Beaufort, SC Visit

Last year we tried to visit downtown Beaufort, SC but we could only get as far as the Piggly Wiggly as there was a HUGE parade that was 2 miles long! This year, we lucked out and got to visit St. Helena’s Episcopal Church before a bunch of 6^th graders were coming in…we were all a 6^th grader at one time so we know what they’re like! In any event, we had the docent all to ourselves and he was wonderful.

St. Helena was related to Constantine and was sainted because she went to Jerusalem and found the cross of Jesus. (We didn’t think to ask what she did with it!) The parish is VERY active and if we lived there, we would become Episcopalians. Once a week they bake 150 dozen cookies for the prisoners of their jail ministry. There are 60 people who volunteer to be the docents for the month and they are split between morning and afternoon. They have all kinds of choirs and the organ is not electric like so many churches these days. A hurricane had taken out the back wall but the altar remained intact.  Here are pics of the outside and inside.

The church has a rich Revolutionary War history as well as a Civil War one. It is rumored that the flat tombs were used as hospital beds but the docent said there was little truth to that. After the box stalls were ripped out and a boarded floor from balcony to balcony made, the inside of the church was used for Confederate soldiers to recuperate. During the Reconstruction, this baptistry was found in three parts and put back together.

They also retained the Communion chalice from the 1700’s and our docent was able to take Communion from that cup. He was very emotional talking about it.

A doctor is buried in this tomb.

Before he died, he requested that when it came time for his burial, they would place a loaf of bread, bottle of wine and a pick ax in the tomb, just in case he wasn’t really dead! I can identify with that because there are so many times medical staff cannot get a blood pressure on me!! You know, also, how I feel about bread and wine!

There were Confederate generals buried here as well, and the trees among the grave sites have unique personalities.

If you are interested, you can read about the church here. 
http://www.sthelenas1712.org/index.php?page=history

We then went in search of the “Secession House”. As you can see, we found it! 

It had a lovely curved marble staircase going up to the front porch, which apparently I didn't capture. It was here that the papers were drawn up for South Carolina to be the first State to secede.

Because I am reading a book about some black stars of the Civil War, we were off to find the house formerly owned by a slave named Robert Smalls. 

Jackpot!

Robert Smalls was forced to be on the Confederate ship, The Planter, and he asked his fellow slaves to help him hijack the ship. When the white crew left the boat one evening, he piloted the ship out of the harbor safely past other Confederate gunneries and when he got close to Ft. Sumter, he raised a white flag and surrendered all the guns on board to the Union forces. He went on to become a Congressman. You can read more about him here.

http://www.robertsmalls.com/history2.html

We finished our visit by returning to Piggly Wiggly and nothing had changed since last year…we even had the same cashier! It was a fun morning. Hope you enjoyed the trip as much as we did.

May 20th Visit to Frampton Plantation and Old Sheldon Church

May 19^th we headed for South Carolina. The trip was uneventful except for pouring down rain near Savannah. Every time we have been in South Carolina it has rained and this trip is no exception. We are staying at the The Oaks at South Point in Yemassee. Point South was recognized as a strategic place of occupying and defending Lee’s position as Union forces tried, during the course of the Civil War, to capture the Savannah/Charleston rail line which is close by. The word “Yemassee” comes from the Muscogean tribe and is believed to mean “gentle”.  The Yemassee Indian War of 1715 was not too gentle, me thinks. Monday we went in search of historical markers, an old church and anything that might have to do with the Civil War. 

The Frampton House was originally built in the 1700’s but General Sherman’s Union forces burned it in 1865, along with all the farm buildings. The current house was rebuilt in 1868 and is a museum and gift shop. Behind the house are earthworks constructed by General Lee’s troops to make the high ground more defensible. This area is called “Low Country” and they have their own way of cooking!

Follow along the trail of our discoveries with us through our Web Album

https://picasaweb.google.com/118013797467047077954/YemasseeMarkersOldSheldonChurch?authkey=Gv1sRgCLSzvYz-yvGntAE

Low Country Cooking

http://www.coastalliving.com/food/dinner-in-a-breeze/taste-lowcountry-00400000001730/

Sinful Motorcycle!

Arrived at Lazydays May 13^th for our service appointment the next day, Monday.

It was so nice not to have to cook for a week. The Crown Club feeds us well. With our coach being in a service bay for six days, we had to amuse ourselves by looking at other vehicles. Most of our blogging fans saw the pics on Facebook of the Winnebago Tour that we both fell in love with so I won’t put them in this blog. However, this was a vehicle not soon to be forgotten! We never saw the owner and it never moved from its spot. What do you think?

Wauchula

We began our journey in Wauchula, May 8, 2013. Wauchula means “bird-in-the-nest” derived from the Seminole’s language. When a census was taken in 1907, there were 1,001 residents…the “1” being an African American. I am very interested in meanings of words, American Indians, “blacks”, trees and the Civil War. This adventure will take us to all these interests I hope. We had a river site this time and were all alone for a while on the banks of the Peace River. Our son, Gene, joined us the next day. In the afternoon, we discovered this in the river…

We weren’t sure if he got hit by an air boat or if he died of old age. The park manager was very quick to take care of the situation. She was a lot braver than we would have been with live gators in the water. Kudos to Lee!

One of the trees we admire has quite a personality. What do you think?

Mother’s Day at Wauchula was great. We ate well, enjoyed a fire and each other’s company. 

May 13th it's off to Lazydays.

On the Road Again

Wednesday is the big day. We hop in the 2013 Phaeton and drive to Wauchula, a/k/a Peace River, one of our favorite spots in Florida. We won't pick this site again because the trees were VERY messy. Gene will meet us there on Thursday. The 13th we will leave for Lazydays to have minor repairs done before we leave on our trip north. We intend to combine more Civil War places with even more vineyards! We hope you'll come along on the adventure with us.