Charleston Slave Mart

The City of Charleston has preserved it's old Slave mart and turned it into a museum of this shameful period of American History. Most of the building is as it was back then and many interactive displays have been added, including an audio interview of a former slave recorded before his death in the early 1940's.

It is a stark reminder of our ability to engage in the darkest deeds and to still carry on as if nothing was wrong. How people could think of and refer to themselves as "civilized" and "gentlemen" while carrying on an inhuman slave trade is beyond me. I walked away more than a little depressed.

Charleston, SC

Now THIS is what I have been waiting for! This is what I always envisioned when I thought of the deep South. I know I saw Savannah at it’s worst and perhaps someday I will be able to give it another chance but for now, Charleston is at the top of my list.

The Oak Plantation RV Park is beautiful and is located about fifteen minutes from downtown Charleston. We drove down today, setting the GPS for Rainbow Row, a street of restored houses all painted in pastel colors. We pulled up and found an empty free parking space. We were within walking distance of pretty much everything we wanted to see. We checked out the houses on the street and walked some of the surrounding blocks before heading into the heart of the historical section of town.

We walked back along Bay Street to Broad and then to King. Most shops were closed on Sunday but enough were open to give Norma her shopping fix. We found a place for lunch and continued on to the visitors center. From there we caught the free streetcar back to where we started. It felt like we had walked several miles! I was snapping photos all the way. Stately mansions, beautiful gardens, friendly people! Charleston is a very photogenic city!

More Charleston

Civil War

Charleston is the location of the “First shots fired in the Civil War” This occurred on January 6, 1861 when the cadets of the Citadel fired on the Union ship Star Of The West as it entered Charleston Harbor. On April 12 of the same year General Pierre G. T. Beauregard opened fire from shore batteries on the Union held Fort Sumter, an island in the harbor. The Civil War had officially started!

Submarine H. L. Hunley

The H. L. Hunley was the first combat submarine built. It was named after it’s designer and was built in Mobile, Alabama and transported to Charleston by rail. It’s job was to defeat the Union blockade of Charleston Harbor. It was 40 feet long and carried a crew of eight. It did not entirely submerge but traveled just under the surface with the captain looking out through an opening on top. Because of this it was rather dangerous to sail and did in fact result in the deaths of twenty-one crewmen in three sinkings during her short career. Her weapon was an explosive mounted on a short spar sticking out front and the idea was to ram an enemy ship with the explosive. The Hunley was successful in sinking the Union Ship Housatonic which was on blockade duty in Charleston’s Harbor. This attack was it’s first and last taste of combat as it sank and was lost soon after. The wreck was located in 1995 and raised in 2000. It is now on display in a specially designed tank of fresh water to await conservation.

The South Will Rise Again!

Accents

I don't have an accent, do you have an accent?

This morning we crossed into South Carolina and pulled into a Waffle House for breakfast. The conversation between Norma and the Waitress went something like this:

W: Good morning, have you decided?
N: Good morning, yes, I will have poached eggs
W: What would you like with them?
N: Bacon, hash browns and white toast
W: You want bacon with your pork chops?
N: I don't want pork chops
W: Then just bacon and toast?
N: With my poached eggs
W: So you want pork chops!

I guess British Columbian for poached eggs sounds like South Carolinian for pork chops......

It turned out the waitress had never heard of poached eggs, hence the confusion. We tried to explain how to poach a pork chop when she gave up trying to understand our accent and asked the cook if he knew how to poach an egg. Turned out he did and they were perfect.

Reminds me of  Who's On First?

I think I am going to like South Carolina!

Charleston, SC

We pulled into the Oak Plantation RV Park and checked in. I read on Laurie and Odel's Blog that they liked it here so that was a good enough recommendation for us. Both Laurie and the Trailer Life guide said it would be $31 per night. This would normally make me wince a little but after the $60 per night in Savannah, it sounded cheap. We checked in and the woman asked if I wanted full hookup or only electric and water. I asked what the difference would be and she said, "Full hookup is $31 and water and electric only is $26." Well, that is $15 savings over the three days we will be here and there is a dump station on the way out. It was a no brainer (which comes natural to me).

