(This is part 3 of several. The first day is
here, and the second day is
here.)
I was awakened by the sound of a garbage truck banging against a dumpster. We were soon up, dressed, and heading down to the lobby for a donut. Then off again, across the Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge, and thus through Charleston. We headed south on US 17, toward Beaufort. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, with a slight breeze. We rolled southward, enjoying the views of marsh, palmetto, and pine forest.
We soon found ourselves at the ruins of Prince William's Parish Church, known now as the Old Sheldon Church. It was a Greek Revival style building, completed sometime between 1745 and 1753. It was later burned by the British in 1779. It was rebuilt in 1826, and then later was burned or gutted in 1865 or 1866. Some have said that Sherman's forces burned it, but others say that the interior was merely torn up and the wood used to rebuild homes that Union forces had burned. Others suggest that freed slaves burned or destroyed it. Today all that is left is the brick walls, surrounded by a graveyard and huge live oak trees. We walked around and looked at the dates on the graves. Since there was a tour bus erupting people into the church yard, we decided to go on down to Beaufort.
Beaufort, SC is a picturesque Southern town, not far at all from the sea. It is in the heart of the lowcountry. We drove into town on the main street and quickly found a place to park. We worked our way up the street, going into random shops, until we found ourselves in a store that sells antique and used books. After browsing around (we saw a set of books used in a movie -- more in a moment), Rachel selected an autographed cookbook by a famous local author, while I found a book about gnomes. The woman who was running the store told us that we needed to go see the old homes in the historic district. But first we had to find the post office and St. Helena Episcopal Church.
St. Helena is also quite old; the church was formed in 1712 and the building was built of brick (most of which was balast material from ships) and stucco; it was completed in 1724 -- which makes it one of the oldest churches still in existence in the US. Today it is surrounded by a brick wall and a graveyard. The interior is absolutely magnificent. It is served by two priests and two deacons -- there are Episcopal churches in much larger cities with fewer clergy on staff than this. I noted with interest that the main service of the day is Rite I (for you non-Anglicans, that's the traditional language version). I can only imagine how heavenly the music is. Interestingly, the nave looked much like any other American church, with a three-sided balcony and pews and kneelers throughout, but the chancel area was unusual for an Episcopal church. There wasn't a choir loft, and actually it reminded me more of Methodist chancels than Episcopal ones.
We walked back to our car, pausing to eat lunch at a wonderful barbecue place on Main Street. I tried their South Carolina Mustard sauce, and it was heavenly. Easily the best barbecue I've had in a long, long time.
Upon returning to our car, we discovered that in our haste to see the town, I'd forgotten to feed the meter. The Traffic Commission of Beaufort, South Carolina left their greetings fluttering under the windshield wiper -- all $10 of it. So we went and paid that and then went to see the houses that the lady in the bookstore had recommended.
One of the houses in town is the mansion that was used as the set for The Big Chill. I had seen a set of books in the book store that was used as a prop. The house is gated and at the end of a dead-end street, right on the waterfront, and surrounded by huge live oaks and other greenery. So you can't really see it that well.\
We decided we'd seen about all there was to see in Beaufort, so we headed on down toward Savannah and Tybee. A short time later we were driving down Bay Street in Savannah, trying to keep from getting run over by the 18-wheelers that were trying to take their half out of the middle. The street is narrow, despite being four lanes, and the parked cars along the sides force the large trucks and busses toward the middle.
Tybee Island is relatively flat. To this Alabama native, used to the white sand beaches of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, the Atlantic coast was a huge let-down. Their sand is an ugly grey, with bits of sea shells ground up in it. We did get to see the lighthouse, which is pretty cool, but unfortunately, they're closed on Tuesdays -- the day we were there. The beach defense batteries, built in the 1880s and 90s, are right across the street. I made sure to pay the meter here, and we went to walk on the beach.
We finally decided to go back to Savannah and check into our hotel and then see about maybe taking a bus tour. We were checked in and ready to go by about 4:15. We took the 90-minute round trip, with an option to get on and off all we wanted the next day. It wasn't as informative as the carriage ride in Charleston had been; it seemed to be more focused on showing us where things were. Still, it gave us an idea of where we wanted to go and do the next day.
After the tour, we returned to the hotel, got our car, and went to the Shrimp Factory on River Street for dinner. I had a really good Cajun shrimp and rice dish, and Rachel had one that looked like shrimp with crab cakes. ("It was stuffed shrimp," Rachel says.) After all that, we debated going out for a drink, but as we couldn't find a parking place, we ended up going back to the hotel. Thus ended the best day we'd had so far.
