Cape May

After the long drive from Virginia, through DC, Maryland and Delaware (we can put it on the map now) and into New Jersey (so many places boggles the mind of us Westerners who take all day to get to the state line), we needed a walk. Our 7K in Morristown took us past huge mansions with park size gardens and antebellum duplexes nudging the sidewalk.

Our appetites whetted, we knew this was the state for good pizza. Upon the recommendation of a local realtor, we went to a great place with various stations for pizza, pasta, entrees and salad. The food was great and we take pride in passing up the tempting dessert station.

We had heard friends and relatives in the East rave about how lovely Cape May, NJ was, so we enjoyed proving them correct. The Victorians are every bit as beautiful as the ones in San Francisco.

We met with friends Don and Barbara at the Mad Batter, a restaurant in the Victorian era Carroll Villa B&B.

While catching up on each others lives, we strolled the lovely summer resort town admiring antebellum homes and commenting on strange modernizations. This was a perfect setting for good friends to walk and talk. The Congress Hotel was especially interesting. It is almost 200 years old and was built when the railroad came to Cape May. The original breakfast menu featured a complete breakfast for $.50. In the 50s, you could have a room and a golf weekend for $29.95 per person.

Before leaving this tip of New Jersey, we went to view the Cape May Lighthouse.

The wetland is also a busy flyway for migrating birds. The purple martins who linger in the area have houses on poles lined up near the lighthouse.

On the beach is a WWII costal defense bunker that once was 900 feet from the shore and is now right at the water due to constant erosion. While there we did dip our toes into the Atlantic Ocean.

By the way, this was our second sighting of the Google Map car, the first was in a Walmart parking lot.

Gardens

Until the Civil War, the economy of the proprietorship then colony of South Carolina was based on rice. The land and the access to water along with the expertise of slaves captured from rice growing areas of Africa made this area second only to New York in wealth. After the Civil War rice production which was largely dependent on slave labor ended and the plantations fell into ruin. In the 1930s Archer, step-son and heir to the Huntington fortune, bought four former rice plantations along the South Carolina coast. His step-father Collis Potter Huntington was one of the richest men in America, making his money from railroads and shipping. He left his fortune to Archer with the proviso that it be used for nature and art. Archer, an expert in Spanish studies, married New York sculpture Anna Hyatt. When she was diagnosed with tuberculosis, they sought a warm place where she could continue to create.

Their legacy is Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet. The gardens are filled with her work as well as work of artists they supported, many of them women. The sculpture are set next to or within pools and amidst flowering plants. Archer was a poet and the walls of the gardens contain his poetry as well as famous and less known poets.

A pontoon ride along the rivers within the plantations presented us a close up of what the land was like and how it has returned to its pre-rice state. After the ride, Anna Lee found a few friends to chat with.

Like all museums, Brookgreen has art in storage, but their storage is open for the public to explore. There we found a Remington sculpture among other artists.

Other showcase galleries held exhibits of metal casting and busts.

Unable to stay longer, we missed a visit to their home with its tower where Anna worked.

Charleston

After visiting the forts, we our next adventure was taking a photographic tour of Charleston. Joyce, our guide, revealed hidden passageways, secret gardens and architectural features along with her telling the history of the second oldest city in the United States. Charleston was the cultural and economic center of the proprietary of South Carolina, later the colony of SC. Along with the plantation owners, wealthy people from the north had summer homes within the walled city. What were then carriage houses are now also historic homes. Virtually every building in the old area has an historic plaque and must be maintained according to preservation standards, even the pink house which was a tavern and bordello. Many of the houses, like the pink house, are believed to be haunted. In addition to the antebellum homes of the plantation owners the old city has beautiful homes build after the war (post bellum???).

The town is known as the “holy city” for its acceptance of people of any religion and for its many churches.

Almost destroyed by an earthquake in the 1700s, many of the buildings had to be pulled back together. Bolts were installed, then cables and a turnbuckle system were used whereby the walls were pulled back together over a period of months or even years. The cables were removed but the bolts remain to this day.

