South Carolina - Palmetto State
South Carolina, known as the Palmetto State because of its large population of Sabal Palmetto trees, is beautiful, especially its shoreline of tropical beaches and marsh like sea islands. Its history is replete with momentous Revolutionary and Civil War events and a way of life that epitomizes southern culture and tradition. We began our week in Charleston, where it is easy to imagine a by-gone era with its grand mansions continuing to overlook the waterfront, withstanding the test of time despite the Civil War and destructive storms. We stayed in a historic boutique hotel called Ansonborough Inn where original wood beams and exposed brick walls gave the lobby an inviting feeling of warmth. A rooftop terrace overlooked the waterfront and adjacent downtown. We felt very much at home right away.
We gave ourselves a self-guided walking tour the next day and it was hard to know where to start, there is so much to see. Among the highlights was St. Michael’s church, designed after the 1720s St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields Church in London. Both George Washington and Robert E. Lee visited this church in their times. An old cemetery on the grounds contains the graves of Robert Rutledge, and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, both signers of the Constitution. The clock in the 186-foot tower has marked the time since 1764.
The Calhoun Mansion is a 35-room Italianate house built in 1876 for businessman George Williams. Later the house was turned over to Patrick Calhoun and his wife, Patrick being the grandson of Vice-President John Calhoun, for whom the mansion is named. The house has been used in various film productions, including “The Notebook.” It is filled with antique furnishings and artwork, but we especially enjoyed seeing the Japanese koi and English gardens outside.
Located in White Point Gardens, Confederate Defenders of Charleston is a massive monument honoring Confederate soldiers from Charleston, most notably those who served at Fort Sumter during the Civil War. While we were there to see it in 2018, it was later at the center of the controversy about supporters of the Confederacy and their belief in slavery continuing to have statues honoring them. Around the base of the 25-foot-tall monument are the words, “Count them happy who for their faith and their courage endured a great fight.”
We walked along The Battery, an elevated walkway that overlooks Charleston Harbor, where the first shot of the Civil War was fired on April 12, 1861, at Fort Sumter. During the bombardment that ensued, only one house along East Battery Street was destroyed. Many of the other antebellum mansions have been preserved, among them the Edmonston-Alston House and the brick Greek Revival William Roper House, both of which were worth visiting.
A light blue filigreed balcony embellishes the picturesque Dock Street Theater, located in the historic French Quarter neighborhood. It occupies the site of the first building in the Thirteen Colonies designed for use as a theater. Many more beautiful structures also graced our walking tour. St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in the French Quarter, built between 1835 and 1838, was the first Anglican Church established south of Virginia. The imposing tower was designed in the Wren-Gibbs tradition.
I was on the board for more than 20 years at Hanna Boys Center in Sonoma. For most of that time, Father John Crews was the CEO. When he retired, he returned to his home state of South Carolina, and we were so excited when he drove from Myrtle Beach to Charleston to spend time with us. We did a horse-drawn carriage tour together, from which we could view some of the 3,000 buildings of architectural and historic merit. It was a fun and relaxing way to cover a lot of ground. Father Crews took us to lunch at a restaurant in the French Quarter and suggested we order shrimp and grits. I don’t think I had ever eaten shrimp and grits before, but it was delicious and seemed like the perfect choice for this occasion. Later we went to a rooftop bar and had a drink with Father before we bade him farewell and thanked him for showing us such a wonderful time.
The Gibbes Museum of Art has an outstanding collection of American art with a Charleston or southern connection. Featured was a collection of portraits of Colonial South Carolinians. We found one of these especially captivating, as it portrayed a South Carolinian dressed in European-style clothing standing in front of a window from which could be seen a very rustic colonial building.
We drove to the Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site, the 1670 location of the state’s first permanent English settlement. Early earthworks and a palisade have been reconstructed. We saw a Native American ceremonial center, an African American graveyard, walked through a replica of a 17-th century trading vessel as well as a servant’s living quarters, and through a crop garden containing cotton, sugar cane and other cash crops. When we left Charleston the next morning, we knew we had immersed ourselves in its history and culture, but also in the grace and elegance of the city’s art, architecture and cuisine.
We headed to Bluffton, 90 miles south of Charleston and very near Hilton Head. A former counselor colleague of mine, Judy Wilburn lived there and was excited to show us what Lowcountry South Carolina is like. Judy has a wonderful southern accent, and it was so good to see her again. Bluffton, with its giant moss-draped oaks, small stores, antebellum houses and quaint country churches was very charming. She took us to Cahill’s Market and Chicken Kitchen, and it makes me smile just to think about it. This is a farm-to-table restaurant in a country cottage that offers southern cooking, the place to go if you want big portions in a relaxed country environment. We also picked up some essentials in their market because Judy had kindly offered us her condominium for a place to stay for a couple of days. It was beautiful, in a lovely development within walking distance from the beach. The weather was tropical and there were many walking pathways where we could explore the area. We rented bicycles and the sand on the beaches was so solid – very different from California beach sand – that we could ride our bikes right next to the Atlantic surf, which was a unique experience for us.
