOA. Took advantage of their heated pool tonight!

Musings:

I enjoyed trying to edit the video of the Dolphin's, but have really got to go through the tutorial (or read the manual?). I wanted to edit out the sound track, since all it had was other tourists chattering in the background, but couldn't figure out how to do it. Hmm, always seems to be something else I need to (want to?) learn...

Narrative:

Charleston, South Carolina seems to have a plan similar to Jamestown & Yorktown in Virginia - where they build a re-enactment of colonial era historic settlement. We visited this version this morning, but am not sure I'd recommend it. I think they have re-enactors and more activities in the summer, but it was pretty empty today. There is an excellent museum, which was probably worth the trip even if the historic site wasn't much. Not sure museum is the right word, but I think that's what they call it. It had a few artifacts, but was mostly displays about the early history of Charleston, how things developed and why. Very educational.

Outside, we also finally saw some sweetgrass. This is what the Gullah basketweavers use that we'd been learning about. The Charles Towne Landing folks use it in their landscaping.

Just outside the visitors center were some ponds with lots of yellow bellied sliders (turtles). Mom & I both enjoyed throwing them some food (from the vending machine for this purpose of course, not junk food such as we eat.)

Probably the first thing to know about Charleston is that the current city is not where the original settlers built their town. The first settlement was across the river a little further up in a swampy area that they felt was easier to defend against the Spanish. However, it did not have a good deep water port, so after about only ten years, they moved to the current location. The top arrow shows the first settlement, where "Charles Towne Landing" site is. The lower arrow points to the historic Charleston location.

In 1663, King Charles II of England granted eight aristocratic noblemen, the "Lords Proprietors", the land referred to as Carolina in recognition for their help restoring the monarchy after the English Civil War. They were given almost complete control over the colony they would form. While noblemen, they were also shrewd business men. The most active Lord Proprietor was Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper, who owned part of a sugar plantation in Barbados, financed slave traders and held shares in Hudsons Bay Company. He and the other Lords Proprieters viewed the cruel, but finacially profitable, Barbados sugar plantations as a successful model for their new colony.

To recruit people, the Lord Proprietors promised land grants, the right to own slaves and a degree of religous freedom. 93 settlers left England in August 1669 for the West Indies. More settlers were recruited in Barbados, including many former indentured servants who had earned their freedom, but found no land available in Barbados as it had all been taken up by the rich planters for sugar plantations. They were attracted to the availability of land in Carolina.

The party ran into bad weather and several storms after leaving Barbados however and took five months to reach Carolina. The local Kiawah tribe actually encouraged the English to settle here and helped them. Other tribes had obtained guns from Europeans and the Kiawah needed an ally to help protect them from these enemies.

To succeed, the initial settlers had to work hard to carve fields out of forests, build houses, workshops, a store house, fort, roads, bridges and docks. During the first decade, most of the hard labor was provided by indentured servants, although slaves were increasingly imported for the hard work. They had hoped to get rich by developing a reliable "cash crop" for sale in Europe and the other colonies. Early explorers thought Carolina had a year round tropical climate like the West Indies, but they were fooled by the hot, humid summers. Most of the tropical plants imported by the colonists were killed by the cold winters. Timber became one of the earliest exports, as Barbados planters needed as many barrels as they could get for their molasses and rum exports. Trade with Native Americans also provided profitable exports to the early colony, at least until local stocks of deer, bison and elk were wiped out or driven farther west.

The first major, successful cash crop was rice which was developed using the expertise of African slaves. This was a very labor intensive crop and by 1708 the majority of people living in Carolina were of African decent. The famous wealth and refinement of the planter aristocracy was produced by enslaved Africans in sweltering rice, indigo and cotton fields. Carolina became one of the wealthiest colonies in part because of it's excellant harbor, fertile soils and stable, well-financed leadership. But by following the cruel, but effective Barbado's model of vast plantations using cheap slave labor, the elite familes of Charleston created a culture of wealth and refinement for themselves.

A lot of the above information gleaned from exhibits and signage in Charles Towne's museum before we headed outside. Sorry for getting so verbose here, but I thought their history was well laid out and concise.