Saturday morning our first stop was in a park filled with the stalls of a farmer’s market and with local crafts. We restrained ourselves and only bought food, including the first corn of the season (it was wonderful).

Our tour of the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon showed the earliest history of the town as an economic center and as a place of revolution against the British. Piracy against shippers and later against the British was a part of the way of life on the sea and at the mouth of the rivers. At first the pirates were tolerated since they went after British ships. When they decided to attack the ships of local merchants, they were no longer favored so the dungeon was used to house them as they awaited execution.

All these buildings were built by and maintained by slaves. The Slave Mart tells this sorrowful story in the words of former slaves and in displays of the conditions under which they lived. We thought that the Slave Mart was where you went to buy a slave but we learned that the building also had a second purchase. A slave with a particular talent (brick making, carpentry, etc) could hire himself out to an employer at the mart. Of course, the master got the money and, if he was a good master, the slave could retain a small sum.

Toward evening, we saw a sign announcing a Gospel to Gershwin concert in a beautifully domed church. What we experienced was an amazing musical history of the city, starting with a string quarter playing music from the 17th century, followed by banjo, dulcimer, harmonica and vocal presentations of songs from the Civil War. Then came breathtaking selections from Porgy and Bess by soprano D’Jaris Whipper Lewis. The conclusion was a piano duet of Rhapsody in Blue performed by a twenty year old and a sixteen year old. Had we been in San Francisco or New York we would have found no better musical evening. Where many performances offer CDs after the show, this one sadly did not, for we would have gladly shared the music with you.

On Sunday we toured Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim which is the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the US. Dating back to 1749, it has had three buildings, the latest built in 1840 in Greek Revival style with a Roman dome. The first members were Sephardim from Spain and Portugal; later came Ashkenazi from Eastern Europe. The synagogue was at the forefront of the Reform movement. Our tour guide gave an extensive history of the shul and its place in South Carolina’s history of religious acceptance for all.

Submarine warfare began during the Civil War. The Confederate H.L. Hunley was the first submarine to sink a ship. After two deadly trials, the sub torpedoed the USS Housatonic, sinking the ship but disappearing itself after the attack. Author Clive Cussler funded the finding and raising of the sub. It is now under recovery and restoration.

To avoid further comments about our wonderful dining, we will not mention the shrimp po’boy sandwich for lunch, the crab cakes and fried chicken for dinner, sushi, and the fabulous pecan crusted french toast and crab benedict on fried green tomatoes for brunch. Oh, we will also not mention the Charleston lemonade with vodka and the mimosa with pomegranate juice that accompanied our brunch in the garden of 82, an old house now restaurant.

Fort Sumter and more

The Start of the Civil War, aka The War between the States, aka, The War of Northern Aggression

While South Carolinians may not be fighting the 150-year-old Civil War, they certainly have not forgotten it. Our visit to Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie were rich in history. In the 1700s a fort was built on Sullivan’s Island to protect the mouth of Charles Town (now Charleston) harbor. Under the command of Colonel William Moultrie it protected the colonial shores from attack by the British during the Revolutionary War.

In the early 1800s the Union had built three forts to guard against any hostile ships trying to attack Charleston harbor. The original fort, later named for Moultrie, was poorly situated for defense from troops of the newly seceded colony of South Carolina. Hoping to improve his position, Major Robert Anderson left Moultrie in 1861 sailed his 85 men to an island fort called Sumter.

Poorly funded when it was built after the War of 1812, only about a third of the cannon were installed. The size of the Patriot cannons was very impressive.

The cannon balls weighed 434 pounds each and were loaded into the breach by four men.

Anderson hoped for reinforcements and supplies from Union ships that were promised but which did not arrive in time.

