From Virginia to Georgia - Civil War 101

Sorry for the long delay between entries - it's been a busy few weeks. We have really enjoyed touring the Southern States, but we found that everywhere we went was a statue or a battle field or something else commemorating the Civil War - hence the title "Civil War 101". We certainly know far more about the "late great unpleasantness" as some Southerners still refer to it than we did before we left.

I'm not sure whether to call him Ted Gump or Forrest Salken, but you know who I mean. The greatest historical significance of Chippewa Square (according to our tour guide) is the movie "Forrest Gump". I've never watched the entire movie, but I understand he spends most of the movie sitting on a park bench in this square telling his life story. The bench is now housed in the Savannah History Museum. Anyone care for a box of chocolates?

November 20 - Chippewa Square in Savannah's Historic District. General James Oglethorpe founded Savannah and designed it as a series of neighbourhoods centered around 24 squares. Of these 24, 21 still remain. They are peaceful places most of which have statues in the middle commemorating a famous historical figure or event. The statue in this square is of General Oglethorpe. November 16 - Steve & Diane drove down from Charleston to spend a day with us in Savannah before flying back home. We took a trolley tour of the city and then walked along the Waterfront. Shops & boutiques line River Street and at the end of the block is the old Cotton Exchange - a very important part of Savannah history.

November 14 - View of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbour - where the first shot of the Civil War was fired on April 12, 1861. Confederate soldiers won possession of this federal fort; it took Union soldiers 4 years to get it back. The houses south of Broad Street along East Bay Street, Meeting Street and the Battery were unbelievable. Diane and I are arguing over who is more worthy of owning the mansion behind us. Of course, there's also the problem of who is going to clean it!! One house, Calhoun Mansion, is over 24,000 square feet and has 35 rooms and fireplaces. There's also the price tag attached - anywhere from $800,000 to $2.2 million or more. Personally, I think I'm worth it!! After sharing a 300 square foot trailer with Ted for a year or two, I will deserve my space.

Diane and I at Waterfront Park. The bridge behind us crosses the Charleston Harbour between Charleston and Mount Pleasant. November 13 - The pineapple has been the symbol of welcome in the southern states for centuries. This pineapple fountain is located at Charleston's Waterfront Park. The swamp is an amazing place; thousands of plants and animals co-exist here. Cypress and tupelo gum trees surrounded by blackwater covered with duckweed provide a haven for turtles, alligators and over 200 bird species.

Audubon Swamp Garden was also a place of beauty - in an eerie, creepy way. It was named after James Audubon who came here 150 years ago to observe and paint the waterfowl. It is also the location of Wes Craven's movie, "Swamp Thing". The Magnolia Maze is a replica of a maze created by Henry VIII at Hampton Court in England. Camellias and Burford Holly make up the maze. You can tell who cheated in the maze by the grass stains on their knees.

We were surprised to learn that bamboo is indigenous to the southern states. We also saw herons (above), egrets, moorhens, coots and several other bird species. On the nature boat tour we saw several alligators up close and personal. They sun themselves to raise their body temperature to 72 degrees which allows them to digest their food.

Turtles and an alligator taking a break in the sunshine. The various gardens and lakes were breathtaking. Many gardens had a theme: Biblical Garden, Barbados Tropical Garden, Camellia Garden, Bamboo Pond and many more. The Flowerdale Garden (the formal garden) is the oldest unrestored garden in the U.S. (started in 1680). We took a ride on the nature train and drove down the Street of Slave Cabins. Archaeological digs are now underway to find out more about the slaves who lived on the plantation. The remaining antebellum slave cabins are being restored. Some descendants of the original slaves still work on the plantation.

The plantation was hit hard by Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Many of the trees and plants were destroyed and the Drayton family has worked hard to restore the grounds to their former beauty. Sunlight filters through the leaves of a live oak tree as the branches dripping with Spanish moss sway in the breeze. Sometimes I have to pinch myself - I can hardly believe I'm here. The beauty of this place is surreal. By the way, Spanish moss is neither Spanish nor moss; it is an air plant that gets its nutrients from the air. It is also a haven for chiggers and bed bugs. Slaves used to stuff their mattresses and pillows with Spanish moss because it is so soft; unfortunately that's the origin of the phrase "sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite".