Not much is left of the actual first settlement. Archeoligists are still working the site and they have located where the original palisade (walls) of the fort were located. These have been reconstructed. The site includes a a house typical of the era and a small farm. The scenery is very nice also.

There is also a Pillory and Stocks set up so visitors can see for themselves what some of the milder forms of punishment were in medieval Europe (imported to the colonies).

After the early settlers moved to the new location, the original settlement eventually was abandoned and converted to plantations. Some of the site still contains the last home and gardens from the plantation era. Again, we are still surprised to see such lovely blooms this late in December!

Charles Towne - in summary? The museum offered a lot of history, very well done. The outside area requires a lot of walking. Mom really wasn't up for that, so we borrowed a wheelchair. In the summer I think they have a lot of activities and re-enactors, but it was really quiet when we visited. The signage outside was pretty much a repeat of what was in the museum, so other than seeing where the stockade was and generally having a lovely walk, there was not much to more to do outside. (We weren't quite up to see the animals I'm afraid).

Earlier I had decided to try to visit Fort Sumpter today also. After Fort Macon and Fort Knox, I figured I had a pretty good idea what an 1800's coastal fort looked like, but Fort Sumpter played such a critical role in Civil War history, I figured I might as well see it since we're here. This was where the first shots of the Civil War were fired. Mom wanted to skip the fort, so she stayed in the rig.

First, Fort Sumpter is out in the Charleston Harbor. To get to it, you have to take a ferry, from which I got some nice shots of the Charleston waterfront, a better (?) shot of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, and one of the USS Yorktown, which is retired across the river from Historic Charleston at "Patriot's Landing".

If that's not enough, there is also plenty of wild life in the harbor - including a new favorite of mine, brown pelicans. Then topping that off - dolphins!

Of course, Dolphins are hard to capture as they generally appear only briefly, then go back down and come up somewhere else. However, when I was at the Fort itself, a school of dolphins camped a couple hundred (?) yards offshore and stayed there - perhaps fishing? Anyway, at this zoom level and without a tripod (I wasn't expecting to take video), it's not great. But if you've got a high speed connection, this might be fun to watch.

There is a small museum at Liberty Square where you catch the ferry. While there, I learned a couple of interesting things. Fort Sumpter was attacked twice during the Civil War, the first time when the Confederates attacked it to start the war. But the more devistating attack came later when the Union laid seige to the Fort and eventually recaptured it. During that second attack, the Fort was severly damaged. Originally, it had been a three story building standing 50 feet above the water. Now it has only one story left (and an ugly, black concrete battery in the center that was added later). Here is a drawing of how the fort originally looked.

Once I finally got to the Fort, it was easy to see how close to land it was and how much damage to the brick work is still visible (some shells are still embedded in the walls). Since I was on the last ferry of the day, there was an absolute time limit, so I couldn't take that many pictures...

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Tomorrow I may visit Yorktown and one or two other things - then try to get as close to Savannah as we can.

Logistics:

Miles Driven - 22
Weather - Cool, Windy, but Sunny
Camped at James Island County Park

Musings:

Narrative:

Once I made it over a very long, high bridge (in very nasty wind), the weather wasn't that bad. The temperature dropped about 20 degrees between 8 AM and 10 AM (60 to 40), but the clouds blew off and it was sunny the rest of the day. Also, once the wind died down a bit and we had a pretty good time of it (except for driving over bridges - difficult again at night, but maybe it's because I was tired by then). This is the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, which was completed in July 2005 at a total cost of $632M. It is the longest cable stayed bridge in the America's.

We started at the Visitors Center. This was an old Railroad Station that has been restored. In 1833, the railroad between Augusta and Charleston was the longest in the world at 133 miles (this was 1833 afterall).

We decided to take one of the guided tours through the historic district to give us a chance to see more in less time. Our tour guide was George who liked to crack a lot of jokes so I wasn't always sure when to believe him vs when he was joking. The tour buses are not allowed to stop, and the historic area is quite full of trees - so it was hard to get good pictures. These are the best of my shots, but do give you some idea what these buildings look like.

