Ellie and family are on this 5-week road trip. They started around July 3 in the Poconos, then worked their way to Florida where they spent a few days on a Disney Cruise and a few days at Universal Orlando, visiting a few parks including the new EPIC Universe. Yesterday morning (July 23) they drove from Orlando to Charleston. Their trip will end around August 11.
Anne and I planned to meet up with them for a few days during this 5-week period. We have visited both Charleston and Myrtle Beach before, so our primary purpose is to catch up with them (or rather the grandchildren). So here we are. (Typing this introduction just past midnight July 23.)
I worked different possibilities on travel plans, including a one-way rental from Charleston to Myrtle Beach. While the costs for the different options were not that far apart, I ended up picking a roundtrip flight to Myrtle Beach, and a rental car from that airport. That would mean we would drive to Charleston from MYR the first day.
Wednesday 7/23. We Lyfted to Newark, arriving at around 7 am. Terminal A doesn't do "touchless ID," so we utilized CLEAR, which we hadn't done for a while. The process has changed since the last time we used CLEAR, and today it worked very well. Terminal A was quieter than I expected, and security was quick - still took longer for luggage to go through these new machines.
United announced they had a technical issue at around 7:50 am, and postponed the 8:00 am departure to 8:45 am. I decided to take a walk within the terminal, and of course they announced the departure will now be pulled forward to 8:25 am, so I had to cut my walk short. These are probably no-win situations, on the one hand passengers don't want to be left in the dark, on the other hand I was glad the plane wasn't delayed as much as expected. The actual wheels up time was 8:48 am, and touchdown was 10:05 am, which makes it an on-time arrival. A generous block time can do that.
We were the first two on the upgrade list when I checked in the day before, and there were two vacant seats, both windows. I decided to opt out of the waitlist, and eventually managed to get seats A and C (empty middle) for the two of us. As Premier 1K I get a free snack - I assume F passengers got served some real food. Overall it was a good flight. The 24-year old A319 (N839UA) has a modern interior. Both the F and regular economy sections were full (well, one empty seat in the latter), but the E+ section was quite empty. The upgrade list was short, and number of people who preboarded was small. All signs that this route is not frequented by frequent flyers.
For our flight the F section was fully occupied, so was the regular economy section (1 vacant seat). The E+ section had many empty seats.
A couple of incidents that thankfully didn't turn into a crisis. (I am piecing them together, so may be in error.) Someone with a Basic Economy seat had two pieces of luggage, and was asked to gate check one (don't know if luggage fee was collected). They were trying to bring the luggage on board. I was wondering/worried what would happen if the luggage isn't scanned into the system, and was debating whether I should mention that to the passenger. Luckily the gate agent saw the tag on the luggage, and the passenger simply handed over the bag. The other incident was someone from regular economy sat in an empty E+ seat. A flight attendant caught it, and had a rather long discussion with the passenger. From what I can tell, she agreed to pay for the "upgrade."
The car rental terminal is a short walk from the airport terminal. The line for Avis/Budget was long, and was moving along slowly. There is a FastBreak counter, but there was no one there. I went to the parking lot, asked around, and was told if I go to the counter someone would come to help. Indeed someone did, and the process was smooth from that point on. Our rental car is a Hyundai Sonata.
The drive from Myrtle Beach was on local roads and state highways. Traffic was okay except when we got close to Charleston, but we were not in a hurry anyway as Ellie wouldn't get to Charleston until around dinner time.
Anne found out we would pass through this town Georgetown which has three museums: Rice, Gullah, and Maritime. So we stopped for a visit. Parking was free, so that's good. There were quite a few cars parking in town, very few people, and the business all seemed quiet. Not sure what to make of this dissonance. When we got to Rice Museum, we found out it was more a store (perhaps there is a museum section, but we decided not to explore). The Gullah Museum is quite small, just one room dominated by quilts dedicated to various luminaries such as Harriet Tubman and Michelle Obama. The displays also put in context some of the tolls slavery unleashed on the African continent. Linguists now consider Gullah an actual language, and there is a Gullah version of the New Testament. We decided to skip the Maritime Museum.
Harbor Walk in Georgetown, SC. It was very quiet today. I wonder how they weather the hurricanes frequent the area (a web search returns = counting the close ones - once every two year).
There are quite a few quilts dedicated to famous African Americans, including this one for Harriet Tubman.
The statistics on the human toll of slave trade are awful. Could that be a factor in the relatively small population in Africa?
The Gullah language is considered a bona fide language by linguists.
A page from the NT Gullah Bible, with the English version in the margins. Romans is one of the most difficult books theologically.
Even the English language (well, some of these words are not English) provides a challenge for many people I always have difficulty distinguishing between "flat white" and "latte," just as "white" and "milky" sound the same.
The Fish and Chips at Georgetown Corner Tavern was a disappointment. Not only were the fish portions small (supposed to be Mahi Mahi), they felt dry. The dish cost $21.
