Charleston: Charm, Treachery, Water

Our last morning with Ben and Sara in Charleston involved strolling through the downtown area.

It felt like a small town and to many I suppose it is, but there were many, many blocks of those small town charming stores.  I guess we didn't actually go into any of them, but I'm sure they were charming.

Even the alleys between the streets were charming.

I just want to let you enjoy a few photos.

We happened upon a place called the Old Exchange Building and Provost Dungeon. This place was oozing with history. It first was built as a meeting place, a place for debates and other exchanges of ideas.

We toured the "dungeon" art of the building and learned a lot of things. For one, I didn't realize how much Charleston had been traumatized by pirates. Some of those pirates were held there.

This particular jail wasn't all that big and it was all one big space. Men and women were just put down there together.

During the Revolutionary War the British took siege of Charleston and used this jail. 

At least 3 of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were housed in this jail.

George Washington spoke from this building and attended a ball inside this building.

Later, slaves were auctioned off from the front steps.

I looked around at the place and thought the handmade bricks and prettily shaped ceiling were adorable. It was such a contrast to the stories we heard of all the suffering that occurred in and around that building.

One of the most prominent Americans to be executed for treason to the British crown was Isaac Hayne.  He was a man enjoying a comfortable and prominent life, a father of seven children, when the Revolutionary War interrupted his serenity.  Hayne became a colonel who eventually was tried for treason.  He spent his last night in this place.  One of his sons was allowed to come tell him good-bye and reported seeing his coffin sitting there prepared for him.

I wondered what that must have felt like for Hayne.

From The Execution of Isaac Hayne by David K. Bowden...

A contemporary of Hayne described the day: “The streets were crowded with thousands of anxious spectators . . . When the city barrier was past, and the instrument of catastrophe appeared full in view, a faithful friend by his side observed to him, ‘that he hoped he would exhibit an example of the manner in which an American can die.’ He answered with the utmost tranquility, ‘I will endeavor to do so.’ He ascended the cart with a firm step and serene aspect. He enquired of the executioner, who was making an attempt to get the cap over his eyes, what he wanted? Upon being informed of his design, the colonel replied, ‘I will save you that trouble, ‘ and he pulled it over himself. He was afterwards asked whether he wished to say anything, to which he answered, ‘I will only take leave of my friends, and be ready.’ He then affectionately shook hands with three gentlemen–recommended his children to their care–and gave the signal for the cart to move.”

If you are interested, go here to read a lot more.

We moved on to enjoy a nice lunch at a trendy restaurant, Blossom, then went down to the harbor for a bit. I like to look at water, you know. We were at City Park and it was a warm Sunday afternoon. I enjoyed watching people enjoying the big fountain there. I also enjoyed looking out to the harbor.

Sara and Ben, kids at heart.

 I am not really sure what a barnacle is but maybe these are barnacles?

 Water makes it a party, huh?

 I saw child after child try to suppress that flow of water.

The water always won.

 I told you, I like to look at water.

 I wish you could hear all the squealing and giggling!

 It was really, really hot but it was worth it to be by the water.

I spent quite some time at the end of this dock...or is it a pier?

What is the difference between a dock and a pier?

We had to say good-bye to Ben and Sara as they had to get back to their real lives.

I hope we can do something like this with them again soon!

Magnolia Plantation

 After touring Drayton Hall, we went down the road and toured the Magnolia Plantation. The house at Magnolia had been destroyed during the revolutionary war, rebuilt and is now restored. It was beautiful and was surrounded by beautiful gardens. I'll get to that later.

This photo of Ben and Sara is blurry so I can't enlarge it, but I liked it so much I couldn't delete it.

 The greeting party at Magnolia included a number of peacocks.

Peacocks are so strange to me, 

beautiful from the front and naked looking on the back.

This guy posed nicely for me.

 Pretty civilized peacocks who expect to be fed at the table!

 It was fun to take this tour with Ben and Sara.

 Around the outer parts of the plantation, things were a bit spooky-looking.

Sara loved the swampy areas!

 Our guide told us this site was used in the old movie, Swamp Thing.

I will say that I do NOT want to go swimming there!

 I was intrigued by these little stumpy things around the bases of these trees.

Friends from the South, what kind of tree is that and will those little

things grow up to be more trees?

To me, they kind of looked like little gophers surrounding

the base of the trees.

 I know these birds are perfectly fine birds

but don't they look a bit evil?

I was about to delete this photo, not because it was so bad 

but I took soooooo many photos, editing is necessary.

Thankfully, I decided to enlarge it just in case I was missing something.

And there he is, a baby alligator!

We were told there were some really big ones there in the ponds

but they were elusive on our tour. This little guy showed up for us, though.

We then moved in closer to the house, touring the beautiful gardens.