On thing that impressed both Mom & I was how many flowers were still in bloom in mid December here. That and the ornate wrought iron grates, fences, and balconies are partly what make the city so beautiful.

In 1931, Charleston became the first city in the US to have a designated Historic District. One of the unique features about a number of these homes is that they are only one room wide and have large porches running the length of the house perpendicular to the street as opposed to facing the street as most homes would in other cities. There are 85 historic churches and 500 total churches in the area, I don't think I got a good shot of any of them.

Battery Park lies at the tip of the point of land between the Cooper and Ashley rivers. The tour bus was allowed to stop there and we could get out and look around at the park, historic town homes, and Charleston Harbor.

You can also get an idea how close Fort Sumpter is to Charleston if you look between the lines (literally) on this shot of the Harbor.

In Battery Park was a statue of Col. Moultrie. He organized the defense of Charleston during the Battle of Sullivan's Island in the Revolutionary War. The first time the British attacked Charleston in 1776, his small band defeated them, leaving Charleston in Patriot hands until 1780 - a vital four years for funnelling recruits and supplies to the war effort.

Across the street were two of the historic homes. The first of these is the Desault family's town home. They had a plantation upriver, but also wanted a house in town to stay when they came to town, e.g. 'town home'. The porches were placed on the side of the structure to catch the prevailing breezes on hot summer nights. Entertaining was done on the second floor so the guests would have a view of the harbor over the earthworks of Battery Park. It is very hard to see in this picture, but the balconies on the second floor are curved outwards, the ironwork on the top floor is straight. The curved ironwork was to accomidate the hooped skirts of women guests. This address is 1 East Battery and is now condo's. The top floor has a market value of $3M. The pink house directly behind is 5 East Battery. It has been converted to a B&B in order to help pay the estimated $40k - $50k annual property taxes. The pastel colors were copied from Barbados.

In 1989, Hurrican Hugo brought a 12 foot storm surge to Battery Park causing extensive damage (as well as wind damage to 60% of the roofs in the historic district). The most expensive home in Charleston sold last summer for $7M. There are also six addresses of "0", such as 0 South Battery Street - rather unusual for street numbering.

The Board of Architectural Review is quite strict, fortunately I would add, after comparing this historic district with others I've seen. One historic firehouse in the district needed new fire engines. They were not allowed to enlarge the doors to accomidate the newer, larger size fire trucks so instead had to have fire trucks custom made to fit within the original doors (perhaps this was a bit extream).

On of the central features near the visitors center is the old Citadel, a military college dating to 1842. In 1922, the college moved to a new, much larger location, but the original building still exists and has been converted to an Embassy Suites Hotel.

After the tour, Mom wanted to go to the Charleston Museum. This is the oldest museum in the country - but is in a new building, so you'd never know it to be so old. Outside is a full scale replica of the H.L. Hunley, a Confederate submarine that was the first submarine in history to sink an enemy vessel. However, the Hunley itself never returned to port either so it's success was mixed. The replica was built from the original plans, but now that the actual wreck of the Hunley has been discovered, it was found that the original did not conform to the plans in all respects, so there are some differences.

Interesting exhibits again - a whole section devoted to clothing by color? (Special exhibit I think) The museum does allow photography, but no flash - so I won't bore you with too many (dark) photo's. Just a few examples of what's here.

This painting was also in the Museum. It is "Lafayette at Yorktown" by Jean-Baptiste Le Paon from 1783, about when the Revolutionary War ended. The man holding Lafayette's horse is James, a slave. He had asked to enlist under Lafayette, then served him as a master spy. He made up reasons to frequent the British camps, where he gathered intelligence for Lafayette at great personal risk. Cornwallis believed that James was actually spying for him and was quite surprised to find him in Lafayette's headquarters after his surrender. The General Assembly of Virginia gave James his freedom in 1786. Later, as James Armistead Lafayette, he petitioned the Assembly for a military pension and received it.