November 12- Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston. This place was incredible. Although the original size of the plantation was larger, this 500 acres has been owned by the Drayton family since 1676 (11 generations). This is the 3rd house; the first two were destroyed by fire (the second one during the Civil War). Rice was the major cash crop of the original plantation. We toured the house and saw beautiful antiques, artwork, porcelain and quilts.

After a visit to the Treasure Oak Antique Mall and dining at the Charleston Crab House, we drove through the Holiday Festival of Lights in James Island Country Park. It was a 3 mile driving tour consisting of 60 displays using over 2 million lights. It was so amazing and beautiful that we had to drive through it twice to get the full effect. The next day (Sunday) Steve & Diane came over to watch the Saskatchewan Roughriders kick Calgary's butt. I tried not to gloat too much, but I must admit this win was especially sweet!!! Go Roughies Go!!

This is a tea field containing both older established plants and seedlings. From May to October, the plants are cut every 14-21 days. It takes 5 lbs. of fresh leaves to make 1 lb. of tea. Our next stop was the Charleston Tea Plantation - also on Wadmalaw Island. It is the only tea garden in North America. We toured the plantation and took the video factory tour which described how tea is made. The key to the type of tea being made is the oxidation process - 50 minutes for black tea, 15 minutes for oolong and no oxidation at all for green tea. The machine pictured above is the tea "combine" used to cut the leaves from the tea bushes. November 10 - Steve and Diane, friends of ours from Lethbridge, flew down to Charleston so Steve could attend a conference. It was so great to see familiar faces again. First on the agenda was a tour of the Irvin-House Vineyard on Wadmalaw Island. We shared a bottle of wine and watched as a priest performed the annual "Blessing of the Vine".

November 8 - Imagine our surprise when we drove into our campground just outside of Charleston, South Carolina and ran into Don, Wayne, Audrey and Cathy again. Another coincidence! The couple on the right are from High River so we called ourselves the "Alberta Corner" of the campground.

November 7 - Our campsite in Sesqui-Centennial State Park in Columbia, South Carolina. Looks a lot like the provincial parks at home, doesn't it?

Bailey & Rusty. We took them to a groomer while we were in Front Royal and she decked them out in little red kerchiefs. They looked like real Southern dogs so we nicknamed them "The Virginians". We had to change their names, however, when we reached Woodbine, Georgia. The day we got there we tied them up outside the trailer as usual and were quite surprised when we heard a knock at the door. It was another camper warning us that we should bring them inside as they were "gator bait". Highly doubtful since there was no water around for a few miles, but it did result in Rusty and Bailey acquiring new nicknames - "Gator" and "Bait". Dried dark-leaf tobacco grown on the plantation drying in the tobacco barn. It smelled soooo good in there and I don't usually like the smell of tobacco. Ted quit smoking August 15 so I had to hustle him out of there in a big hurry before he got the urge to grind some up, roll it in a paper and smoke it!!!! On the right hand corner of the information marker above is an inventory of the Burroughs farm in 186l which includes the slaves and their value. Booker, then 5, was valued at $400. When the Civil War ended in 1864, he and his family joined his stepfather in West Virginia. At age 16 he walked most of the way to Hampton Institute in Virginia, a new school for black students. He worked his way through school and in 1881 became founder and principal of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Booker was one of the most influential black men of his time and was advisor to 3 presidents although he was criticized by many civil rights activists for being too compromising. It was later discovered that he secretly funded many anti-segregationist activities until his death at the age of 59. His was truly a success story.

November 5 - Booker T. Washington National Park (near Roanoke, VA). We had heard of Booker T. Washington before but weren't exactly sure what he was famous for. After spending the day here, we were much wiser. Booker was born a slave in 1856 on the Burroughs tobacco plantation. This was not a rich plantation; the owner and his family worked side by side with the 10 slaves that they owned. It consisted of 207 acres, half of which was unused and the other half, divided by the zig-zag, split rail fence, provided grazing for livestock or was planted into crops. Only 5 acres was used to grow tobacco but it is a very labour intensive crop, hence the need for slaves.

