Most touring days (as opposed to travel days), I arrive the night before, wake up, tour, and then spend the night in the same place. Today was different. I toured in Charleston all day and then traveled an additional 2 hours in order to get down to Hilton Head. This was a change from my original schedule. I had forgotten that I have family in Hilton Head, so I didn't factor that into my original schedule.
But backing up. Mac, my friend's dad who I stayed with last night took me out to breakfast this morning. I hadn't factored that into my schedule, but I figured it wouldn't make much difference. Wrong. I arrived at the ferry terminal for Fort Sumter at 9:45. It was then that I realized why I had planned to get there at 9:15. The ferry left at 9:30, 12:00, and 2:30. There are additional departures from the Point Pleasant location, but that was a 15 minute drive in the wrong direction. So last minute rearranging of schedule, no big deal.
Original stop #2 was about half a mile away and opened at 10:00. Perfect. So I walked over there. It was the Aiken-Rhett House. The house is different from most other historic homes I've visited because they aren't working to restore it. Rather, they're working to preserve it. There is a distinct difference. It's interesting to see the actual state of the house when the preservation society got a hold of it rather than what happens after the paint is restored and fixtures are replaced, etc. They do an audio tour at the house, which I like and I think is a very smart way to do it. It may be a bit cost prohibitive up front, but I think it ultimately is a smarter way to run these tours. You can get more people through without having to staff tours. They do staff a few docents around the place, so if you have questions, they're there to answer them. Well, during the tour of the house, I noticed that it started raining. Not hard, but definitely steady. So when I was finished, I whipped out my umbrella and decided I could brave the half hour walk back to the Fort Sumter ferry terminal. And then the torrential downpour started. And didn't stop for a while. I ended up walking up and standing on some random residential porch for a while until it let up a bit. A tiny umbrella can only do so much.
So, I made it back to the ferry terminal right around 11:30, bought my ticket, toured the museum and boarded the ferry toward the island where Fort Sumter is located. They started with a "historic talk", which went on too long, and then everyone had time to explore the island. For some reason (well, let's be honest, it's pretty obvious why), I was reminded of a class that I took in college. It was third year and all engineering students were required to take one Technology, Culture, & Communication class. There was a very wide range of the classes you could take - things like "Technology and Music", or "The Technology of News", or "The History of NASA." For some reason (probably because it fit into my schedule), I took "Technology in War and Peace" or something like that. Well, I don't actually have much of an interest in military history, so I quickly realized that I hated the class. Walking around Fort Sumter, I had a bit of the same feeling. I like historical monuments, but military history doesn't cut it much for me. So it wasn't my favorite stop of the entire trip, but it was fine.
After taking the ferry back over to the mainland, I drove down Market Street and went the the Calhoun Mansion. Interesting place. It was built sometime (seriously - I can't be expected remember all these dates), the owner had to sell it cause he lost his money, and then the navy used it during some war (World War I, maybe?) as a hospital. And then it was abandoned for a while during the 60's. And finally someone bought it and restored it. And then the current owner bought it. He still lives there, but it's open for tours. Now, it's another one that's not restored in the classical sense. The walls, the ceilings, the light fixtures - all of that is restored. But the furniture and the decorations? Well, he's done his own thing. And his own thing is apparently antiques - lots and lots of antiques. The place is reminiscent of the Hearst Castle in that there is stuff everywhere and it doesn't all go together. There are themes in some of the rooms, but the themes are like "wildlife" and "religion," so the items in a given room are from a variety of time periods, and a variety of places. Definitely a little bizarre. The house still is pretty amazing though. And I'm sure some people love all of the antiques. I just find it overwhelming and disjointed. Oh, but scenes from The Notebook were filmed at this house, so that was cool. It functioned as Ally's parents' house. Now I want to go back and watch the movie again.
From there, I drove along South Battery, just checking out the pretty houses and then out to Ashley River Road. There were two places back there that I wanted to go and knew I probably wouldn't have time for both. My first choice was Drayton Hall, but they had closed about half an hour before I got there. Oops. So I went to Magnolia Plantation instead, just down the road. Easy enough. The big draw of this place is the gardens. I'm not one for gardens, but they were pretty. If you like gardens, I definitely recommend going. I did take a couple pictures of the lake and whatnot. I think scenes from The Notebook were filmed here as well - definitely should have been. The plantation house is actually the 3rd house on the grounds. The first one was struck by lightning and burnt down in 1811 (see how I am capable of remembering dates?), then the second was burnt down by those damn yankees in 1865. And this one has stood there since. There was a significant expansion in 1918, so you can still see the original portion and the expansion. You know, a lot of people think that most southern plantation mansions are like Tara in Gone with the Wind. They're not. They don't have that huge stairway and huge ballroom. They're nice, but much more like working farm houses. Maybe with a nice big parlor and beautiful dining rooms, but they're not "party" houses like the Newport Mansions are.
I finished up at the Magnolia Plantation and started my drive down to Hilton Head. It was a pretty easy drive expect that the rain showers followed me. I definitely drove through some pretty heavy showers. At one point, it was really weird - I just drove beyond the edge of the shower. One second it was pouring, the next second, nothing. Odd.
So I arrived here around 7 PM, right on time. I'm staying with my dad's cousin and his wife. And it just so happens that their daughter, my second cousin, who is about 2 months older than I am, is here visiting too. So I got to catch up with them and we went out to a local seafood place for dinner. Tomorrow, I'm driving down to Savannah and touring there. I've never been, so it should be interesting.
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