Month: October 2018

I’ll admit to a bit of sadness at leaving Jekyll Island. It was so peaceful and quiet, and we had the most beautiful weather. It was a perfect respite from the cares and worries of the world. We both loved it.

We woke up to cloudy skies and a trek down freeway 95 to Saint Augustine. We arrived at mid morning and had a guided visit to the Cathedral Basilica  of Saint Augustine, which is the oldest parish of a permanent European settlement in North America.  It just celebrated its 400th anniversary. We strolled through St George pedestrian street, and had lunch of soup and salad at one of the oldest  restaurants in the city, the Columbia restaurant, founded in 1905 by Cuban refugees. With all the ornate tiles, it looked like a restaurant one would find in Andalusia.   The early Spanish influence can’t be denied.  St. Augustine has been conquered and fought over by rivaling European colonist powers, finally becoming a part of the United States in 1821.

After our lunch we had a little free time, then boarded a trolley for an overview of the historic district.  We drove by Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth but there’s now an admission price to taste the waters!  We learned about the architecture and how various invaders built and changed the buildings through the years.

We checked into our hotel mid afternoon then had a fantastic dinner out at  Raintree, a charming restored Victorian house.   The crème brûlée was the best!

I didn’t send this post last night because the pictures wouldn’t synch up the iPhone to the iPad so  I’ll continue on with what we did today

We started out the morning with a visit to the Castillo de San Marcos, the ancient fort, and then were dropped off downtown to catch the 10:00 tour of Flagler College.

The college is named for Henry Morrison Flagler, a Gilded Age industrialist who partnered with John D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil. He then dabbled in railroading, putting down tracks down the coast of Florida.   He built the Ponce de Leon hotel in 1888, one of the first of his luxury hotels along the east coast of Florida. This historic landmark now serves as the centerpiece for the college, which started admitting students in 1968.

There are many remarkable facts about this place: it was the first major poured-in-place concrete building in the United States and it launched the careers of young architects John Carreras and Thomas Hastings, who went on to build the New York Public Library and the House and Senate office buildings adjacent to the Capitol in Washington D.C. It was one of the first electrified buildings in the U.S. – powered even before the White House.  Louis Comfort Tiffany did the interiors, with the largest collection of stained glass windows, including 79 in the dining hall.  There is a complete collection of eleven Tiffany Austrian crystal chandeliers in the Flagler Room.

After our tour we visited the ATM across the street, then peeked in next door to another Spanish Renaissance building called the Villa Zorayda, originally built in 1883 by Bostonian Franklin W. Smith as a 1/10 reproduction of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain.  It has a quirky and eclectic mix of antiques and artifacts including an Egyptian mummy wrapped in a cat rug.  This building was a private home, restaurant and club, speakeasy and casino.  It opened as a museum in 1933 and has recently undergone extensive renovation. Unfortunately, no photos could be taken inside.

It was only a half block to our next discovery, the Lightner museums, which was originally the Hotel Alcazar, again built by the aforementioned Mr. Flagler, with an extensive entertainment area, including tennis courts, bowling alley and a swimming pool. The pool has been transformed into a wonderful café, which is where we had our lunch

The museum’s holdings include pieces from the Gilded Age, as well as other collections that Mr. Lightner bought from people who lost their money during the Depression. He had collections in his home town of Chicago but no building in which to house them, until he visited Florida for recuperation after a bout of ill health. The Hotel Alcazar had fallen on hard times and so he was able to convince the city fathers to bring his collection there…and now it has a home. It has been catalogued and organized in three floors.  It’s billed as a collection of 19th century fine and decorative art.

After museum-hopping much of the day, we returned to the hotel for a bit of rest before heading out to a charming inn for our final dinner with new friends.  After a lovely lunch, I ate sparingly…

 

..but I didn’t skip dessert!

Tomorrow is travel day. Fortunately we don’t have to jump on the shuttle until early afternoon and will be home late in the evening.

Hope you enjoyed our trip to Charleston, Savannah, Jeckyll Island and Saint Augustine!

After breakfast, we took an island  tram tour with historical commentary. Not only is there the hotel, but a number of “cabins” owned by the titans of industry, that were built between 1887-1902 .

We were able to tour the three story home of the Rockefeller family. There were eleven bathrooms in the home, when only 10% of the population had running water. It is still a low key home without any ostantaneous furniture. The season was from January to March. There was no kitchen because all meals were taken in the Jeckyll Island club. The grandkids came and enjoyed playing on the island and spending family time together.

