Savannah and Sheldon Church

We decided to head down to Savannah for one of our days as Savannah is just as steeped in history as Charleston and is only a short 2 hour drive away.  We headed down the old Savannah Highway that dates back to when the cities were first settled and came across this little road side stand/market.  They had great little souvenirs that we bought like a cotton wreath and they had Peach cider.  For all of you who haven't had Peach Cider (don't worry we hadn't either) it is like drinking summer.  We would have brought some home but didn't quite know how to get it there.

Just past this little market was a nondescript road that held a little gem to those who know where to look and luckily I had stumbled across someone talking about it on their blog.  We turned down the road and it was one of those roads you dream about seeing in the south with huge oak trees on both sides arching over the road with spanish moss dripping from their arms.  Not 10 minutes up the road you will see a break in the trees that unveils a magical little scene that feels like hallowed ground.  The sun is able to break thru the trees almost as if putting the spotlight on the ruins of The Old Sheldon Church.  

The Old Sheldon Church stands about half way between Savannah and Charleston in an area that must have been a stopping point for many making the journey.  It was built in 1745....yes you read that right...1745 people.  It is older then our country.  It was then burned by the British during the Revolutionary War in 1779.  And here she stands hidden among the trees.

Old Sheldon Church holds up the long history of every church in South Carolina as it is surrounded by the graves of its early parishioners.

If we lived here this would be a sight for family photos but we had to settle for these.

And we were off again to see Savannah.  We started our visit to Savannah in some old Antique stores I had found online and managed to score some pretty great stuff including some Jadite pieces and Anna found some old spools and started a collection.  We also found some pretty great old architectural salvage stores that made us jealous we don't have them at home.

Savannah is a city unlike Charleston in that IT IS A CITY.  Charleston held on to the charm of its past whereas I fell Savannah allowed the past to peek thru the curtains on the modern day.  Well that isn't completly fair it isn't like it is full of new skyscrapers or anything more like a city from the 1940's or 50's but with that comes a lot more noise and a lot more crowds.  We ventured into the historic area along with waterfront and witnessed what made this city what it is as a large shipping vessel came by on the river with loads of cargo containers.

It was mainly restaurants down on River Street so we climbed the old "climb at your own risk" stairs that were very steep, uneven and narrow up to the city above.

Here is a view from above looking down on River Street below.

Anna really liked Savannah.  I did not.  A lot of it probably had to do with being tired from the drive down and all the walking we had been doing for days I just wanted to sit down in a nice chair with air conditioning and relax.  I also think I was hoping for more charm and less city and it seemed to be quite spread out here.  Perhaps if I had more time to explore the parks and the city itself I would find more to love.

Middleton Place

We visited Middleton place while we were in Charleston.  Although it is fairly close to the downtown (maybe like a 20 min drive) this was where many of the plantations were  along the Ashley River and then the families would have a "city home" in Charleston as well.

When we pulled up Anna loved the parking arrangements as the trees were cleared or planted to allow for cars to pull in between each tree and nature designated parking.

The property of Middleton Place is huge today but even so, it is greatly reduced from when it was a Rice plantation.  That being said, many of the gardens and walkways are preserved from what they would have looked like during the height of it's day as a working plantation.  The grounds varied from Cypress swamps on one side with alligators and frogs and I'm sure snakes as well...

to formal gardens with clipped boxwoods, sculptures, and sprawling lawns just steps away.

The photo below looks out towards the Ashley River but the water you see in the foreground and beyond are flooded Rice fields where the slaves would actually work to harvest the crop. The Plantation actually had water buffalo from Africa to help work the crop and during the Civil War the Northerners took 2 of the Buffalo and brought them home to the Bronx Zoo and they were known as Sherman's Buffalo.  The Middleton family (we wondered if they were related to Kate Middleton down the line somewhere) owned more than 6500 slaves to work the several plantations they owned besides this one.  

To give you perspective on the shear size of the trees, the below photo is a closeup of the tree, in the above photo, with me (and i'm not petite) standing next to the trunk.

The formal gardens also included statuary including this piece which is the only piece to have survived the Civil War.