Car & Carriage Caravan Museum was also located at Luray Caverns. It was filled with lots of neat old vehicles including a few rare cars. I'm standing in front of one of the newer ones, a 1927 Bugatti. Others included an 1892 Benz and a 1914 Locomobile as well as the usual Model A's and Model T's. Personally I'd prefer a 2007 model.

Another unique formation known as "Fried Eggs" - looks appetizing, doesn't it?

Stalacpipe Organ - world's largest and oldest musical instrument (lithophone) and the only one of its kind that produces music from stone formations. Stalactites of various sizes produce tones when electronically tapped with rubber-tipped mallets. The tones are similar to those of xylophones, tuning forks or bells and the song it plays is "A Mighty Fortress is our God". It was invented by Leland Sprinkle in 1956. Giant's Hall consists of stalactites, stalagmites and columns (which are formed when stalactites and stalagmites meet and grow together). Saracen's Tent - an example of a drapery formation.

Dream Lake - this formation is our favourite. The stalactites hanging from the roof are reflected in an 18 inch deep mirrored pool giving it a really unique look.

November 3 - Luray Caverns, VA. This is a truly amazing place - filled with stalactites and stalagmites some of which are over 7 million years old. Stalactites grow at a rate of 1 cubic inch every 120 years so it's slow going. As long as the formations feel "wet", they are still growing. The tour itself is 1.25 miles long and took us to a depth of 164 feet below ground level. The Caverns were discovered in 1878. The picture above was taken at the entrance to the cavern. It gives you an idea of how tall some of these formations are.

This is a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from the Shenandoah River Valley. The word that came to mind as we drove along was pastoral.

Dark Hollow Falls - More water usually runs over the falls, but the Southeast is experiencing quite a severe drought this year so water levels are much lower than usual in lakes and rivers. The Governor of Georgia even held a public prayer for rain on the steps of the State Capitol a few weeks ago.

November 2 - Skyline Drive. Front Royal, VA to Mile 65. Shenandoah National Park's scenic roadway, Skyline Drive, follows the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains for 105 miles. It is a narrow mountain road with over 75 scenic overlooks and lots of hiking trails. We hiked to Compton Gap and Dark Hollow Falls that day - about 4 miles total. While there I couldn't get another song out of my head - John Denver's "almost heaven, West Virginia; Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River". It truly is beautiful, but these hardly seem like mountains. They are more like little foothills. Once you've seen the Rockies . . .

Bolivar Heights - one of the many cannons we have seen during our trek south. I think every park in every town has one.

Bolivar Heights. Located right next to Harper's Ferry is Bolivar Heights, the scene of a Civil War battle from September 12-15, 1862 which resulted in the largest Union surrender of the war. The Confederate army, under Maj. Gen. Stonewall Jackson, captured 12,419 Union soldiers. The leader of the Union troops, Col. Dixon Miles, died from wounds inflicted during the battle. Some say he was shot by his own troops who were ticked off by his inept defense. A good example of winning the battle, but losing the war! We were surprised to learn that many Southerners still refer to the Civil War as the "late, great unpleasantness" or, as one of our tour guides called it, "the recent unpleasantness". He also said there was nothing "civil" about the war.

John Brown's Fort. Harper's Ferry is probably best known for John Brown and his 22 associates' failed attack on the federal arsenal and armory in 1859 in an attempt to strike a blow against slavery. They were pinned down by locals in the armory (now known as John Brown's Fort) and captured by Col. Robert E. Lee within 36 hours. Brown was later found guilty of treason and hung. Some see him as a martyr for the abolitionist cause while others consider him a terrorist. All I could think of was that old song "John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave". Couldn't get it out of my head for days!!!

November 1 - Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. You can take the railway away from the man, but you can't keep the man away from the railway - or something like that! Originally the Baltimore & Ohio Rail Line, CSX & Amtrak now use the tracks. It was all I could do to keep Ted from checking the signals located just in front of the tunnel.