Charleston, Day 4

We attended church at a local ward before visiting two more historic plantations known for their gardens.
 
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens is known for its gardens in the Romantic style, which were designed in the 1840s and tries to look natural. They preserved four of their former slave quarters, each in different eras, to tell the story of those who lived there over the generations and gave a great tour telling their stories. Another highlight was their wetlands area with short trails that allowed us to (safely) see cranes, turtles, and alligators sunning in the middle of a pond!

The preserved slave quarters.

A gorgeous oak tree on the grounds.

The iconic pedestrian bridge

The alligator sunning on the wooden ramp in the pond was joined by a few turtles.

Our last stop was up the road at Middleton Gardens. In contrast to Magnolia Plantation, Middleton’s Gardens were in the English style with trimmed hedges, straight lines, and symmetrical gardens. Their azalea hedges were stunning in the afternoon sun, and the gardens were massive with plenty of areas to explore. The family played an important role in US History, including a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Unfortunately, a descendant also signed a famous document–the South Carolina Ordinance of Secession. It’s for this reason that Union troops explicitly targeted the house just before the end of the Civil War as part of their destruction along the Ashley River, aided by newly-freed slaves. Fire gutted the house and the remaining walls collapsed in an earthquake in 1886, so the front steps are intact with piles of bricks to either side creating a powerful image and quite a contrast with the surrounding manicured gardens. As with the other estates, some slave quarters were preserved or restored, and here it was a bit more living history of making baskets and barrels, etc., as well as a demonstration rice area along the river.

Near the entrance to the gardens.

Azalea hedges for days

The remains of the main house. It was burned and ransacked in 1865, but the 1886 earthquake knocked down the walls.

View from the front porch toward the Ashley River

Entrance to one of the side gardens

A wall of azaleas framing one of the formal ponds.

In all, a great note to end our trip on as we began the drive back to Arlington–with another stop at Buc-ee’s, of course.

Postscript: Without any planning or discussion, the last morning of our trip we ended up wearing matching shirts!

surprise twinning

Charleston, Day 3

Not surprisingly, the streets were quiet the morning after St. Patrick’s Day–the perfect time for a walking tour of the historic area! There was also a light rain, but it seemed to make the pastel colors of Charleston’s buildings pop even more. Our guide was excellent at weaving together centuries of history (the good and the evil), notable individuals, and the stories behind some of the standout homes and buildings. We saw the streets that inspired “Porgy & Bess” during Charleston’s renaissance, and learned why some of the old homes had fake front doors on the side. All in all, a great morning.

Saint Michael's Church--one of the oldest in Charleston and sporting Tiffany windows

One of the beautiful homes

The city's old lots were long and narrow, so for these homes the "front" porches were on the side with a door leading into the home. These "hospitality doors" opened onto the porch. The second story's porch ceiling is painted blue, another Gullah tradition to keep away evil spirits (and apparently insects and birds).

French Huguenot Church, still holding services in French

For lunch, we visited Bertha’s. It’s outside the historic downtown so a bit of a drive, but this soul food restaurant was recognized with a James Beard award and the chicken was delicious.

Bertha's Kitchen

After lunch and closer to downtown, we visited the Charleston Museum. It’s the first museum in America and had a little bit of everything–history of South Carolina’s Low Country (with an emphasis on the Civil War), natural history with an emphasis on birds, textiles, even an Egyptian mummy. It truly gave me a greater appreciation for the city and its surroundings, but I also have to give them props for a clever artifact placement–in the ladies room there was a historic chamber pot on display.

Dinner was an encore at Rodney Scott’s–it was that good! This time I had potato salad and hush puppies for my sides. And it was great fuel for our evening’s activity: a Pirates and Ghost tour of the historic downtown. Charleston is a colorful town in more ways than one, and it was fun to hear the local myths and legends while seeing additional parts of town all lit up at night. I also encountered a “map in the wild” in a hotel lobby–a Charleston couch!

Loved their fabric choice!

Charleston, Day 2

We had an early start to ensure we were in the first group to visit Fort Sumter. In all my history classes I’d missed that the fort was built on an island, and the ferry ride to it was a great chance to see the Charleston waterfront from a different perspective. As the first group, we got to help with the flag raising, and then had about an hour before taking the ferry back. The Fort was decimated, first by the Confederates attacking it and then by the Union retaking it, so there’s not a lot left to actually see but helpful signs and a small museum. A mortar shell that’s still embedded in an inner brick wall was a powerful reminder that this remains the most bombed place in America.