A huge white oak (?) in the municipal parking lot. That these tree can stick around for a couple of hundred years speak to the deep roots they have. These trees live to be hundreds of years old.
When we were about to go into "The Gator Grill" for lunch, some kind soul sitting outside told us it's a bar, and that we could get table service at the Corner Tavern a block away (some irony there). The notable thing about the Tavern is that the Fish and Chips dish consisted of four small pieces (nuggets) of fish and a lot of chips - reminded me on how the dish is served in poorer parts of the UK. The air conditioning gave us some respite from the stifling heat, so that's good. Now I do wonder if the kind soul wasn't an employee of the Tavern.
We checked into the hotel at around 4 pm. We met up with Ellie at about 6 pm at King Claw for dinner. The kids were quite happy to see us. The food was reasonably prices, and quite good. By the time we were done, Everly could barely keep her eyes open, still surprisingly well-behaved. They are staying in downtown Charleston. Anne and I picked a less expensive alternative in the airport area. We stopped by Harris Teeter to pick up a few things, including bug spray.
Fried catfish and chips cost $17 at King Claw. Substituting onion rings cost an extra $2.
Reid had the fried flounder.
Anne and Maisie shared a "crab boil." Snow crab legs, shrimp, and sausage.
Accommodations: Fairfield at Charleston Airport (3 nights).
Thursday 7/24. We started the day having lunch at SNOB (Slightly North of Broadway). Yesterday at Georgetown I was hoping to see a Reuben Sandwich on the menu, but didn't. That was on offer today, so that's what I had. After lunch we went to look at the Pineapple Fountain, which I somehow missed on prior visits to the area (or have forgotten). Without knowing if there is history behind them, I would say the two fountains were not particularly spectacular. Still quite a few tourists, though.
Same fountain included in my prior blog entry on Charleston. There are some new residential building in the area.
It was then to Fort Sumter Liberty Square Visitor Center for a boat ride and a tour of the Fort. (Anne and I have done it before.) The volunteer guide was quite knowledgeable and talked about the Civil War on the way out, and the Revolutionary War on the return trip. Charleston was heavily involved with both.
Our arrival coincided with the flag lowering ceremony at the end of the day. Anne, Kuau, Reid and Maisie all participated. The flag probably didn't mean as much as it did to today's generations, but it was still a good way to remember how people sacrificed in defense of the country (or in the case of the Civil War, their principles). The ranger did mention a few things about the "flag code." A couple of interesting tidbits were that a flag that is dropped and touches the ground didn't have to be retired, and that folding it into the shape of a triangle isn't required in the code.
Fort Sumter used to have 50' high walls which over the years have crumbled and otherwise lowered. The mark on the flag pole (barely visible in this photo) marks how high the walls were.
So they have gone "digital" for their signs? Not sure these displays match the historic nature of the monument.
The flag that was first flow on the Fort had 33 stars.
Flag folding. The end product is a roll.
It was a bit after 5 pm when we were done. Too early to have dinner, and the kids had a long day (they visited the dungeons before meeting up with us), so we parted ways.
Anne and I stopped by Panda Express for dinner before returning to the hotel. We did go out again to Foodlion to pick up some fruit later in the evening.
Friday 7/25. Last time we were here we visited The Magnolia Plantation. Today we visited The McLeod Plantation was about 3 square miles in the 1800s, it's now a historic site of 37 acres. The ground floor of the main house was open to visitors, the rooms were unfurnished, except for a banner here or there describing what life was like when the house was occupied by the McLeods. As part of the admission we were led on an 1-hour tour with a guide. She conducted the tour from a slave's perspective, and no doubt slaves had a hard life; she did mention some assertions were contested by the McLeod family, so she had to tread lightly.
Evidently there used to be this species of Sea Island Cotton that fetched a lot more money than the more common Upland Cotton. The former was susceptible to the boll weevil and is no longer grown in the United States. The guide mentioned some slaves would use the root of the Sea Island Cotton to induce abortion. Slaves didn't have access to medical doctors, and they used available vegetation such as the camphor tree and Spanish moss as herbal remedies.
The main house on the McLeod Plantation. The plantation started in 1851, so lasted a little more than 10 years before the Emancipation Declaration of 1863.
This is known as the Wisdom Oak, or the McLeod Oak. Guide Harriet said it's about 450 years old, the Plantation website says between 300 and 600.
There are two rows of cotton plants on site. This was the first time we saw cotton plants in bloom. These are Sea Island Cotton plants.
Lunch was at a nearby "biscuit" restaurant. Food was filling, and reasonably priced. Afterwards the Garssons stopped by our hotel to make use of the pool. The kids enjoyed splashing in the water.
Ellie wanted to head to downtown Charleston, and we met up afterwards at Home Team BBQ for dinner.
Home Town BBQ.
The place was crowded on a Friday evening. Among other dishes we had the St. Louis BBQ ribs and pulled pork, both were too dry, even with liberal use of the different sauces available.