Across the street from the museum (& part of a combo ticket you could buy) was one of Charleston's fabled antibellum mansions, the Manigault House, which we toured. This was built in 1803 in the Neo Classical style. The family were French Huguenots and owned the house until the 1850's. By the third generation in America, they had become wealthy from rice plantations (slave farms). This is the house that prompted local citizens to form the Historic District after a developer was going to tear it down to build a gas station. It has 10,000 square feet and 14' ceilings, and also used the second floor for entertaining.

They did allow photographs, but again no flash - so we'll see. Hopefully some were worth uploading.

As you can probably tell from some of the exterior shots above, it was getting pretty late by the time we finished touring the Manigault house. We decided to stay at the county park on James Island (several people had recommended this, even KOA). Great Park, very bad Internet signal on my data card (very frustrating). They were also having a hugh Holiday Light festival, a three mile loop around the park by car - both sides fully decorated with lights of all sorts & designs. It cost $10, but since we were camping - was part of the camping fee for us, so essentially free - an added and unexpected bonus.

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Mom & I both felt we'd seen enough of historic Charleston (not really, but under the time circumstances of this trip), so tomorrow will do some of the other activites around town...

Logistics:

Miles Driven - 44
Weather - Overcast (wind & rain at night)
Camped at Mt. Pleasant KOA (11 miles from Charleston)

Musings:

There won't be much to write or post for today, we're sort of taking the day off.

Narrative:

Mom attended church in McCellanville, a small fishing village a few miles north of Charleston. I looked it up on the internet last night, but the map wasn't quite right, so after wandering around on the wrong side of the highway for a few minutes, I stopped and asked a local man if there was a SDA church nearby. He'd never heard of one, but did recognize the street name and was very helpful getting us back on track.

The church was quite small, Mom said there were only about 20 people there. They were quite friendly however and even suggested we might like to live there and join their church! Mom doesn't seem to have any trouble making friends wherever she travels. After the service, I met her outside and the Minister, Paster James Simmons insisted I be in the picture with him (it's so hard saying 'no' to people who are being so friendly)

While in the parking lot, we also saw a different kind of vulture - a black vulture. Didn't recognize it until I could cross check it later in the Charleston Museum.

(Alright, give me a break. This is a different kind of vulture.)

Anyway, we did continue on to Charleston. Along the side of the highway are many Sweetgrass vendor booths. Some are empty this time of year, but we also saw quite a few vendors out with their products. We stopped at one, then realized that between us we didn't have very much cash (just let our supply of trade goods run a little low I'm afraid). We picked out a small basket that we could both afford. The lady was so nice that when Mom told her about our trip - she insisted on giving Mom another small basket also! Unfortunately I forgot to ask her name, but she did pose for a picture - so if you recognize her, be sure and offer her your business next time you're in the Charleston area...

The weather was turning sour and I was generally of a mind to take it a bit easy today anyway, so we pulled off at a really nice looking KOA for the night. It may not look like it, but I spent quite a bit of time on the blog today as well as did some organizing in the RV (you'd be surprised how difficult it is to stay organized with two people sharing such a small space). We have fliers, maps and all sorts of stuff - Charleston in the Morning!

The big storm was forecasted to hit the NE today, lots of snow & ice up north. SC will get the southern edge, rain & wind, temperatures dropping, but not below freezing.

Tis true, very windy & heavy rain at times all night.

Logistics:

Miles Driven - 62
Weather - Sunny to Somewhat Overcast, but mild (mid 60's)
Camped at Bucks Hall USFS Campground

Musings:

How is it I get tired of blacktop and traffic so quickly, but never seem to tire of Heron, Egrets, Brown Pelicans, etc.?

Narrative:

Anyway, Charleston should only be a short hop from Myrtle Beach, but we seemed to need several days. Hm. One reason is that when we got up on Huntington Beach SP, we didn't leave for Charleston right away. First, we both wanted to take one more walk to the beach...

On the way back to the RV, we saw strange looking holes in the sand. We learned later that some types of crabs burrow into the sand and make these. Mom also saw honeysuckle blooming in December, which she wanted to point out.

I wanted to see what kind of wildlife we could see in the daylight (rather than at dusk, when I went out last night), so drove over to the causeway again. Unfortunately, it was high tide in the morning, so we didn't see any more wood storks. One thing we did have was nice weather - as proof, here's Mom in short sleeves (and she thought we'd never make it out of the northern portion of the country).