Approaching Fort Sumter

Successfully raised the flag

Mortar embedded on an inside brick wall in Fort Sumter

Our lunch stop was suggested by my brother Devan: Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ. It was delicious with a fun atmosphere, and when I mentioned my brother’s love of smoking meats, the staff graciously arranged for us to have a quick peek behind the scenes after the lunch rush. The pitmasters that day were awesome and rightfully took pride in their work, and it was so cool to see how our meal was made.

My favorite BBQ in Charleston

Lunch!

The pitmaster at work

Where the BBQ magic happens

Full of delicious food, we made our way to Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens. My favorite part of the grounds was the long Avenue of Oaks draped in Spanish Moss, but I appreciated their acknowledgement of its dark history alongside all the beauty.

Avenue of the Oaks

Outside the slave quarters, Gullah bottle trees are meant to capture evil spirits

I learned that in this region, it was rice that was the main crop, not cotton, hence its location right on a river. Their method of rice production was incredibly labor intensive and dangerous (i.e. snakes and alligators), and only possible with enslaved labor. This plantation also made their own bricks, so as a way of flaunting their wealth they built their slave quarters out of brick and were just off the Avenue of Oaks as you approached the main house. The main house today was only built in the 1930s, but the original slave quarters now have an educational area with a brief presentation on Gullah culture. Taking a quick tour of the grounds we learned how it still functions as a farm today and as a popular filming location, with the most famous probably being “The Notebook” and the miniseries “North and South.”

A filming spot from "The Notebook"

Boone Hall is on the outskirts of town and we opted to go to nearby Sullivan’s Island for dinner. It was probably calmer than downtown Charleston, but St. Patrick’s Day and a Friday meant the main drag was lively. Afterward we visited a beach and it was fun getting to put my feet in the sand, but it was way too cold and windy to stay there for long.

Spring Break in Charleston: Day 1

At BYU we didn’t have spring break, so when the class I taught at GW had theirs, I felt like I had to take advantage of it and go somewhere. That “somewhere” turned out to be a road trip down to Charleston, South Carolina. On the drive down we stopped at my first-ever Buc-ee’s to refuel and be blown away at the scale of their operations and cleanliness of their bathrooms. Succumbing to billboards, we also stopped along the “Pecan Trail” in Florence at ChocoBella for some delicious chocolate and gelato in a quaint downtown that looked like the setting of a Hallmark movie.

So much more than a gas station.

 

Arriving in Charleston in the afternoon, we visited White Point Garden and walked along the waterfront past Rainbow Row and Broad Street just as the sun was setting. We stopped by Peninsula Grill for slices of their famous coconut cake, and for dinner I had delicious shrimp and grits at a place by the water.

Azaleas and oaks in White Point Garden

Handy plaque along the waterfront

Rainbow Row

Broad Street sunset

The famous pineapple fountain

Peninsula Grill's Ultimate Coconut Cake--one of the best I've ever tried!

Shrimp and grits for dinner

Switzerland, etc.: Familiar Places, New Spaces—and LOTS of Chocolate in Between

How do you turn down an invitation to visit a friend when they're posted at the US Embassy in Switzerland? I saw a few Swiss highlights during my Study Abroad in 2000, but was excited to return with my travel buddy to visit the "Hotel Alto" and see a few new places. I made another StoryMap to map my trip: https://arcg.is/1yOTrO0

Papa Koenigs 80th Birthday Jamboree

In 1961, my dad and a friend hopped in their car and drove from Los Angeles to go camping in Sequoia National Park. For his 80th birthday in July, I wanted to go back and see if we could recreate some of his photos (and selfishly, to visit the park myself for the first time).

 As his Christmas present, I made my dad a StoryMap of our trip, which you can view here:

https://arcg.is/1j1OS9

 

Harmony Road Trip: Church History and other Pennsylvania Highlights

With our church's focus in 2021 on the Doctrine & Covenants and things starting to slowly reopen, my travel buddy Kara and I considered resuming our annual Memorial Day Weekend trips and continuing the Church history theme of our previous years. Next up: the small town of Harmony in northeast Pennsylvania. Members of our faith believe many significant religious events took place there, and while it didn't take long to see it, it was well worth the visit. We booked the last tour of the day to make the most of the trip up there (i.e. enjoy ice cream), and spent the night in nearby Scranton, PA before returning via a state park full of waterfalls. I've had a few trips to Pennsylvania and it always surprises me how much history and beauty are there. You can see the StoryMap here: https://arcg.is/0fSyf4