Our lunch consisted of an ice cream cone from the town’s sweet shop

After our tour we wandered around the shops and did a little shopping, then walked  over to the turtle rehabilitation center. This is the most popular place in the island and people come from all over the area to learn about the turtles and help in their rehabilitation. We arrived in time for the doctor’s rounds, where a volunteer diagnosed the problems with each of the patients and discuss their treatment. Each patient had a name and was in an individual tank.

We came home to pack and get ready for our evening  meal.  We were treated to a cooking demonstration on the porch of a low country boil, which consists of shrimp, andouille sausage, red potatoes, onions, green and red peppers and corn on the cob. It was delicious.

Fhe evening’s entertainment consisted of the Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters, a group that, through West African narrative, song and dance, explained the culture of their people. These descendants from the  slaves were isolated on the barrier islands of Georgia, primarily  Sapelo Island, which meant the inhabitants  retained their language and culture longer than most because of their isolation.  Their unique dialect was studied as early as 1933 and was discovered to be complex, comprising about 3,800 words and derived from 31 African languages.  Their folklore and medicinal preparations are still used today. We were given remedies for the common cold and hypertension.  We all found the presentation educational and enlightening. They also bragged a little: they performed for the first inauguration of Barack Obama, have been interviewed by national and international news outlets and articles have been written about hem in periodicals, including the Smithsonian, who had a recent exhibition on their culture.

 

It was a wonderful way to end the evening.

Tomorrow: Saint Augustine, Florida, our last stop. Where does time go?

We took the slow route to Jeckyll island, Georgia  today meandering around small villages and marshes to get the flavor of the land.  We did take one side trip, to the smallest church in America.  Our guide Meredith always chooses out of the way, quirky things for us to see.

Some of the people in our group practiced being the pastor. There is room for twelve participants as well as a bit of standing room in the back.

We arrived at the Jeckyll island Club Hotel and ate our lunch at Crane Cottage, one of the outbuildings of the hotel, our home for the next two days.  Crane Cottage is the largest private residence built by the members of the club.  The owner, Richard Crane, founded the Crane Company that built fluid control equipment and plumbing fixtures. It was the first to make colored bathroom fixtures. The “cottage” has 18 bathrooms, practically unheard of in the early 1800s.

We chose the fried green tomatoes  accompanied by three small salads: chicken,  shrimp, and tuna.  The  Key Lime Pie dessert was perfect.

After lunch we got a brief orientation walk around the hotel. The Jeckyll Island Club was originally a private, invitation-only hunting club established in the late 1800s so America’s tycoons could have the luxury  of seclusion.  Their exclusive club was described in the February 1904 issue of Mumsy’s magazine as “ the richest, most exclusive, most inaccessible club in the world.”  Members included J.P. Morgan, William Rockefeller, Vincent Astor, Joseph Pulitzer and William Vanderbilt.  Their exclusive club house was converted into a hotel and that is where we are staying.  The club disbanded after W W II and the island became a part of the Georgia state parks system. We will learn more about its history tomorrow, when we do a lecture and tram tour.

Before checking into our room, we were given a tour of the marshland and Driftwood Beach.

Since this is an old hotel, the rooms are all different.  We lucked out with a spacious room with a view of the front although the bathroom is a bit small. We are not complaining –  being in a place which is a part of history here is worth it.

We had dinner on our own and we opted to indulge and eat in the fabulous  main dining room.  We wanted a light meal so  we chose appetizers: escargots and French onion soup for me, and Oysters Rockefeller and  specialty salad for my sister. We split a Baked Alaska. Well, maybe it wasn’t  such a light meal as it turned out,  but we are on vacation, after all..

Tomorrow we learn more about this fascinating place and will attend a Gullah Geechee ring shout performance in the evening. Google Gullah Grechee to find out more – or wait until my next post.

We had two packed days in Savannah, a delightful, eccentric and beautiful city. With its “open carry “ drinks laws, it reminds me a bit of New Orleans.   It is the home of the Savannah College of Art and Design, and is filled with college age students.  Actors  stroll the streets in period costumes, pretending they’re famous citizens.  In the last two days we’ve met a pirate, Robert Louis Stevenson and Forrest Gump, who chatted with us in the breakfast room of the hotel this morning. It is the land of the whimsical  and artistic. I love it.

We began the day with a trolley tour, which was helpful in giving us an overview of the city.  We started at the river area, then branched out into the neighborhoods which are punctuated by  verdent squares, as you can see by the map.

We got off the trolley from time to time to walk in the neighborhoods.  The entire town is one giant photo op.