On April 12, 1861 Anderson was given a demand for surrender which he refused. Knowing that reinforcements and supplies were coming, the Confederates began a thirty-four hour barrage of cannon fire which burned the officers’ barracks and left him with too few men to maintain the battle. He had no food and could not return fire so he had no alternative but to surrender. Amazingly, the only loss of life and the first casualty of the Civil War was a Union soldier killed by cannon fire during the salute to honor the Union troops who left the fort not to return until 1865.

Upon departing the fort, Maj. Anderson carried this battered 34-star United States flag.

Four years later Gen. Anderson returned and again hoisted a United States flag over the fort. This was after Union forces continuously shelled the city of Charleston and the fort for almost two years bringing it to surrender.

On our boat ride to the fort, we saw dolphins and jelly fish. Our ranger guide gave us background on the fort and we enjoyed wandering around. One of the volunteer guides showed Jerry a cannon shell still embedded in the wall.

After leaving Sumter, our next destination was Fort Moultrie which continued to serve as a line of defense during the Spanish-American War, and World Wars I and II. Battery Hugar, built for the Spanish-American War, fills much of what was the original parade ground.

Where Sumter has been restored to 1865 condition, Moultrie has been upgraded many times up to the 1940s. During WW II German submarines regularly patrolled off the South Carolina coast looking for merchant ships that they could sink. The fort became the command center for the anti submarine effort in the area. Even a 1940s era radio room can be seen. Interestingly, the command center was air conditioned, a welcome relief from southern heat and, probably, a desirable military assignment.

Savannah

What a dilemma? Food or location, both wonderful. Oh let’s do food first. Anna Lee asked the man at the end of the line how long he had been waiting and he responded, “What day is this?” The hour long line stretched from a small door at Mrs. Wilkes Diningroom to the corner and told us this was a place we had to visit.

Twenty soup bowls brimming with wonderful Southern foods sat on our table for eight. We joined “our new best friends” of one hour who came from Florida and a couple from Ventura, CA and two women from Indianapolis. What was in those twenty bowls? The best sweet potatoes ever, stuffing, cucumbers, okra, mashed potatoes and gravy, mac and cheese, beans (brown and green), beef stew, pulled pork, biscuits, turnips, and more. Then came the amazing Southern fried chicken, more finger munching than licking. Even the iced tea was wonderful. The peach cobbler and banana bread pudding were anti-climatic. What we said about going to Leantha’s earlier, we now amend to if you are in or near a Southern state stop eating until you get to Mrs. Wilkes. Now owned by the fourth generation, it is worth the wait and the weight.

Back to location. Because of the size of our motorhome, we fit into few of the really lovely state or national parks. Skidaway State Park is an exception. We sat under live oaks their branches dangling Spanish moss and next to palmettos with their sharp spike fronds and breathed in the clean wonderful air. Our 7K walk along the trails took us over marshes teaming with fiddler crabs, under osprey nests, and through forests.

In between the eating and the campground, we enjoyed Savannah. It is another walking city, though there are multiple choices for tram, carriage and bus rides. Our 10K zigzagged back and forth through the old town taking us past antebellum mansions and post bellum homes (does anyone know the term for after the war architecture?). We saw many historic churches and the second oldest synagogue in America.

Factor’s Walk along the river is a small Southern version of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. Every few blocks, we wandered through a park with its statue to someone from the Revolutionary or Civil War. The memorial to Confederate soldiers was hewn in Canada and shipped to Savannah bypassing Union soil.

Worn out from walking we visited a trio of buildings that included the Owens-Thomas House, Telfair Museum and Jepsen Center for the Arts. William Jay, the British architect for the house was given free reign in his first colonial home. In keeping with trends in England, everything was in balance, to such a degree as putting in a fake door on one side to balance the real one on the other. Faux was all the rage, so plain pine is painted to look like mahogany and marble. One ceiling, though flat, looked domed. Well positioned windows cast glowing sunlight on a fireplace. In a separate building and in the basement are remnants of the slave quarters with some of the original haint blue paint used to keep out evil spirits. Our photo fingers itched to take pictures but they were forbidden.