An anecdotal observation we made was most restaurants were frequently by whites, and we also visited a local supermarket that had mostly black customers. Segregation, by choice or not, is still a reality around Charleston. Our hotel does have a more diverse clientele, as evidenced by the people at breakfast.
We will be heading to Myrtle Beach tomorrow. The available laundry facilities at the hotel come in handy.
Saturday 7/26. It was a travel day - and the travel took less than 2:30 hours. Hotel checkout was around 11 am.
Anne read about these black resorts after emancipation, and wondered if they still exist. So we drove by a few places, and didn't see any. One example was the "Pawley Island Historical District." Indeed there were signs that marked the geographic location of the district, and some signs that describe the various historic houses, but that was it. We are quite sure the old houses got torn down, and new ones built on the old lots.
Pawley Island Historical District. There are many pier-like structures the terminate in sheds. Used for fishing? We saw very few people. Very warm day, and probably many mosquitoes.
We had lunch at Cracker Barrel. The HQ is located in Tennessee, and we are surprised the menus seem to be the same for SC and PA (we picked one in random to check). I can see fried catfish on the menu here, but am somewhat surprised that the dish is available in PA as well.
Ellie's family also took a leisurely drive to Myrtle Beach. They are staying at a Sheraton Resort, we are at a Fairfield Inn that's close by. Dinner was at Pho Claire nearby.
Accommodation. Fairfield Myrtle Beach Broadway at the Beach (3 nights).
Sunday 7/27. Brookgreen Gardens was set up by Archer and Anna Huntington first as a sculpture garden to display works by Anna Huntington and eventually broadened into a wildlife preserve as well. There is a one-hour pontoon narrated boat ride that takes visitors on the channels in the swamp. Today (and the last three weeks per guide) was so hot that most wildlife were hiding to escape the sun, indeed other than an anhinga and a few turtles we didn't see much wildlife. There is a zoo where different animals are displayed - they also hid.
The park is over 9000 acres, so much bigger than MacLeod Plantation. The narration wasn't from an "enslaved" perspective, but how harsh life was for them was made abundantly clear. We also got some idea how rice was grown. Rice culture was prevalent in Western Africa, and bore a lot of similarity to that in this part of the country. Because rice plants grow in flooded fields difficult for machines to work in, the crop quickly became untenable economically when cheap/free labor wasn't available. The guide figured it would take a few hundred years before the area returned to its pre-plantation state.
Brookgreen used to be one plantation, with more than 1,000 enslaved workers. It then split into four. Huntington bought the four to set up Brookgreen Gardens. He was cousin of the other Huntington, of Huntington Library fame.
Ellie's family left soon after the boat ride. Anne stayed in the visitor area (air-conditioned) while I visited the zoo. The video on the history of the Gardens was quite interesting.
The pontoon boat took us on a one-hour tour of the grounds. The guide said this was a preferred way of travel as rides on the roads could be a lot rougher.
"Wood Duck Pair" by Grainger McKoy (b. 1947). Brasswood, metal, glass, oil paint. 1974.
At first I thought this was a nymph as its wings looked undeveloped. Per Google Lens, this is a Eastern Lubber grasshopper which is flightless.
Not sure of its exact name: Golden silk orb-weaver spider? Plentiful around the zoo area. The focusing ability of the iPhone 16 Pro Max is disappointing.
The bald cypress covered by Spanish moss.
Not exactly sure what these ducks are.
Archer and Anna Huntington.
Statue of Diana by Anna Huntington. The glass sculpture behind the statue is by Craig Mitchell Smith.
Anne and I didn't feel like eating much for dinner, so it was McDonald's.
We met up with Ellie's family at her timeshare apartment, and had takeout dinner from Thai Bistro nearby.
Monday 7/28. Anne and I started our day by having lunch. Sea Captain's House by the beach served up pretty interesting dishes. We had dinner (takeout from Olive Garden) with the Garsson kids so their parents could have a short break.
Shrimp and Grits Cake. Not sure if all the sauce should be eaten (I didn't). The waitress later explained that some customers break up the cake and thus able to eat a lot of the sauce.
Yesterday problems at Newark Airport caused UA2630 to be canceled. As far as I could tell they sent any plane that was to leave today. That got delayed by another five or so hours. And they canceled the afternoon departure. I hope things are something back to normal tomorrow.
Tuesday 7/29. Our visit to South Carolina came to an end today. We enjoyed the trip very much, not because we did a lot of things (we didn't), but that we got to spend time with Ellie and her family. The grandchildren are growing up, and will be in worlds of their own soon, so these are precious moments.
MYR is located a few miles from town, and it is a small airport, so getting there wasn't a problem. We left the hotel at around 9:20 am, filled up the rental car, returned it, and went through security just before 10 am. Today wasn't a repeat of yesterday, although I noticed another plane was substituted for our original one. The flight was packed, probably because of yesterday's cancelations, but was otherwise uneventful.
Terminal A was not busy, we took an Uber and got home a little after 1:30 pm. Today Myrtle Beach had a high temperature in the high 80s, Newark was at 98F when we landed.