We had lunch at Elizabeth’s on 35th, in an elegant mansion..

We took a tour of the Andrew Low house, whose son, William, married Juliette Gordon, who founded the Girl Scouts. She was the last person to live in the house.  She got the house, but no money to run it so she turned it into a boarding house !

We were free today to do whatever we liked. We took our time getting up and eating, then did  some shopping at the many stores at the river’s edge. We returned to the hotel to statch our booty then headed off to the Mercer-Williams house to take the tour.

On the way over, we ran into lots of dogs and their owners, as today was Wag-O-Ween.   Dogs and owners were dressed up, looking for treats from the local merchants-  what a hoot !

We got to the mansion with little difficulty. If you’ve read the book or seen the movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil put Savannah on the map as a tourist destination. This house was originally commissioned by the great grandfather of the singer Johnny Mercer (who wrote  “ Moon River,” among many others) and was restored by Jim Williams, a flamboyant  bon vivant  antique dealer whose standing in society was very important to him. He gave a Christmas party every year which was one of the most sought-after invitations in all of the city.  And then there was the murder..

if you haven’t read the book or seen the movie, I urge you to do so. The film, directed by Clint Eastwood, starred Kevin Spacey. Unfortunately no photos were allowed in the interior of the building or the gardens, since it’s still a private home.

We visited the Jepson Center for the Arts to check out their exhibits then, overcome with thirst, ended up at a rooftop bar with views overlooking the city.

We spent both evenings at the Olde Pink House, a place highly recommended both for food and entertainment. We ate in the River Street area with the group last night and wandered over later for a drink. We ate a light meal there tonight- fantastic  appetizers – then once  again  ended up in the basement bar listening to the piano player. Last night Diana Rogers played and sang;   tonight’s entertainment was David Duckworth who sang and played, with his wife Alisa accompanying him on the bass.  Both pianists were wonderful, accomplished musicians and a real treat for us.

Now it’s time to say goodnight, since it is already the next morning.

We leave for Jeckyll Island tomorrow for two nights.

Life often interferes with one’s best-laid plans and I didn’t have time to write last night, so I’ll play catch up for two days. We left Charlestown and took a leisurely trek to Savannah, with many stops along the way.

Our first stop was to a ruined church. It had been burned twice, once by the British and once by the Yankees  it is a popular photo stop for people who enjoy looking at ruined columns and Spanish moss. It is a beautiful ruin.

Our morning stop consisted of a visit to another beautiful spot, Beaufort, S.C. We drove through town, and were divided into two groups for carriage rides of the historic downtown area.  We were in the second group, so we wandered around, looking at the picturesque area for an hour before getting on the carriage.

Our carriage driver was Charlotte, a descendent of local folk who’ve been here since the 1600s.  We passed St Helena Anglican Church, the first church of the town, and saw scores of gorgeous homes.  Charlotte’s horse was Maximus, who originally worked for the Amish six days a week ; he is now in retirement and works four half days.  Part of the mission of the carriage tours is to provide a kindly retirement for these lovely animals.

We also heard of celebrities who rented out homes when they were filming movies in the area: Robert Duvall,  Tom Hanks,  Barbara Streisand and Nick Nolte among them, as well as members of the cast of The Big Chill, which was filmed in town.

We had time for a brief lunch before getting back on the bus for our next location , the Penn Center, an African-American research  center on Saint Helena island.  Founded in 1862 by Quaker and Unitarian missionaries from Pennsylvania, it was the first school specifically for the education of slaves freed after plantation owners fled the island.  The school provided vocational education for the people and it became the first place where blacks and whites could work together cooperatively in the United States.  In fact, Martin Luther King worked on his “I have a dream”speech here. It was designated a National Historic Monument District in 1974 and is still thriving, becoming  a major international think tank. We stopped at an art gallery which carried the students’ work.

Our last stop was a marina, where we saw descriptions of local marine life and I had a chance to capture some glimpses of the area photographically.

We arrived in Savannah late afternoon and had time to settle in before leaving for a sumptuous repast in the river walk area, right across the street from our hotel.  We were told that we’re very centrally located, and it appears we are.

Most of us opted for the filet and praline cheesecake for dessert.  Delicious!

Savannah will be the focus of my next post.  My energy is waning ..

 

 

 

Today was a totally free day..well, mostly. After breakfast we enjoyed a demonstration on the making of sweet grass baskets, a craft which the enslaved Africans brought with them to the New World. These beautiful hand-made baskets are a craft that’s been handed down from generation to generation. They’re useful as well as decorative.