Telfair, also by Jay, was a family home then art gallery given to the state. It contains a fine collection of German and Dutch impressionists. It also has Bird Girl, the statue made famous in the book and movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The Jepsen is home to modern installations.

All is not beauty and food, sometimes it’s entertainment. We enjoyed Southern Nights, at the Old Savannah Theater, a revue of southern humor, country music, gospel, Broadway and patriotic music. Johnny Mercer watches over diners along a lane. Pride in history is the recurring theme in this old town.

The tribute to favorite native son Johnny Mercer was wonderful, especially Moon River, the river we crossed to get back to Skidaway Island and the river that reflected the full moon shining over our last evening in Savannah.

We Saw It

Oh Wow! What a wonderful experience. Anna Lee was surprised at the tears flowing down her face. Jerry kept grinning. We did get to see Endeavor launch and may the trip be safe for all. We had often talked about what a thrill it would be to see a launch and our thoughts understated the reality. We were about 8 miles away as we watched the “Roman candle” effect of the shuttle rising through the clouds and then heard the low roar of its engines. Those few minutes will be etched in our memories forever.

We have been watching people blast off from Cape Canaveral since the dawn of the American space program in the 50s. We thrilled to see John Glenn go into orbit and Apollo 11 leave for the moon and return. Seeing it on television was not the same as being there but, up till this weekend, we did not have the opportunity to experience an actual blast off in person. We had reservations at the Space Center for May 14th and 15th. When the launch of Endeavor was postponed until May 16 we knew we had an opportunity not to be missed. We rearranged our trip and came to the Kennedy Space Center hoping to share the experience of witnessing one of the last shuttle flights with approximately 500,000 other people.

Now back to the start of our “space adventure.”

Our drive to Cape Canaveral was not without consequence. In May love bugs come out and swarm. They seem to be in a perpetual mating frenzy and don’t have the good sense to get off the highway. Our coach was covered. These guys are just plain icky; they don’t bite but have a sticky substance that oozes when you hit one. They are almost impossible to get off the front of cars, let alone big motor homes. And they love to come in and settle on light colored fabrics, must be an aphrodisiac.

We arrived on Saturday and started our tour with a three-hour bus ride around the Kennedy Space Center that gave us several opportunities to photograph the many buildings used to construct and assemble spacecraft.

Our guide gave us excellent background on past and present vehicles. Her enthusiasm for the upcoming shuttle overflowed. Most importantly, we got within 5000 feet (that is considered close) of the Endeavor as it sits on the launch pad awaiting Monday morning.

We then walked beneath another Saturn V rocket (the first was in Houston) viewing its many stages. This display was much broader than the one we saw before as it included many space artifacts, space suits, actual gloves, a manual with moon dust on it and the like. Several moon rocks were also on display. We saw the casts of the astronauts hands that are used for creating their own custom glove, the most delicate and at risk part of their protective clothing.

The second day we took the Then and Now Tour. We didn’t realize Cape Canaveral was where rockets and space ships used to launch and that the Kennedy Space Center is where the shuttles are launched (at least for the next couple of months). Our tour of Canaveral took us back to the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo days when the computers used to launch John Glenn occupied an entire room and had a huge 16 megabytes of memory.

We spent quiet time at the memorial of launch site of Apollo I and also saw a couple of astronauts there.

The talk by Winston Scott, an astronaut on two shuttle missions was quite good. The Q & A was aimed at young people in the audience and he did a good job of saying study, take science, and continue your education.

After walking onto a life-size mock up of a shuttle and visiting the Astronaut Memorial, we went to the Hall of Fame where the mundane details of living in space included photos of their food, personal items and even a fax between an astronaut and his wife.

This was the next to last shuttle launch. Bush cancelled the program and Obama cancelled the Mars program. While 5000 people are about to be laid off, most are finding other jobs. The shuttle has completed its mission and the next space flights must wait for the solution of problems ranging from the loss of calcium that occurs right away in a weightless environment to how to bring astronauts back safe and alive from months or years in space.