So Singular in Each Particular
If you’re interested in the Southern History and plantations of the South, Charleston has a number of places you can visit. Drayton Hall was my choice as it’s been unrestored, it’s pretty much as it was left and while you’re not seeing lots of furniture and period reproductions that try to capture the history… you do get to see the building as it was built.
I was short on time so didn’t take a tour indoors. I did get a good walk around the exterior. It’s a great place to visit.
My time in Charleston ended up being a little bit limited by weather, by proximity to the sights, by budget but most importantly by WordSesh, a WordPress event I had the privilege of participating in but which was so cool, all my sightseeing went out the window in favour of sitting in on all of these awesome sessions. OK, so you’re probably not a WordPress nerd like me… but if by some strange quirk you ARE… here’s the link to the WordSesh play list… and here’s the link to the roundtable I was a part of…
HOWEVER
I did spend a day walking (seriously, walking EVERYWHERE) around the historic district of Charleston. A totally gorgeous city with beautiful architecture.
One of the things you learn when you’re traveling around the South is that you don’t go to Savannah to see the plantations, save that for Charleston (I did). But I did really want to see the Live Oak liked drive at Wormsloe Plantation and so hired a car to duck out there for the afternoon.
Worth it.
There’s no plantation house to tour or visit, it’s long ago ruined, but the park is lovely to walk round, the guides thoroughly knowledgable and the beautiful drive just doesn’t disappoint…
The late afternoon is the perfect time to visit Fort Pulaski on Cockspur Island in between Savannah and Tybee Island. The shadows are long which somehow makes this marvelous edifice more imposing… couple that with the fact that at this time of year, at that time of day, there were very few people here exploring. Imposing, eerie… it fits.
The fort marked a turning point in military tactics. It looks so impressive, but it wasn’t strong under fire… the advent of the rifle barreled cannon whose accuracy and power across distance rendered its fortifications virtually useless… Fort Pulsaki with its 11ft walls was thought to be impentratable… it was not, under these new fangled guns…
Let’s just call it the Titanic of the Southern War effort and leave it at that…
