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Published: December 3rd 2009
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Visiting the Old South
By Mrs D.
Like a blast to the past in a time machine, I traveled back 149 years to 1860 in Charleston, South Carolina, right before the beginning of the Civil War. I found myself at Drayton Hall on the banks of the Ashley River, sitting under the magnolia trees.
Actually the year is 2009, and it took us only one hour and thirty-five minutes by plane to reach Charleston. Our destination is so close to home, and yet this is the first time that we have ventured south in the United States. I was excited to finally see the plantations and beautiful homes that I read about in Gone with the Wind and saw in The Patriot.
Of course, the Old South no longer exists. There are no slaves, no women in beautiful gowns, no horses, no rice or cotton fields, and very few antebellum homes are left. The three plantations left standing on the Ashley River are Drayton Hall, Middleton Place and Magnolia Plantation. To be sure, the magnificent magnolia and camellia trees have outlasted the wars, hurricanes and earthquakes.
Magnolia Plantation has been restored to its former glory, but Middleton
Place’s main house, built in 1741, was burned down during the Civil War. The south flanker building, once the guest house, was restored after the war. At first, as the bus drove up the lane through the arch of trees, I didn’t realize that the house was no longer there. I was so busy admiring the areas of gracious gardens and ponds that I only later realized that only the front and back steps of the original house were left standing. Beyond where the house would have been lies the Ashley River, and between that and the house is a wonderful butterfly-shaped lake. As we walked the grounds, we tried to imagine how it would have been with the slaves working in the rice fields, the mistress entertaining on the back portico, the stable slaves in the barn with the countless horses and carriages, and the children way up in the nursery learning their lessons. It was bittersweet to imagine the grand house and the way of life that no longer exist.
In 1738, John Drayton bought 350 acres along the Ashley River, which stayed in the family for seven generations until 1974, when the National Trust for Historic
Preservation bought the property from a Drayton descendent. Unlike the Magnolia and Middleton plantations, Drayton Hall is being preserved, not restored. So when I first walked into the main house, I was stunned to see remnants of the real Old South. The original architecture and rich, handcrafted detail were unique to the eighteenth century. It was a special treat to be standing in the spot where a southern belle stood admiring her silver or sipping tea even before the American Revolution.
Traveling with our Tauck tour, I learned that Charleston’s history played an important role in what our nation is today. Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, is a small island at the point where the Ashley River, the Cooper River and the Atlantic Ocean meet. I think I read about the war when I was in the fifth grade at PS 215. I didn’t appreciate it then, but I sure do now. How close the fort was to land, how many people died, how many homes were burned and how close New York is to South Carolina!
We visited two grand, Federal-style townhouses while we were in Charleston: the Nathaniel Russell House, with its floating staircase, and the Aiken-Rhett House, with its neoclassical ornamentations. We even toured the military college, The Citadel, which was founded in 1842. We were entertained by the Magnolia Singers, singing in the Gullah language of the plantation slaves.
As we made our way toward Jekyll Island, the last stop on our itinerary, we stopped at Old Beaufort, a gracious and historic Low Country town on the waterfront of Port Royal Sound. We took a horse and buggy ride through the district, where each house is marked with an oval gold plaque stating the original owner’s name and the date it was built. I wish that we had had more time in this pretty, restored antebellum town, but after lunch we were on the go again, and that night we stayed in Hilton Head. The Westin Hilton Head is in a complex of hotels with golf courses, tennis courts and miles of beaches. It was beautiful, but it would have been glorious if the weather had been warmer. It was so cold that we wore our jackets with hoods to enjoy the beach.
Finally we arrived in Savannah. It also has a wonderful history, but I think I loved Charleston more. Unlike Charleston, which was burned during the Civil War, Savannah remained intact. General Sherman captured Savannah and peacefully occupied it, sparing the city’s treasures from being destroyed by fire.
The Savannah DeSoto Hilton, with its location right in the middle of the historic district, was at the top of Bull Street. Looking out the hotel window, I could see the Savannah River at the bottom of Bull. The city layout is based upon a grid pattern with open squares at major intersections. Of the twenty-four original squares, twenty-one remain today. Each square has a unique name, such as Washington Square, which was laid out in 1790 and named after our first president; Liberty Square, dedicated in 1799 and named in honor of the “Sons of Liberty” who fought the British during the Revolutionary War; and Franklin Square, named for Benjamin Franklin. We took a leisurely walk along Bull Street, stopping to admire the different landscapes and monuments of each square, and sometimes sitting on a park bench to people watch. The restored antebellum houses are fine examples of classical architecture, elevated from the street with elegant stone staircases and curved wrought iron railings. We visited the Juliette Gordon Low House, where Juliette grew up before becoming the founder of the Girl Scouts in 1912. We stopped at the Owens-Thomas House, where we took a tour and learned how the urban slaves were treated. I questioned the guide about the accuracy of the plaques on the wall, which stated that the slaves were allowed to work for other people for a wage and give their owners a percentage. They were able to save money for their freedom. I didn’t believe this, because we had always heard about slavery in a very different light. I was assured that urban and plantation slaves were treated very differently. Well, I guess we all live and learn something new each day!
Our last stop was Jekyll Island, an island jutting out into the Atlantic one hour north of Jacksonville, Florida. We stayed at the Jekyll Island Club, which was founded in 1886 and was the grand retreat of America’s wealthiest families at the turn of the century. The hotel is old-world Victorian, and its wide wooden veranda and white wicker rocking chairs are so inviting that I almost didn’t want to come home. Albert and I went bike riding along the island’s 26 miles of trails. We walked along the beaches and visited most of the restored historical landmarks. The best part was a boat tour on the clean, coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean, where we spotted dolphins and saw a real shrimp boat with many birds flying around it for food.
I’m really happy to be living in the twenty-first century, but a teeny tiny part of me likes the idea of huge Victorian houses with wide verandas, magnolia and camellia trees, big bustle skirts, horses and buggies, and white wicker rocking chairs.
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