This is pretty, don't you think?

There's the house.

Nice, huh?

Poor Ben and Sara.

I made them pose until they were sick of it.

We were touring through an area called the romantic gardens.

The original home was destroyed in 1780 by the British.

That was a long time ago!

Ben and I braved the garden maze.

Sara waited outside; I was

confident she would rescue us if we couldn't

find our way out.

It got a little frustrating at times

but it was kind of fun.

I followed Ben for awhile then we went our own ways.

Thankfully, we made it back to each other at the end!

Peace Like a River - Now

I took this photo by the Magnolia Plantation in South Carolina. I will tell you more about that another day. 

This tree, draping over the Ashley River, seemed like such a place of peace to me. I suppose it is, now. However, this place certainly has been a site of terror and destruction during varying times in its past. It is hard to imagine, really.

Today, though, it makes me think of a song I've known from my childhood. I find it to be very calming. If anything, that spot made me realize that my peace does not come from a place or a time, but rather from being secure in the knowledge that God is there throughout and that his love does not waver.

I’ve got peace like a river,

I’ve got peace like a river,

I’ve got peace like a river in my soul,

I’ve got peace like a river,

I’ve got peace like a river,

I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.

I’ve got love like an ocean,

I’ve got love like an ocean,

I’ve got love like an ocean in my soul,

I’ve got love like an ocean,

I’ve got love like an ocean,

I’ve got love like an ocean in my soul.

I’ve got joy like a fountain,

I’ve got joy like a fountain,

I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul,

I’ve got joy like a fountain,

I’ve got joy like a fountain,

I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul.

Drayton Hall

Last Friday night, right as our conference was ending, Ben and Sara arrived from North Carolina to spend the week-end with us. I am so glad they came!

Last Saturday we toured Drayton Hall, an unrestored plantation just about 20 minutes from downtown Charleston, SC.  Isn't it beautiful? From a distance, it still looks habitable. As you will see, it is not exactly move-in ready.

It sits along the Ashley River and from a distance, looks much like it did in the 1700's. It is a survivor. It has survived the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the earthquake of 1886 as well as numerous hurricanes.

The house is an example of Georgian-Palladian architecture and the grounds are a beautifully undisturbed historic landscape. Our tour guide said that it was the only plantation house along the Ashley River that wasn't destroyed during the war (I think she was talking Revolutionary War but maybe Civil War) because it was posted as a smallpox hospital.

The neighboring plantation, Magnolia, was owned by the Drayton family as well. It was inherited by their oldest son so a younger son had Drayton Hall built nearby. He was only 23 or so when he became the master of this place! He lost 3 wives and a couple of his son to disease and such. He married his fourth wife when he was 59. She was 17. I don't know what to say about that.

I loved this tour! Here, let me show you some of the highlights...

It was about a zillion degrees out, but Ben and Sara waited patiently for our tour to begin.

 This is one of the huge Live Oak Trees.

There were many there, some over 200 years old!

 As we entered the house, I instantly noticed that it was full of little details.

It wasn't a typical suburban home.

Many of the parts of the interior were shipped from Europe.

 Remember all those windows you could see from the outside?

Each of them has a window seat!

We learned that symmetry was very important to this style of architecture.

There wasn't a front door and a back door but rather two grand entrances.

One was for those who arrived by the river and

the other welcomed guests arriving by land.

This brick wall was discovered when they took out a sealed door.

Why a fake door?

It was there to balance the actual door for entering the room.

By the way, all of the bricks were hand made, likely by slave labor.

These are obviously well-made bricks, having held up since the 1700's.

More lovely details...

This is a skinny stairwell that ran up the center of the house.

It was to be used by slaves as they served the family.

They were pretty modest compared to the main stairway.

This is one side of the grand stairway.

Of course, there had to be two sides for symmetry.

This was taken in an upstairs ballroom, I think.

 This is Ben at the entrance to the basement.

It was a place where the slaves were to do the work for the family, likely preparing the meals, processing the garden vegetables, etc.

The basement wasn't not grand.

I loved the grounds!

Ben is standing by the Ashley River.

The land across the river had been donated to remain untouched.

It was really wonderful as standing there looking across at a Walmart would

certainly ruin the effect.

I LOVE Spanish Moss.

Just so you know,

it isn't Spanish...

and it isn't moss.

 The maintained grounds were surrounded by swampy places.

There are soooo many creepy-crawlies in there!

It was noisy!

And yes, there are alligators.

Can anyone tell me what these are?

Figs, maybe?

As I said, creepy crawlies.

Oddly, just the day before, Nicole had asked me to try to get a photo of a Cicada.

This one actually fell out of a tree as we walked by it.

That was handy.

This is definitely NOT Wyoming vegetation!

I enjoyed a last look at Drayton Hall.