The size of trees continued to shock us as the only trees that come close to the size of these Live Oaks back home in Utah are Sycamore.  I took this photo below and it may appear normal in size but if you planted that tree in the center of our back yard it would cover the entire yard in the shade of it's branches.  (this is the same tree seen in the photo above with the formal garden and yellow flowers)

As you approached the home on the estate the gardens began to show the signs of the men who cultivated the land.  Brick walls and gates now corralled the yards and Anna and I dreamed of incorporating many of these details into our own little estate back home. 

We especially loved the gates with their counter balance weighted cannonball to keep them closed and their latches to keep them locked.

The house itself was burned during the Civil War but one of the guest houses that sat on the side of the main house and that was the same style as the main house still stands.  Let's be honest it is a large house and for it to be a guest house is amazing in itself.  I have to say it isn't what I envisioned when I thought 'Plantation House' with the white columns and double front porch but it was impressive all the same.  We loved the working shutters on the house and how everywhere on the estate the brick matched in age and color.

Surrounding the house were large Magnolia trees with still a few blossoms left on them and we had to take a photo as it is the namesake of our youngest girl Magnolia Mae.

Beyond the house lay the working part of the plantation where the stables, the blacksmith shops and weaving buildings are located.  This is also where the slave quarters would have been and on a sloping hill where the slave cemetery is (although no grave markers exist today).

The below house is not a slave house but rather was built right after the Civil War by 'freemen' who had worked on the Middleton Plantation as slaves and now came back to the only home they knew as 'freemen' to become sharecroppers.  I'm sure life wasn't much better for them.

The yard around the house was sand and they would rake the sand everyday with the little rake on the porch and still rake all the paths and walkways around the plantation every day.  We found out the reason for this would be so they could see any paths that snakes made so they could hunt them and kill them and if there were leaves left it would be a good hiding spot for brown recluse spiders.  

The property had several ponds and gardens that we explored 

In every body of water you were sure to find turtles or alligators including those sunning themselves on the banks in the photo below.

We loved visiting Middleton and would recommend it to anyone who is visiting the area.

Charleston Proper

Charleston, South Carolina was founded over 350 years ago in 1663 and I have been wanting to visit for what feels like just as long.  I have often said that if I had to choose someplace to live, sight unseen, other than Utah near our family it would be in Charleston. 

 So when Anna and I had a chance to visit Charleston this spring I jumped at the chance.  I researched and researched for months on when we should visit and what we should do and the Holy City did not disappoint in any way.  

We started our trip in Old Town Charlestown among the old mansions and cobblestones.  Although we both felt a little foolish and like utter tourists we decided the best thing to do in order to orient ourselves to the charm that would surround us would be to take a historic carriage ride through town. 

This was one of the best decisions we made the entire trip.  Our tour guide was from Charleston and had given these tours for over 28 years and had so many little pieces of information I was fascinated the entire time and learned so much.

Charleston is known as the Holy City and it is easy to see why.  When the founders created Charles Town as it was originally called they set up a law that said if 7 people were gathered to worship it was considered a church and so you will see a city of steeples and a church on every block.  Just like in Utah but these are from different religions.  The oldest is St. Michael's Episcopal Church.

But...my favorite church was St. Phillips Episcopal Church which was intentionally built in the middle of Church Street forcing them to put the road around the Church itself.  The thought was, this would be a symbol that 'Charleston bends to God's laws not the other way around'.  I love the symbolism there.

St. Phillips overlooks and old cemetery across the street which butts up against the Round Church and it's surrounding graveyard.  

This was a tidbit we learned on the tour.  A cemetery are graves on their own and a graveyard are graves on church grounds and Charleston was filled with both.  We loved wandering thru the headstones many dating back to the 1700's and beyond.  Many so old you couldn't read the writing.  

Those you could read were so unique because of the artwork or because the biographies of the people were engraved on their headstone making them more then mere names and dates.  Like Eleazer Phillips who was wounded in the Revolutionary War when she was only 14 years old.  I'm rethinking how I want my headstone to look after this visit.

