Charleston

Today my friend Teresa and I decided to take our kids to Charleston. We decided to visit the Boone Hall Plantation. This is really a beautiful place and the only plantation in this part of the country that is still a working farm. I visited here with my mom and sister about nine years ago, but they've added a lot of features to the farm since then.

The plantation was started in the 1681; however, the current house is the fourth one that has been built here. It was built in 1931 and has been the site for Hollywood movies and television shows (North and South, Queen, The Notebook, Army Wives).

It's famous for the avenue of oaks, planted in 1743, that lead up to the house.

cotton

General Robert E. Lee was a graduate of West Point and well studied in military tactics. One of his defensive strategies was to build ditches. This ditch on the Boone Plantation marked the northern boundary for the defense of Charleston. (I'm including this shot mostly for my brother Erik who is an AP History teacher.)

This is one of the few pictures of Jalen. Because he is a runner, I've started using a leash. He hates it and as soon as he feels it's tug, he throws himself to the ground in a massive tantrum. He spent most of the day in the stroller.

The front of the house features two butterfly-shaped flower gardens. They are kind of wild and natural looking, surrounded by brick walkways. They seem ancient.

One of my favorite parts of the day was a presentation on the Gullah culture. "Gullah" is taken from Angola, the site in West Africa from which many of the slaves were stollen. Since slaves were taken from different regions in Africa, when they got to the States, they spoke different languages and had different customs. The Gullah culture is the result of the mixing of these various cultures and was found in the Low Country part of South Carolina and in Georgia. The presenter explained to us that a person could speak to you using their language and be speaking about you at the same time. It was fascinating to hear the language and realize that some of our modern-day terms originated from this language. According to Wikipedia, "The Gullah are known for preserving more of their African linguistic and cultural heritage than any other African-American community in the United States."

Boone Plantation is unique in the preservation of some of its slave cabins, which were used for sharecroppers well into the 20th century. These cabins have now been modified for tours and also for a Black History in America exhibit. My favorite cabin was the one where they made sweet grass baskets. I remembered these baskets from my last visit. They are amazing.

Miss Nancy was really sweet to Baylie. She has a granddaughter Baylie's age and is already teaching her how to weave baskets. Look at these works of art!

I bought a small basket last time I was in Charleston. I have used it a ton and it still looks like new. However, while at the plantation, I noticed that baskets much smaller than mine are now selling for $50. I'm going to dump the stuff out of mine and hang it on the wall!

We later drove by the beautiful homes of Charleston. We'll have to go back for a walking tour when we have more time. We stopped at a park by the river just to walk around and discovered this water playground. Baylie LOVES water and was in heaven.

Until we had to leave.

It was a great day.