Our morning walk took us across Marion Square and up Meeting street to the Charleston Museum, the first in the country, which had a timeline of the historical events of the city as well as a section on its natural history. Its collection was eclectic and entertaining . Yes, a museum can be entertaining!

Our next stop was to the Aiken-Rhett house, which is nationally significant as one of the best-preserved townhouse complexes in the nation.  It was built in 1820 by merchant John Robinson and greatly expanded on by Governor and Mrs Aiken in the 1830s and 1850s. The house and outbuildings include a kitchen, the original slave quarters, carriage block, stables and back yard. The narrative gave us a compelling portrait of what it was like to live during the time, either as a slave or as a wealthy landowner and politician. The slave quarters remained untouched which gave us a poignant look at the realities of the urban existence of the enslaved peoples as they lived and worked for the family, catering to their every wishes.

The house was sold to the Charleston Museum and was left “as found” so viewers can see it in its original state, preserved so it is safe to enter, but not restored to its original grandeur. The only restored room in the house is the art gallery, where the Aikens indulged themselves on a buying spree when going on a Grand Tour of European capitals.

We walked down to the church-restaurant that we’d discovered earlier this week for late lunch early dinner. We ordered  Moroccan meatballs, blueberry salad and open-faced flank steak sandwich, which we split. Beatrice had a beer and I enjoyed a Malbec from Mendoza Argentina.

Refreshed and ready for more sightseeing, we trekked to the City Hall where we visited the council chambers to see a most unusual portrait of George Washington. The original picture had a horse facing George, but, after being insulted, the artist turned the horse around before showing the final product.  Think about it. We also visited Rainbow Row, to see beautiful pastel row houses.

We completed our tour, came home and changed and went out again to a musical evening of “ The Sounds of Charleston “ which included musical offerings from gospel to Gershwin by local professional musicians. It was held in the Circular Church, another wonderful architectural gem. After walking 5.5 miles today, we decided to take a shuttle to the performance.

We got home at a reasonable hour, fortunately, so we had time to pack and get ready to move. Tomorrow will be an early wake up call. We will spend the afternoon in Beaufort S.C. and tomorrow night we will be in Savannah. More adventures await.

After breakfast, we were in the bus to visit two outstanding sites, both on the Ashley river, about a half hour’s drive from Charleston.

The first site was Middleton Place. Built in several phases by the same prestigious Middleton family, the first section was begun in 1730s by John Williams.  His son-in-law Henry Middleton, who later served as the President of the First Continental Congress, completed the house’s first section.   His son Arthur Middleton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born there and his grandson Henry Middleton, oversaw more construction. Williams Middleton, of the next generation,  transitioned the place from a country residence to a working rice plantation. In 1865, near the end of the Civil War, the place was gutted by union soldiers and an earthquake in 1886 toppled the walls of the main house and north wing. Restoration of the gardens began in 1916 by descendants of the family  and in the early 1970s the gardens were placed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

We were treated to displays of flora and fauna, including alligators and egrets, and later, at the farm we saw sheep, goats, and two farm cats  Alfred  and Henry. The day was sunny, with highs in the 90s, but the humidity, thankfully,  was not excessive

The slave quarters and slave chapel offered unique insights into the business of slavery, a most shameful part of our nation’s history.  Plantations had up to 1,000 slaves, who’d learned the skill of planting rice in Africa.  Without the knowledge and expertise of these workers, the wealth of the white man would not have been possible.

We had a buffet lunch of local specialties there, including collard greens, green beans with bacon, corn pudding, okra gumbo, pecan infused pork, fried chicken, and pecan pie for dessert.

Our second stop was to the house and gardens of Magnolia Plantation, a ten-minute drive from Middleton Place.   Founded in 1676 by the Drayton family, it has the distinction of being  the oldest public gardens in America.   We did a nature tram tour after visiting the home.  The gardens at Middleton Place were manicured but the gardens here were wild and untamed.  Most of the blooms come out in spring flowers and we were unable to photograph the interior of the house, since it’s still a private home.

We came back to the hotel to prepare for dinner, which was a buffet in the hotel.  I stuck with a lovely green salad and  a bit of she-crab soup..and dessert, of course.

Tomorrow is our last day in Charleston –  a free day for us.  We will be busy ; there is still lots to see and do!

