4/24/2016

Weekly Update 4/24/2016

Allen visited this week. It was so-o-o good to have him here! And we were pretty busy.

He arrived Monday. His flight got here in the late afternoon, so we didn't have a lot of time to do much that day. We stopped at The Rail for a beer on the way back to the condo. But that was it. He was tired, and it would be an early morning on Tuesday, so we went to bed pretty early.

a "welcome to Savannah" beer at The Rail

 

Tuesday, we got up and hit the road to travel to Charleston. Since Allen's seen most of the things I like to do in Savannah, we both thought we might like to try something different on this visit. I'd booked a hotel in Charleston, and we were going to stay through Friday. As soon as we arrived in the Holy City, we went to the Visitor Center and signed up for tours and museum visits. There was a package deal that included five house museums, two plantations, the Charleston Museum, and the art museum (which was closed, so that didn't matter) over three days. We signed up for that, and also a guided city tour and a harbor cruise. We got a sandwich and prepared to take the guided tour. We got on the van, went around one city block, then back to the visitor center. The guide apologized for not feeling well, and gave us the option of getting our money back or waiting for the 2:30 tour - we waited. That gave us an opportunity to wander around Marion Square for a bit, and to go inside St Matthew's Lutheran Church, which was lovely. That second bus didn’t work out so well, because it was really crowded, the a/c didn't work and the windows wouldn't open, and the microphone was full of static, making it even harder than usual for me to hear. We put up with it for a while until the company sent a replacement bus. Then I calmed down and it was ok. It was late afternoon by the time the tour ended, so we tried to find the hotel and check in. Once again, I picked a poorly located hotel. I don't know why I can never seem to find something that's close to where I want to be or what I want to see (probably because I search by cost). But we checked in, rested for a bit, Allen took a swim, and then we started off toward to water to find a place to eat. We decided on Fleet Landing Restaurant. It was right on the water, and apparently was very popular because the wait was about an hour. We ate outside on the patio and had great seafood. 

Allen taking a photo in St Matthew's

full stomachs on the deck at The Fleet Landing

 

Wednesday, we had made arrangements to be at the first harbor cruise at 10:30, so we began to walk back toward the Cooper River to the wharf. There are about ten docks, so what are the chances we wait at the right one? Luckily, we were very early, so we finally found where we were supposed to be on time. The tour took us along the Battery, out to Fort Sumter, past Patriot's Point, under the Ravenel Bridge and back to the wharf. The guide was very informative and actually quite entertaining. After that, we went in search of place to eat, and we came upon Jestine's, which is really famous (never did make it to Hyman's because every time we went past, the lines were long, but at least we did eat at one tourist-popular place). We then began to chip away at the passport ticket places, visiting the Nathaniel Russell House (built in 1808) and the Edmondston-Alston House (constructed 1820-28). The Edmondston-Alston House is a modified Charleston single house, one room wide, the narrow end facing the street. There is a door next to the house that leads to a long piazza, or porch, that runs the length of the house and is built to take advantage of the sea breezes. Both of these houses were built and owned by wealthy Charleston families, and they are restored and decorated very grandly. The riches of some of these Charlestonians is incredible, not only in their city homes, but also in land (many owned many plantations throughout Carolina), slaves, and furnishings. We also wandered into St Michael's Episcopal church and graveyard. I had tried to book a church and graveyard tour, because Charleston is loaded with magnificent church buildings of every denomination (they don't call it the Holy city for nothing!), but none were available. It was just as well, as we barely had time for the sites that were included on the passport ticket. Museums close the doors at 5 pm, so there was nothing else for us to see this day, and my feet were hurting, so we spent a few minutes at waterfront park, and then took the free trolley back to the hotel. The free shuttle trolley is a very much appreciated perk to weary tourists, and since our hotel was far from the historic areas, Allen and I used it frequently. We got refreshed a little, and then headed back on the trolley to a rooftop restaurant near City Market that we had passed earlier. More seafood, which I guess you need to do when you're at a port city. 