However, we did see lots of Heron, Egrets, ducks and other assorted birds.

Mom noticed a very small heron, at first I didn't think it could be a Heron since it was so much smaller than the others, but I checked with the binoculars and it sure looked like a Heron. We asked at the Nature Center and found out it was a Tricolor Heron, which are in the park but are usually too shy to be out where people can see them.

Here's another shot of the Tricolor Heron with an Egret nearby, to give you an idea how small it was.

Finally, I did manage to capture a butterfly. The orange one is a Gulf Fritillary. We also saw some Cloudless Sulpher Butterflies but couldn't get them to stop for my camera, so will post a shot I took of one up at Jamestown but never included in the blog (is that cheating?) Keep in mind please, that I know nothing about butterflies. The park ranger identified the first one for me, the second I looked up on the internet (confirmed by the Ranger).

The park rangers also told us they have over 100 allegators, but this time of year they normally stay in their dens and are in a state of semi-hibernation. So fortunately, I still have all my arms and legs and no shots of allegators.

Once we'd gotten all the shots we could of Herons, Egrets, Ibis's, and ducks - and convinced ourselves there were no Wood Storks out and about, we got back on the road and headed south again. As we approached Georgetown, we stopped for gas and Mom saw a sign for a Gullah Museum (pron. Gull - as in Sea Gull, ah or Gull-ah). It took us a long time to find it for some reason, they had signs but they were down low and we probably just spaced them off thinking they were real estate signs. It was pretty drive however. We did wind up in an area with giant live oak tree's with lots of Spanish Moss such as this.

After backtracking a bit, we did finally locate the shop. It was originally a Gullah Shop, but is also now partly a museum. Very interesting place.

This is run by Andrews Rodrigues and his wife Vermelle, or "Bunny". He is actually from Boston but went to college in SC and his wife is from the area. She normally offers tours of the area, but was out of town so Mr. Rodrigues showed us around the shop/museum with some of the history of African slaves, a subject for which he has obviously done quite a bit of reasearch.

First up was a short lesson in Gullah. This term refers to a distinctive group of Black American's primarily from Georgia and South Carolina's coastal and sea island areas. The people came from different area's of Africa, but mostly from rice growing regions . They were brought over as slaves to work the rice plantations because the white plantation owners valued their knowledge of rice growing. They came from different African nations and spoke different languages, but also needed to communicate to survive. What developed was a language and culture that drew words and traditions from the different African cultures as well as American. More of their African heritage has survived than for many other groups because of the geographic isolation of the coastal plains and islands, also called Sea Islands.

Some of the culture and tradition include a distinct language, music and arts and crafts. Mr. Rodrigues showed us a "Dan Doll", which was made in Liberia to teach kids how to braid hair. They also had a nice collection of dolls which were named & dressed after people in the community. Miss Sookie wore a green & white dress. Miss Ida Mae wore a gold dress.

Another Gullah craft that is a big thing in this area is Sweetgrass Baskets, in fact the signs along this section of Hwy 17 proclaim in Sweetgrass Basket Weavers Hightway - and it is lined with many family stalls selling all sorts of baskets. These are not inexpensive however as they are all hand made.

"Bunny" Rodrigues is also a quilt maker in the Gullah tradition, which involves making story telling quilts with different panels. This one is a midwife's quilt, a midwife can use each panel to teach an expectant mother about the different steps involved in having her baby.

A second quilt we looked at shows the Gullah history, from their capture in Africa, to the middle journey to America on a slave ship, to their life on a rice plantation and finally to emancipation. (Start at the bottom left and follow the store clockwise around the quilt.)

Mr. Rodrigues also gave us a quick overview of how the plantation owners needed the slaves knowledge to build their rice operations, that the knowledge came from the slaves, yet the credit and the wealth went to the plantation owners. A similar path led to the production of Indigo, where history gives Eliza Lucas Pinkley credit for learning this technology but her daughter specifically wrote that she learned the craft from an expert negro dye maker.

I took a picture of some hand made tools, which I thought were rather interesting also.