It is a beautiful park with huge showers with lots of grass and oak trees for shade. It is about five miles from Charleston where we were going to go tonight to check it out but we were both tired and decided to stay around the park tonight and watch TV.

Oak Trees and Spanish Moss

Oak trees covering streets and walkways, dripping with Spanish Moss. This is Savannah, Georgia!

 
 
 

Savannah’s Broken Arrow

In military language, a Broken Arrow is a lost atomic weapon. There is one of these Cold War relics buried in the ocean very near Tybee Island, about twelve miles from downtown Savannah and very near our RV park!

“In February 1958, a B-47 Stratojet bomber from Homestead Air Force Base in Florida had a midair collision with an F-86 Saberjet fighter southeast of Savannah and had to jettison an H-bomb in order to land safely.  It was dumped in the dead of night from 12,000 feet somewhere along the southern shore of uninhabited Little Tybee Island.” After the collision the pilot requested and was granted permission to jettison the bomb in order to eliminate chances of it exploding upon landing or crashing. A search failed to locate the bomb and it has not been found or located to this day. This bomb is twenty times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima.

The US Air Force argues that the 7,600 pound device was unarmed, lacking a plutonium trigger but concedes that it does contain 3 tons of enriched uranium and a detonator equivalent to 400 pounds of high explosives. Statements from retired members of the flight crew and the crew that loaded the bomb onto the aircraft dispute this statement, saying the bomb was in fact “complete” with a plutonium trigger. Trigger or not, the bomb is a significant threat to the people and environment of the Savannah area. The military should pick up after itself!

Here is a map of the area. The pushpin is our RV park and the bomb is supposedly buried in the marshes near Tybee Island. The military has been unable to find it in over sixty years. A local resident has found slightly elevated radiation in the water close to nearby Wassaw Island so it is possible the pilot was slightly off in his calculations of where he dropped it.

Paula Dean's

Paula Dean from The Food Network has a restaurant, the Lady And Two Sons, in Savannah. We did not think we had a chance at getting a reservation but we were surprised! The St. Patty's Day crowds tastes must be more into the bucket of beer and hot dog type fare.

The only way to reserve a table at Paula's is to show up at the door the same day. Telephone reservations are not taken. To reserve for lunch you are advised to be at the door no later that 9:30 am. We did not get there until 10:00 but still had our choice of 11:30 or 2:15 sittings. We chose 2:15.

We got there at 2:00 to register and promptly at 2:15 we were seated at a table on the third floor of the three floor restaurant. Prices for lunch are surprisingly reasonable for a restaurant with this reputation. There is a buffet for $12.50 but we chose to order off the menu. Norma ordered meatloaf and I ordered the roasted vegetable sandwich but the waiter told me the asparagus sandwich was much tastier so I ordered that. We also ordered the fried green tomato appetizer to share. The fried green tomatoes were delicious! I have only had these things twice in my life but I am going to start cooking them! They were five thick slices of green tomato dipped in tempura batter, fried and served with a mild onion garnish. Perfect!

My asparagus sandwich on Pumpernickel was good but the asparagus was slightly stringy with all the spears laid in the same direction so one half of the sandwich was all stalks and the other, all tender tips. I probably would have alternated them. The end result was that the one half was a little difficult to eat. No matter, it was worth the effort. Those round things beside the sandwich are french fries! They are red potatoes, sliced, battered lightly and fried. Norma liked the meatloaf so much she actually ate half of it, almost a record for her. She took the rest to go and it will be eaten tomorrow.

The bill for lunch (no wine) was under $30 and Norma will get at least one more meal out of it. I love Savannah!

Savannah Photos