Fort Sumter

the lovely staircase at the Nathaniel Russell house

 

Thursday, we began at some of the things to see that were closer to the Holiday Inn. The Charleston Museum was up first. There were many interesting displays there and I particularly liked the historic wedding gowns. Allen not so much, but he entertained himself in the natural history part of the museum. We then toured the Joseph Manigault house and the Rhett-Aiken House. Both were wonderful. The Manigault home was built in 1803 for Joseph Manigault, one of a long line of prestigious Manigault in Charleston. The Rhett-Aiken house was built in 1820 for railroad company owner William and was the home of Gov William Aiken just prior to the civil War. It has not been restored, but it has retained the outbuildings, which some of the other houses did not, so we were able to see a kitchen, slave housing, and the stables. As we walked toward the southern tip of the peninsula, we were able to go inside a few churches and graveyards - the Huguenot church and St Philip's Episcopal. Our final museum was the Heyward-Washington house, one of the oldest homes in Charleston built in 1772 . It was the home of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Heywood, and George Washington stayed here during his 1791 visit to the city. It was also interesting to me because it was the home of the Grimke sisters, on whom the book The Invention of Wings is based. This home also had outbuildings. We had just enough time to visit the Exchange & Provost, which has served a variety of Civic functions since colonial times, including as a customs house and a prison for pirates. Allen has a friend who recently moved with his family to Charleston, and works in one of the restaurants here. We stopped in for a drink and to chat with Ross for a short time. We'd enjoyed a large lunch late in the afternoon and weren't ready for more food, but we were hot and tired; it was good to get off our feet and drink a very expensive, but very welcomed frozen drink while chatting with a friend. Although the water taxi in Charleston is not free like it is in Savannah, we decided to make the circuit at sunset. It was very nice to be on the water, as the sky changed to a pink color and the full moon came out. A perfect ending for our last evening in Charleston. 

stables, kitchen, and slave quarters (above the kitchen) at the Rhett-Aiken house

the drawing room at the Heyward-Washington house

the Huguenot church

the graveyard at St Philips

sunset from the water taxi

 

Friday, we checked out of the hotel, got the car out of the valet parking, and headed toward Drayton Hall Plantation. This outstanding example of Palladian architecture was built c.1738 by John Drayton, wealthy indigo and rice planter. Drayton is the only plantation on the Ashley River that was not destroyed by the Federal troops during the Civil War. Draytons lived there for seven generations, and the house had seen little updating or modernization. It has been preserved, not restored, and you can see original moldings, mantels, staircases, etc. After that, we went to Middleton Plantation, but our ticket there was not for the house, only the gardens. We'd seen enough ostentatious furnishings anyway, so were content to rove around the amazing gardens (which are probably much lovelier when the azaleas are blooming or in the summer when there are flowers everywhere, but it was really beautiful anyway). Only a restored flanker building was left standing after the Civil War and the 1886 earthquake, so the original main building and another flanker are only piles of rubble. They also have a farm there, so we saw chickens, goats, horses, cows, and some newborn baby lambs. I would have been happy not to see any live animals, but these were all safely behind sturdy fences, so I guess it was ok. On the drive out to the two plantations, we'd passed a dive called The Swig and Swine - intriguing, and sounds like something we would like. So we backtracked a little to go there for supper before heading back to Savannah. It did not disappoint, but for the whole trip, I never met a meal I didn't like. 

Drayton Hall

inside Drayton

some of the gardens at Middleton

 

Saturday was Allen's last day. We didn't have quite enough to get to Tybee Island, but we did walk along River Street, have a drink at the rooftop bar, take the water ferry, enjoy ice cream at Leopold's, and eat lunch at the Crystal Beer Parlor. He did get to see a little of Savannah on his trip here after all. His flight left in mid-afternoon and got him as far as JFK. From there, he needed to taxi to Penn Station in the city, where he boarded the train to travel to Albany. His car was waiting for him there, and we was finally able to get home around midnight. A long trip! I missed him immediately and it seemed quite lonely and sad to walk back to the airport parking lot alone.

Sunday, I'm back to my routine. I opened BC and went to the SCT. There will be little to write about in the coming weeks