We drove one day to Okatie to visit the mother of our good Marin friend Cathy Spratling, and that was delightful, too. Jean lives in a retirement community and, while we were there, prepared a delicious lunch for us as she told us about life in the Low Country.
Nearby Beaufort is a picturesque old port town which has retained the atmosphere of an earlier day. We parked and walked around the town, admiring its many pre-Revolutionary War and antebellum houses surrounded by quiet gardens along oak-canopied streets. Many photo opportunities presented themselves. Two charming local ladies were walking by and stopped to tell us a little about life in this beautiful town while posing for a photo. We told them how much we loved the Spanish moss hanging from so many of the trees. We had a delicious lunch at a restaurant called Plums that specializes in “creative low country cuisine” which they recommended.
Columbia is the capitol of South Carolina and the home of the state university. The State House was constructed 1855-1907 and features a copper dome, original marble floors, cast-iron stairs and balcony supports, stained glass windows and portraits of notable statesmen. Six bronze stars on the exterior walls mark the spots struck by Sherman’s Union Army cannonballs during the Civil War. The landscaped grounds are appointed with no less than 25 monuments, including statues of George Washington and Senator Strom Thurmond. Overlooking the main lobby is a gorgeous mosaic glass depicting the Seal of South Carolina which dates from the 1800’s.
We enjoyed walking through Elmwood Park residential neighborhood and historic district in what is now the center of Columbia. The streets are lined with mature trees alongside housing styles ranging from Queen Ann, American Foursquare, gable front and Colonial Revival. There are also smaller one-story structures that are predominantly of the American Craftsman style. This area is also home to the South Carolina State Museum with four floors of hands-on exhibits, displays and an art gallery.
Within the gallery was an exhibit that profoundly affected us. Called Requiem for Mother Emanuel, artist Leo Twiggs created nine works in the aftermath of the murders on the evening of June 17, 2015, at “Mother Emanuel” AME Church in Charleston. Within weeks of this tragedy, Twiggs began painting as a cathartic means of coping with the horrors of the event and the awe he felt as he watched South Carolinians unite in what he described as “the state’s most humane moment.” The nine works, both beautiful and painful to view, honor the nine men and women who perished. The paintings are movingly poignant, and the message is compelling.
Our visit to Trinity Cathedral was a highlight. This mid-1800’s structure is a beautiful example of English Gothic architecture. A stained-glass window from Munich, Germany, was especially noteworthy. In the churchyard cemetery, we came upon a tombstone engraved with the name Amyann Talley Cunningham, who was born in 1857 and died in 1897. Since Cunningham is my maiden name, I couldn’t help but wonder if she was a distant cousin. My relatives on that side of the family emigrated from Scotland to the southeast coast and eventually on to Tennessee. Naturally, I took a photo.
On the grounds of the University of South Carolina, is a plaque which acknowledges that the buildings and historic wall “were substantially constructed by slave labor and built of slave-made brick.” Enslaved people lived in outbuildings, one of which still stands behind what is now the President’s House. Throughout the campus we saw several interesting metal sculptures which were created by graduate and undergraduate art students. The campus is very urban, near the center of the city, and there were hundreds of students walking around that day, creating a very lively atmosphere.
When we left Columbia and headed north to visit our grandson at College of William and Mary in Virginia, we saw signs along the highway promoting the Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden. We didn’t know what to expect when we took the Exit to Bishopville, but we soon discovered that we were in for a treat. With no previous topiary experience, only a 3-minute lesson at a nursery, a man named Pearl Fryar started work on his garden in the 1980’s. By the mid 1990’s, his garden had garnered national attention and was featured in numerous newspaper and magazine articles. In 2006, a documentary about him attracted critical acclaim. Today, visitors come from around the world to meet him and see the garden. We were lucky that he was there that day, and we could chat with him as he showed us around. He has taken seedling shrubs, planted just as shoots, and turned them into huge, often dramatic sculptures. All the plants in his topiary garden were planted by him, on property that was a corn field when he bought it. He maintains them by trimming the trees every 4-6 weeks. Most of them are so large, he can only reach them for trimming by using an elevator lift. Mr. Fryar is truly a gifted, albeit untrained artist and visiting his 3-acre garden was such a fun and unexpected way to finish our South Carolina adventure.
