Down The Road A Piece ... in a 5th wheel: March 2011

While today was mostly cloudy we did not get wet while we toured the Pinckney National Historical Site and the Plantation of Boone Hall which is just outside of Charleston. Charles Pinckney was a prominent Charleston businessman and instrumental in framing the constitution of the U.S. The Boone Hall
plantation is probably the most photographed plantation and has been filmed in several movies including The Notebook, North and South and Queen. The plantation is privately owned and is still a working plantation growing and selling various vegetables and is open to the public daily for tours.

The Boone Hall plantation grounds are over 300 years old but the main house was rebuilt in the 1930's due to the poor condition of the original house. Some of the original house like the stairways and chandeliers were used in building the new house but most of the out buildings are still original to the plantation. We were so impressed with the other parts of the plantation from the live oaks lining the driveway that were planted in 1743, to the slave houses and gardens on each side of the walk leading up to the front entrance that the main house, while very beautiful, was not as important to us. We visited the Oak Alley plantation outside of New Orleans and were just flat impressed with the live oak trees that lined both sides of the drive leading down to the Mississippi River. Well when we approached the drive of the Boone Hall plantation it reminded both of us of the Oak Alley plantation we visited several years ago. The Boone Hall plantation has been known for being a working plantation for over 300 years. At one time there were over 14,000 pecan trees on the property but hurricanes blew most of them down. The plantation also had over 200 slaves at one time which were instrumental in growing cotton, rice, and indigo which was exported to England so it could be used to make blue dye.

Another very interesting part of the plantation tour included a talk about the culture of the slaves that came from West Africa and were located from Jacksonville, Florida to plantations north of Charleston, South Carolina. These slaves called themselves Gullah Geechee people. They created their own song, art, food, and language which is still being taught today to insure the culture lives on.

These first five photos are of the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site.

Ferns were growing throughout the live oaks on this property.

The remaining photos are of the Boone Hall Plantation.

These trees were planted in 1743.

We picked our first cotton today. We both agreed we wouldn't have made it if we had to pick cotton.

The tree behind the bench is over 600 years old.

The oldest building on the plantation is the smoke house above.

Two large gardens flank each side of the walk leading from the front gate to the front of the house.

These are the slave quarters that were for the most important slaves on the property. The slaves who worked the fields stayed in other more meager shelters.

That's my camera shy Huli looking out of the window.

The Gullah people brought the art of weaving baskets from Africa to this region. You see black ladies making these on Meeting St. in downtown Charleston. A hand made basket of this size today would sell for over $100.

Awesome palm tree don't you think.

Update on the electric fans I added to the refrigerator vent (after putting in the first fan I added a second one the next day thinking if one is good two would be better) a few weeks ago. These two 12v fans have actually reduced the temperature of the refrigerator by two degrees and it seems able to recover quicker when the door is open or warm food is added. I can now turn the temperature setting down and get the refrigerator 32 degrees which is too cold. I have noticed on the Mobile Suite website, the name of our 5th wheel, that people are removing their rv refrigerators and replacing them with residential units. They seem to be doing ok with inverters and batteries while traveling. Tiffin, a manufacturer of motor homes I respect, is now offering residential refrigerators as an option at no charge and is increasing the inverter size and adding two additional batteries still at no charge. This seems to be the way things are headed in the future even for boon dockers (people who don't normally hook up to electric) since they use solar to recharge batteries. In my opinion the rv refrigerator is the weakest link in the new larger 5th wheels or motor homes.

Tuesday we went to Charleston SC for our first time. Charleston is another one of those cities that has so much history and beauty. We learned the civil war started in Charleston when a group of Citadel cadets fired at a northern ship that was entering the Charleston port. Our day started at the Visitors Center and then we walked down Meeting St. to the Battery district. Once you get into the historical part of the city everywhere you look is a picture. We were lucky to be here at what must be the prime season as far as the trees and flowers go since they were in bloom everywhere. Jack

The first picture Jack has posted is of a duck here in the RV park we are staying. She is sitting on 13 eggs in a old tree trunk. As explained to me by a local she may end up with 2 to 3 chicks that will see adulthood. As toddlers they are literally plucked from the brood by Ravens, turtles or other creepy crawlies. I didn't really need to hear that little bit of info (and wanted to schmuck the guy in the head for sharing) so now that I have that image burned in my mind I decided to pass the pain on down the line. Anyhow, it rained really hard for several hours today and the thought of mama duck sitting in that trunk on those eggs bugged both Jack and me. We checked on her after the storm and bless her little heart she hadn't moved. Other pics will show some other ducks and geese hanging around the park. They came right up to the door this morning when Jack walked out to feed them some bread.

