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.