A Western Easterner (or is it an Eastern Westerner?) Goes South

Charleston is just as charming as everyone says it is. It is beautiful and elegant and so full of contradictions. We have done quite a bit of walking around, and we took the well-known Gullah history tour of the city.  The bus driver told us so much interesting history about the city, and even though we were with him for more than two hours, there is obviously so much more to know. What a complicated city. It is so genteel here--and everyone seems very dressed up and well mannered compared to Boston--but for all its elegance, it is impossible for me not to think about slavery ALL THE TIME. This city was pretty much ground zero for the slave trade, and to see so many locations related to that history was stunning. Hearing about slave history, and how intertwined it is here in every building, was interesting and unsettling.  It was illuminating to hear someone who grew up here, as a direct descendant of those slaves, describe Charleston as such a wonderful place, and seem so at peace with how complicated it is. He even defended Strom Thurmond to someone on the bus, and said it was black voters who kept him in office more than white voters, because in his own way he improved life for South Carolina's Black citizens. My head was spinning. It is all obviously so much more complicated than a quick visitor can understand. 

My Bike in Charleston

A Porch in Charleston

We also went into Beaufort, which turned out to be also charming and beautiful. The sun finally came out and we finally had a day mild enough to ride our bikes, and it was a great way to explore this beautiful city. We saw the house that was used both for the movie Forrest Gump and also for The Big Chill. It's just a lovely city, and  was was pretty cool to be there.

Beaufort is Beautiful

 We also got a chance to go to St Helena Island, near Beaufort,  to visit the Penn Center, which is the unofficial cultural headquarters of the Gullah people. These people are directly descended from the African slaves who were brought to an area from around Wilmington North Carolina, down to Jacksonville Florida, and they still are a distinct people with their own heritage and dialect. The Penn Center is the site of the first school for freed slaves, and many generations of people were educated there and learned trades there. 

A Church on Saint Helena Island

We made a little side trip to Augusta, which was off our southern coastal path. We visited with a couple we had met several times in Boston. They are close friends of good friends of ours, and John is the brother of someone Bob used to work with, whom he admired greatly. We had such a wonderful visit with them, and it was an important piece of our education about how people live. John and Ann have six children, and eighteen grandchildren, and they all live within a five mile radius. All six of their kids,  and all six spouses, came to meet us, and the sixteen of us went out to dinner to celebrate Ann's birthday.  Their life is incredibly rich and filled with love. Like many of the people Bob has worked with at Healthcare for the Homeless, their lives are centered around their Catholic faith and their dedication to serve the poor.  We had some wonderful conversations that touched on many of the most profound questions of human life.  It was just an extraordinary visit, and well worth the zig-zag travel.  It is my hope that we can continue to follow the principle that the trip, while somewhat organized, should take us where our interests lead us, even if it doesn't always follow a plan...especially when it reveals something so rich about how people live.

From Augusta we went back on our "path" to Savannah, where we visited people who are also connected to Healthcare for the Homeless. They live in the Boston area for six months and in Savannah for six months (I'll let you guess which six months where).  They are in love with Savannah, and they went out of their way to show us every corner. They live on an island, and they took us to other islands, every part of downtown, and everywhere else. We particularly enjoyed going to Bonaventure cemetery,  to the museums downtown, and to some great local restaurants. I think we had a better "overview" of the city than we would have had if we had been there on our own. It was remarkable for us, because it showed us a kind of elegant Southern living that we probably wouldn't have understood if we had been camping nearby. Each piece, and each visit, fills in a little bit more for me of the Southern Puzzle.

Bonaventure Cemetary

Bonventure

Today we are in Amelia Island, just exactly across the Florida border. Remember those pictures of the wild and beautiful island where JFK Jr got married? That is right across a little bit of water from here, and it is on the border between Georgia and Florida. We are in a state park, and it is quite simply one of the most beautiful campgrounds  we have ever seen. It may be the first of many instances in which Florida is different in reality than it is in my mind.

Bob bikes ahead on Ameila Island

I'm both a Westerner and an Easterner, but in neither place have I learned much about the "real" South.  I'm trying to stay open minded and open hearted, and hope after a few more weeks I hope  I'll have a little bit more of an understanding of what it's all about.
I'm sorry this is so long!  I'll have to try to figure out what's worth writing about and what isn't. Bear with me!


I'm thinking about each of our friends and family a lot... and hope you'll call or email sometimes!

xoxo
Sharon