Slavery and the Civil War

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Fri 18 Oct 2013 01:47

Tues, Wed & Thurs – 15th, 16th & 17th Oct

 

We enjoyed far too big a breakfast at the Dry Ridge Inn where we chatted with Howard the owner and various guests before setting off on the 240 mile drive down to Charlestown. But before we got stuck into the journey, we called in and had a good wander around the National Arboretum at Ashville which was very worthwhile indeed.

 

The drive down was very easy and straightforward as the roads are open and empty generally and we have been patting ourselves on the back for bringing our TomTom from home as this makes what could be quite challenging navigation, a complete breeze.

 

We arrived ahead of schedule in Charleston and so we dropped our bags off at the hotel we had booked in Mount Pleasant which is just across the massive, stunning new bridge from Charleston itself and made our way into the historic old town for first look round.  Charleston is a wonderful old city and the historic quarter survived the ravages of both the invading General Sherman’s troops and the departing Confederates as they fled south. We really enjoyed our walk round as the light faded and after a quick meal out, headed back to the hotel for an early night.

 

On Wednesday morning we took a taxi into the town and got stuck into some serious sightseeing and again thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and in particular spent a lot of time at the Gibbes Museum and gallery viewing the Civil War Photographic exhibition that had been brought down from New York. We learnt an enormous amount about the war from this and left considerable the wiser. Next we visited one of the old slave markets and again the interpretation information was outstanding and we were very chastened and again a lot wiser for the experience. Did you know that there were just 15 Americans anywhere who owned 500 or more slaves and 8 of these owners lived in South Carolina, so it really was the centre of this vile trade.  We were also very surprised to learn how much these slaves were worth and traded for. I had always thought that they were worth very little individually, but the truth is very different indeed. The lowest grade of slave would cost a buyer (the equivalent in 2007 terms) $25,000 each.

 

So we headed back to the hotel in the late afternoon to change and head off out to visit Ellen and Frank who live in Charleston, just a  5 minute walk from the hotel we were staying in. They are old friends of Sid and Rebecca Shaw who made this long distance hook up for us!  It was so kind of them to invite us over for supper and they added to the fun by also inviting along another couple from Charleston, Herb and Marilyn. We had a wonderful evening and again learnt so much about the area and more than a little about American politics, education and welfare.  I took this opportunity to ask them for a recommendation for a good place to eat ribs which is something of a southern speciality and we had seen and been very intrigued by a restaurant chain called ‘Sticky Fingers’.  What a brilliant name we thought and asked their opinion. It turned out that Herb and Marilyn’s son was the owner and founder of the chain and they told us all about how they were able to finally wrest the copyright for the name from Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. If you have no idea what I am talking about, you are too young to be reading this………  We discussed the road kill we had been seeing and were able also to add a wild boar to the growing list. They regaled us with storied about the ‘gators that live on their golf courses and the coyotes that can be heard at night.  Our walk home later was quite a bit faster than the outward leg!

 

So what else did we learn about South Carolina?  Well one sign I saw explained that here in SC, Macaroni & cheese is considered a vegetable.

 

On Thursday morning we had a leisurely start, skipping breakfast as we were now overfed as is usual on such adventures. We were now headed for Savannah but as we had plenty of time on our hands we called in at Beaufort, South Carolina on the way. Now you probably ought to be told that there is a Beaufort in North Carolina which is pronounced Bow fort. Then this one in South Carolina is pronounced Bewfort but they were both named after the same man as it happens.

 

Finally we approached Savannah and our first difficulty was with the fluctuating speed limits! As you drive down the highway, the limit randomly changes from 45 mph to 60 mph and back again in increments of 5 mph and this seems to have more to do with giving the state police something to pull drivers over for than safety! And talking of safety we did enjoy the big warning signs that appear down here just before road works, urging you to slow down a bit: “let ‘em work – let ‘em live”.

 

A quirky feature of cars in the USA is the fun had with their number plates. Each state has its own registration scheme and plates tend to have themes each year. It might be a bird or a fruit or a tree or whatever. Our hire car is from Maryland and sports stars and stripes and celebrates the war of 1812 which was between the USA and England by and large! That has an extra interest down here in the Carolinas as South Carolina sided with the British in the Revolutionary war!  Today we saw several Georgia plates sporting the legend “Dr Who – my other car is a Tardis”.

 

We made our way to our hotel and having checked in, we again opted to have a quick look around the historic old town area. For some reason, the TomTom chose this moment to throw a bit of a curve ball and we found ourselves taking a very interesting and hugely circuitous route into town. But we got there and spent few hours getting our bearings, but our initial impressions are nothing like as favourable as Charleston.

 

We have all day tomorrow though to get some serious visits done and we are thinking of taking the trolley bus ride round town to fill us in on the background.