Hi y’all!  (Just getting you ready for your trip thru Georgia and South Carolina).  Had to get used to being called:  Ma’am, sweetheart, honey & sugar.  Saw a lovely mural in Kingsland GA, just across the FL state line.

Drove up the Georgia coast and crossed a huge and high bridge just north of Jekyll Island over to Brunswick.  A lovely panoramic view of the marshes and grasslands!  The coastal bridges are especially high so boats and ships can pass under them. Crossed it 3 times – perhaps a bit of symbolism there

Headed up north to Andersonville.  After reading “Team of Rivals” and seeing Lincoln, I wanted to get a better feel for some of the Civil War sites.  Andersonville is both beautiful and heartbreaking.  Neither side expected the war to last more than a few months so no plans were made to house prisoners captured.  At first, they were exchanged, with the promise they wouldn’t re-enter the war.  That ended when Confederate soldiers broke that promise and also refused to recognize blacks as POWs.  At one time, Andersonville housed 33 000 on 26 acres of which 13,000 died of dysentery, diarrhea & scurvy. The Northern camps were equally as ugly, but none of them compared to the size of Andersonville.  After the war, Clara Barton (with the help of a former prisoner), had headstones placed for almost all of those who died.  Each Union state also has a memorial on the grounds – took a picture of the one from IL. Today it’s a National Cemetery with military burials

Next was a stop at Ocmulgee National Monument, home to a Mississippian tribe in the same family as Cahokia in St. Louis.  Beautiful earthen mounds mark the ceremonial and burial sites.  Like Cahokia, no one is sure what happened to them.  They may have moved on or been assimilated into other existing tribes. 

Savannah is gorgeous.  Sherman spared it after decimating Atlanta, so many of the old  buildings remain.  My gracious hosts were members of the art community – he, a sculptor and instructor at Savannah College of Art and Design and she an artist and art therapist.  SCAD has played a big role in preserving and restoring the older buildings.

 Took a trolley tour and was visited by Forrest Gump (he had sat on a Savannah park bench to tell the story in the movie), a pirate (who told about sailors who found themselves shanghaied as ship’s crew after a long night of celebrating) and an Irish lass (the first woman to be hanged in Savannah for killing her master). Dueling was becoming a problem – bodies were tossed over the city’s central cemetery wall so a site along the Savannah River was designated for the ritual. Henry Ford also opened his 1^st car dealership here. Have found the city tours are a great way to get an overview before strolling back for a more in depth look at the neighborhoods.  Savannah is laid out on a series of public squares. Lots of plaques listing events and historical figures.  Like strolling thru a library in a beautiful garden. Although it wasn’t peak time for the camellias and azaleas, there were plenty of flowers in bloom.

Took a tour of Fort Pulaski.  Went first thing in the morning and when 2 tour buses drove up, made the decision to come back that afternoon.  Arrived in time for the ladies (the Day of the Woman) to fire the cannon and then a ranger talk about the history of the fort. This, and series of 30 other coastal forts were built on the orders of President Madison when those English rascals burned DC during the 1812 War.  (Remember, Dolly saved George’s portrait.)  It was thought to be impenetrable when the Confederates held it during the Civil War but new rifled cannons & shells knocked down parts of the 7 1/2 ft. thick walls.  Big miscalculation by Gen. Lee and Ft. Pulaski surrendered.

From Savannah, I moved up the coast to Charleston. Another lovely city.  It was hammered pretty hard by Hugo but has been rebuilt and restored. Beautiful homes along the river served as summer homes to some of the surrounding plantation owners. Strolled the public market where several blocks of venders have set up shop with everything from baked goods to clothing.  My host suggested contacting her friend who gave walking tours which turned out to be perfect. Charleston, like Savannah, is a great walking city.  We also toured an 18^th century home. Everything in it was from that period except the appliances in the kitchen, which were so well disguised you thought nothing had been changed from its former life.  It’s also called the “Holy City” because of the number of churches.  But my tour guide said all is not well in “holyland” as the 2 huge Episcopal churches are splitting from the main church over the ordination of gay priests and same-sex marriage. For a city that was once the largest slave trading center, you’d think they’d learned their lesson about discrimination.

Rode the ferry to Ft. Sumter; the beginning of it all.  At the time, South Carolina was the country’s wealthiest state and had the most to lose by the loss of slavery.  It was also the first state to secede and the only one to do it unanimously. The election of Lincoln and his vow to keep the union undivided was not well received by the South. The fort was being held by Federal troops commanded by Major Anderson and was fired upon by troops commanded by General Beauregard, a student of Anderson’s at West Point.  The Confederates held it for most of the war until General Sherman took Charleston and it was forced to surrender.

Also visited the Pinckney Historic Site.  Charles was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. He’s been posthumously given credit for many of the provisions in it.  Interesting, considering his father swore allegiance to the Crown after being captured by the British during the war.

There are three lovely plantations outside of Charleston.  I had to make the decision to see all of the superficially (and spend a small fortune) or spend the day and see one of them in depth.  I chose a former rice plantation named Magnolia, which should have been called Camellia.  Over 30,000 camellias and 20,000 azaleas were planted by the owner, Reverend Drayton after his Dr. recommended he “dig in the dirt” to cure his consumption.  The good Reverend inherited the plantation by default when his older brother, while on his way to a deer hunt, shot himself while riding his horse. I took the house and a tram train tour of the grounds, then walked the gardens.  The house was built from the materials of a “hunting cabin” after the original was destroyed in the Civil War.  Later descendants included “Flapper Sara” who was famous for entertaining dignitaries & celebrities (including the Gershwins and Eleanor Roosevelt).  No one, however, was allowed to spend the night.

 Took a rest in Walterboro, strolled the lovely restored downtown and took a hike thru part of the Great Swamp Sanctuary.  Picked up a flyer advertising a series of 5 programs sponsored by the library called, “Making Sense of the American Civil War”.  Would have liked to sit in on it.

Visited Ninety Six (a town and a battlefield).  The Revolutionary war set off some serious problems for the Tories and the Patriots who settled there which weren’t resolved until well after the war had ended.  The Torey general from New York had a six-pointed star fort built and managed to hold off an assault when British reinforcements arrived to help.  This house was discovered under and existing newer house and moved to the site.

On to North Carolina!