You can't walk around Charleston without seeing iron work.  Fences surround churches and each house has a gate to private drives or gardens  (many times they are one in the same) giving a peek to green amongst the cobblestones and brick walls.  

We  learned that all of these churches and many of the grand homes were asked to give up Iron during the civil war to be used for cannons and other weapons and that many surrendered their bells rather than giving up their fences and gates.  Anna found some ear rings that were made in the pattern of some of the pre civil war iron work around town and is showing off one such below.

People in Charleston don't have a lot of space yet it appears that they love gardening.  And so wherever there was even a sliver of space you would see a well manicured garden and vines growing everywhere.

In fact the Jasmine was in bloom while we were there and the entire city smelled of Jasmine and it was heavenly.  

Charleston Homes themselves are very unique in their own way.  A way in which both Anna and I fell in love with from the start and wanted to incorporate some of the charm back home.  Their homes are HUGE for the most part.  Each home is typically 3 stories high and many have a 4th story attic visible through dormer windows.

They are typically brick or wood siding.  You may see several that are plastered over but underneath that they are brick. Below is a perfect example of the 'typical' house in Charleston.  We learned several facts about these homes on our tour as well.  For example the homes had side porches called piazzas that were put on the side for two reasons.  1) to catch the sea breezes and cool off the house and provide outdoor living space in pre air-conditioning era and 2) privacy as piazza's were always on the same side of the house so no two piazza's faced each other.  Speaking of privacy, each piazza has a door that looks like the front door of the house.  When this door was closed it symbolized that the space behind was private and anything that took place there was private as if it was taking place within the interior of the house.  For example, women could let their hair down and no one could say it was scandalous as it was in the privacy of their piazza.  The oil lamps outside burn 24/7 as it is cheaper to maintain then turning them on and off.  Anna is also standing in front of a Crepe Mrytle tree which I love as the brick is smooth and looks almost painted on and in the summer the tree will be covered with blooms.  I wish they grew in Utah.  

Here is another example of the typical house and side garden and piazza and yes Anna is on the sidewalk and that is the street...no front yards here.

We learned that the Slave Market, now filled with tourist souvenier shops, never sold slaves but rather this is where all the slaves would shop as it was much more like a farmers market back in the day and so got the name Slave Market from that.

Speaking of the slave trade...we found that many of the Charleston people and the city itself didn't hide it's past in the slave culture.  Afterall 60% of the slaves that came into the US came to Charleston.  They acknowledged their past and I feel, honored those whom the city's back was built. We were told that the traditional dish of Hushpuppies date back to the slaves who would have to carry large platters of food from the kitchen (usually housed in separate building behind the main house to prevent fires and heat) to the main house.  The distance was filled with animals and even packs of wild dogs who helped control the rat population.  So the slaves would take the left overs from the night before and fry them up with cornmeal and keep them in their pockets to drop so that the animals would not jump on them making them drop their platters of new food...so the hushpuppies were there to literally hush the puppies.

Even though it was early in the year the heat and humidity were a lot for us to take in and walking around all day in the heat took it out of us.  For a break we headed for the shore and saw the famous Charleston Pineapple fountain.

Near the fountain they had swings set up on a boardwalk and we were able to relax for a bit and get some sea breezes that helped cool us off before we dived back in to tour some more residential neighborhoods full of old money mansions.  Here are just a few examples.

The round circles you see in the photo above are actually earthquake braces that run through the whole house.  In 1886 Charleston already suffering from it's wounds from the Civil War was hit with a 7.0 earthquake which almost destroyed the whole city.  Those building that survived were outfitted with these braces to hold them together for future generations.

and my personal favorite (although not traditional Charleston) house.

On our way out of town we started driving and Anna said "Daniel we have a visitor pull over so I can get him off"  When I was able to pull over Anna got out and chased off the gecko to laughs and a thumbs up from a guy waiting for the bus.

Both Anna and I said the thing we loved the most about Charleston was the differences.  The different style of homes.  The different food.  The different plants and flowers.  Everywhere we turned it was a different life and we loved being able to experience that.  

Everything seemed more beautiful in Charleston.