By this time, other customers were in the shop which pretty much ended our tour. We bought some books to help us learn more about this era and moved on to Georgetown a few miles further down Hwy 17.

We had heard about a Rice Museum in Georgetown, but otherwise didn't know anything about the place. Did you know Georgetown SC is listed in the book: "1,000 Places to See Before You Die? Interesting, we did focus on visiting the Rice Museum, but this does look like a nice place to spend some time in.

The Rice Museum itself is housed in two buildings, one with a clock tower that once was the public market, the other in an old storefront with a cast iron facade. Our tour guide was Zella, who was gracious enough to let me photograph her but unfortunately my efforts didn't come out very well.

The first building had a lot of information about rice growing in South Carolina and told a similar story to the one we learned at the Gullah museum. The Colonists were always trying to find a cash crop and get rich. They tried sugar, which had worked well in the Carribean (also based on slave labor), but sugar wasn't well suited to the South Carolina winter. Indigo was a big crop for awhile because the British paid them a bounty to produce the dye due to the embargo on the French West Indies. However, that dried up with the Revolutionary War. Rice, however, grew very well in the coastal regions of South Carolina.

Rice didn't really take off as a successful crop until the landowners started importing slaves from the rice growing area's of Africa. In fact, the growers valued the rice growing expertise of these slaves so much, a very lucrative trade was established between Charleston and Bunce Island, a British slave castle in Sierra Leone. A very small number of white plantation owners became very rich growing rice. Henry Laurens, president of the Continental Congress from 1777 to 1778, was the business agent in Charleston for the importation of slaves from Bunce Island.

Rice was a very labor intensive crop. By the 1850's, in all of the United States only 89 planters owned in excess of 300 slaves, 29 were rice planters. Only 14 planters owned in excess of 500 slaves and 5 of those were rice planters. In cotton fields, slaves worked from sunup to sundown. On rice plantations, the work was task based. In the 1850's, Georgetown exported 160 million pounds of rice, more than any place else in the world.

After the Civil War rice continued to be grown in the region, but in much smaller quantities as planters had to use paid labor. Then between 1893 and 1910 the region suffered from ten violent storms (some hurricanes) that impacted production. Finally other regions started growing rice, such as Texas and California and employed machinery that couldn't be used on the soft South Carolina soils. Georgetown rice growing started to collapse in 1911 and ceased completely by 1930.

The second building tour started on the top floor. This part is less about rice and more a museum for the County history in general. Inside was a large section of the skeleton of a boat. This is called the Browns Ferry Vessel because it was found near Browns Ferry, SC. These are the oldest documented remains of a boat built in colonial America. Boats were known to have been built earlier, but no remains have yet been found of anything older. This boat was built about 1700 and sank in 1730. It is believed to have been a coastal freighter, but was carrying a Davis Quadrant, a navigational aide normally used for offshore sailing. Texas A&M has constructed a model of what the boat probably looked like. I also included a shot of how they had to remove the roof of the building to load the boat remains into the museum.

We probably could have stayed longer in Georgetown, but really wanted to see Charlestown and Savannah also and were starting to bump into our holiday plans to be in Atlanta by the 22nd, so we continued south. It was getting fairly late so we figured we'd camp for tonight and hit Charleston fresh in the morning. Mom was heading to another public campground on the beach when we saw a camping sign in the National Forest. We turned off and found Hampton Plantation State Park.

The plantation looked interesting but the interior tours were done for the day, so I just took a few pictures. This was the largest house in the "French Santee" region where the original settlers were French Huguenots (Like Henry Laurens family). They came to America to escape religious persecution. Since the Huguenots had suffered so much persecution, I find it a little odd that they had no trouble adopting to the plantation system of slave importation, ownership, and exploitatin, but perhaps that's just my 20th century sensibilities?

However, we never did find any camping in this area so headed back to the beach campgrounds Mom had seen on the map. This was on the intercoastal waterway in a federal forest on the SC coast. Wasn't quite as nice as last night, but we did fine. Weather is starting to turn, big storm headed this way so it should start raining (& wind) tomorrow - but no snow or ice as they'll get up north...