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Published: October 6th 2009
Once we realized that Charleston was a bit further from Hilton Head than we realized (over 2 hours), we decided to stop and sightsee there before going on to our condo. We took a carriage ride through the historic district, and it was the perfect way to see this part of the city, because of the narrow width of the streets, and the slow pace gave us ample time to really take in the scenery. There were so many old houses and churches, as you can see from the pictures. Most of the houses have a piazza where they would spend time during the hot, humid days of the summer, and for privacy there was often a false front door to the street. Because this city was founded by a group of businessmen, the focus was on making money rather than fleeing from religous persecution or some other reason for coming to the new world. It was fun to see the first Lutheran church in the new world, founded in pre-Revolutionary War days. Saw yet another place where the great Geo Washington was said to have sat! Because of the low-lying topography and the abundance of water, rice was a
huge crop historically. We also got to walk through City Market, where all sorts of things were sold from both stalls and small shops. There were several displays of the handmade sweetgrass baskets that the Gullah people are known for. As you can see, we had a great lunch in Charleston, too, at Hyman's. It's probably a good thing that we had a day between visiting Charleston and Savannah, or else they would have really bled together in my head. After checking out Hilton Head Island and doing laundry on Sunday, we drove about an hour to Savannah yesterday, Monday. We went even though it was raining, because the forcast said there was at least a chance of rain for most of the week. Even though it was really coming down on the drive to the city, it lessened as the day went on. We took the Old Town Trolley through historic Savannah (yes, it's the same one that they have in San Diego). It was a hop-on, hop-off ride, although the rain limited our hopping off. This city was designed around 24 public squares, 21 of which still exist. This means that there is an abundance of trees and
greenery throughout the downtown area rather than concentrated in one or two larger parks. Again, a very old city, the 13th English colony. I was excited to see the Juliette Low house; anyone who has been a Girl Scout will know why. However, I think my favorite building was the first African Baptist Church because it was built by firelight by slaves after they had finished their day of labor on the plantation. Talk about a labor of love! We decided that yes, we did want to eat at The Lady & Sons, Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah. The rainy day was probably our friend in this case, as the wait was only 2 hours. Worth it, though, as well as worth every calorie. We both had her famous Gooey Butter cake for dessert. The staff all say that in person she is just like she is on TV. The trolley drove on several different types of street surfaces: "tabby", a type of cement containing oyster shells and lime; ballast stone, made from the discarded ballast stones from the ships, and of course, cobblestone. As we were lurching along a stretch of cobblestone street, the driver apologized, saying "it's not
the trolley's fault, it's not the driver's fault, it's the asphalt." Trolley humor. You know you're in the deep south when you see Spanish moss and kudzu, and we've seen plenty of both since we've been here. So glad to hear from some of you that you're still reading and enjoying our blog! Miss you. Tom & Nancy
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