 

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After a full night’s sleep and a sumptuous buffet breakfast in the Swamp Fox restaurant, we attended a lecture by Harlan Greene, eminent historian, archivist  and award-winning author of many fiction and non-fiction accounts on Charlestown. To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled about sitting for a two hour lecture, but I found that he was a fascinating and insightful speaker. He manage to consolidate the history of this city from the 1600s to the present day in his sly, tongue-in-cheek humorous style, which kept us laughing and entertained..  I wish history had been this much fun in school.

We left the hotel for a walking tour of the area, concluding with a visit to the city market, and time for us to have lunch on our own.

After our visit to the market, we inquired about a suitable place for a drink and were directed to Number 5, for a most unusual experience.  We weren’t hungry but our thirst determined that we should have a beer. What a place! This church- turned restaurant and bar was a treat for the eyes, and the stomach.  We hope to return for lunch on our free day, but we just had enough time to chug our beers and get on our bus tour!

An unusual  treat: the book The Art of War was painstakingly recreated on the ceiling of the edifice.  Can you imagine?  It took six months to complete!

We met at the Custom House, by the cruise ship terminal – a Carnival ship was in port at the moment – then got on our bus for more touring and sites to see.

Charleston really does have it all: gorgeous mansions and architecture , the first theater in North America, the only French Protestant  Church, Ft Sumter,  and a beautiful day in which to enjoy these scenes. We also went by Stephen Colbert’s childhood home, situated in one of the most prestigious areas of the city, near Battery Park.

We had an hour to get ready for dinner and we walked down to Eli’s Table for local specialties.  I had the catch of the day, which was mahi-mahi with red rice risotto and Beatrice had shrimp and grits. We were told that each restaurant has its own version of grits and it can vary considerably from place to place – everyone seemed to enjoy the food. Our guide Meredith and our single gentleman Rod from Canada, sat across from us.

The dessert was to-die-for cheesecake infused with caramel and brown sugar, the perfect ending to a perfect day.

Tomorrow we leave the city to explore two plantations: Middleton Place and Magnolia Plantation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we are again, at one of my favorite places: San Francisco International  Airport.  Do yourself a favor  next time you’re there:  leave early, check out the museum quality displays, and take yourselves out to dinner.  We enjoyed a display from our past that involved the history of radio, complete with lovely radio designs. Oh, the memories! Am I showing my age? Oh, well..

Twenty-four hours ago, at 10:00 PM,  my sister and I were boarding a plane at SFO, bound for Charleston. . Yep, a red eye. There was no sleep last night. We flew to Washington Dulles then had a two-hour layover before getting on a smaller plane for the hour and a half trek to Charleston.  We landed at 10:00 AM local time.   Did we sleep on the plane?  No..

We were in Charleston!  My last trip here was in 2013, on one water-soaked day in May.  A friend and I were on a repositioning cruise which began in Ft Lauderdale and ended in Montreal.  Our one day in Charleston was spent on a trolley because the weather was stormy.  The wind and rain were so fierce and  debilitating that we weren’t able to see much of the city. It was disappointing.

I loved what I saw. I vowed to return.

From the time we got off the plane, we were delighted to find sunny, warm weather and were charmed by the hospitality of the Southern folk we met. The taxi-shuttle driver got us to our destination swiftly and efficiently, adding a layer of knowledge about the city and its history.  We’re staying at the Francis Marion Hotel in the historical  district.  This landmark hotel is housed in an architecturally restored building and is  gorgeous, with beautiful public rooms that give an authentic feel of time gone by, while adding all the modern conveniences necessary for the running of a first-class establishment.  We checked in early but surprisingly enough the staff was  able  to get us  into our room, thanks to the kindness of the desk clerk who could tell that we were in desperate need of some sleep.

We unpacked but decided not to collapse in our beds; instead, we took a stroll to examine some of the street life of the city.   We were also hungry, in  need of some good Southern food! We found both.

One of the ladies at the desk recommended the Low Country Bistro, where we chose a selection of small plates, including green fried tomatoes, hushpuppies and crab cakes, finishing it all off with Grandma’s bourbon pecan pie.  Our adult beverage of choice? Mojitos!

Welcome to Charleston!

We are here to take a Road Scholar tour #20644, Charleston to St Augustine, a Southern Coastal Journey, and we met our traveling companions over dinner at the hotel. You can look up the tour online to get an idea of where we’re going and what we’ll be doing or just read along and discover the area with us.  We’ll be traveling for twelve days.    The 21 people on the tour seem hardy and well-traveled, with a few eccentrics thrown in for good measure – not the two sisters, of course.

We’ll start off with the morning breakfast-buffet, followed by an in-depth study of the history of Charleston.   Stay tuned!