Yesterday we spent the biggest part of the day in Charleston. And although we walked a great distance we could not have walked enough to shed the calories we consumed at Jestines, a restaurant visited by Rachael Ray, Oprah and many other "famous" people. We probably wouldn't have even noticed the place had it not been for the line of people that snaked along the block. Jack and I both agreed though (after we had been sitting in the restaurant for awhile) that some of the line was by design. People notice a restaurant when there is a line of patrons waiting to get in. The line brings a sense of urgency or prominence. I must eat there!!! WOW!!! The food must really be great so if I get to eat there I will indeed be lucky!! I have to say that the food was great. I had their fried chicken and Jack had the blackened pork chops. The fried chicken was probably the best I had ever had (besides my moms) but I wasn't crazy about the blackened pork chop. The taste was a little too overbearing for me. Normally we don't do dessert but at Jestines we decided to try the Coconut Cream Pie and the Pineapple bread pudding. Both were excellent but the Coconut Pie was the clear winner. But was it worth the wait? Our wait was rather short but I think waiting for food anywhere is a waste of time. Again, we saw several empty tables while people were left standing outside. Uhhhmmmm.....me thinks it is an excellent marketing strategy.

It rained pretty much the whole day today. As you can see by some of the pics we had a great deal of standing water around the campground. Although I love a good rain day it is very difficult walking the dogs. Tanner, the typical boy, finds any and all mud puddles. For the love of God I don't think that dog knows what it means to stay clean or dry. Sydney, on the other hand, prances around like she'll melt if she gets wet or dirty. She looks at the water and looks back at Jack (he is the one who walks her) as if to say, "Really? You're kidding, right?" We pretty much stayed around the RV all day except for checking out a neighborhood grocery store. We could tell immediately that the store catered to meat sales as opposed to grocery sales. For example a tub of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter cost $3.89 while a yummy looking T-bone steak was $3.99 a lb; split chicken breast was $.88 a lb. They had more quantities and bizarre meat than I have ever seen in any supermarket anywhere. Meat (and I use that word only because I don't know how else to describe it ) like pig tails, chicken feet (WTH??), kidneys, testicles, ears, etc. etc. were more the norm than the obscure at this store. I didn't look too closely at some of the stuff. Didn't want to sick up or run out of the store like a little girl. Very interesting to see how others live. Don't always understand it but nonetheless interesting.

Hoping the weather clears up so we can take our bikes downtown tomorrow. Some of the gardens we saw yesterday were amazing!!! Most are small, private gardens often hidden behind big wrought iron gates and fences. Did private stop us? Yea, no, of course it didn't. Why have such beautiful works of art if you don't let people see them? Found out later that some of the homes dating back to the 1800 have a market value of millions. So, I suppose if you can shell out $10 million for a 200 year old home you can for sure afford a gardener to take care of your small garden. And we saw several gardeners.

Also dotting the tree lined sidewalks of downtown Charleston were many older black women selling their handmade baskets made of various straw grasses. The prices they were charging for their goods certainly reflected the many hours of hard work it took for completion of one basket. We talked to one lady who had spent nearly 6 days on a not yet completed basket. After another 2 days of work she would put a price tag of $100.00 or so on the basket. Trust me, those baskets were not selling like hot cakes.

We had parked our truck on the 4th level of a parking garage at the visitors center downtown. When we were leaving I was looking out over the city and noticed the many church steeples hovering over all of the other buildings. Very striking. Read later that the city has the nickname of the Holy City because of these church steeples.

We are coming to the end of the first leg of our retirement. While it will may take a few more weeks most likely to get home we are indeed heading that way. Jack and I have talked at great length about what has been our most memorable experience thus far. Spending time with Carol and Lori rank up there, of course. Since we've been married we haven't spent as much time with Carol and Lori as we did those two weeks. We enjoyed our time with them so much. But our most favorite place to camp was Gulf State Park in Alabama. We loved the idea of biking anywhere we wanted to go. Anything and everything was a bike ride away. The campground, the trails and the people have not been matched.