Gittin' Outa Dodge

We started off Friday morning with another great, complimentary breakfast at the “Best Western” here in Charleston. (I think we’ll have to do TWO-DAYS’-WORTH of walking today to make up for last night’s dinner and this morning’s breakfast!) The gracious woman staffing the breakfast was on duty again today, and I remembered to ask her name. It is Linda. Thanks for all your great helps and for the good-bye hug, too, Linda!

On our way “out of Dodge…aka Charleston” we stopped at “Drayton Hall”: the oldest unrestored plantation house in America open to the public. Prior to our guided tour of the house, we attended an interactive program about African-American life in Charleston. (This was supposed to be presented outside, but due to the rain it was moved in to the Library. As far as I was concerned, that was a perfect decision!) The program focused on the connections and contributions of African-Americans. The guide’s presentation, the historical documents, photographs, and artifacts gave us great insight into the lives of the slaves and freedmen of Drayton Hall. Then we met with a new guide, Peggy, who took us on a tour of the Drayton Hall mansion. Drayton Hall stands alone as the only authentic survivor of the Ashley River’s colonial past. The amazing house, circa 1738, is a National Trust Historic Site and is intact and in near-original condition. Of all the historic houses we’ve toured so far, this guide, Peggy, was one of the best, if not the best. She was experienced, “knew her stuff”, and combined historical facts with interesting tidbits and humor. Although the mansion is not restored with time-period furnishings, paintings, etc., Peggy had us all captivated as she brought the house to life with her recounting of the history and stories about the generations of the Drayton family. The architecture was impressive, but my favorite feature of the house was in the “family room” on walls on both sides of a door. On the wall on the right side were markings showing “growth marks” for heights of the Drayton children as they grew up. These recordings included not just names, but also THE DATES! Wowie-zowie! One of the Drayton females never married and had no children, so not to be left out, on the wall on the left side were markings showing the heights of her dogs! Ha! The historic landscape surrounding Drayton Hall is also undisturbed and beautiful. We saw parts of the landscape near the house, but it was just too cold and damp to walk the whole area. I was honestly glad to get back to the car for the heat, but still was so glad we had visited Drayton Hall.
Next we drove to Dennis and Mimi’s house in Myrtle Beach. Their new house is beautiful and in a wonderful neighborhood, too. We arrived around 5:30 PM intending to take Dennis and Mimi out to dinner, but Dennis had already prepared a SUPER dinner of pork, sauerkraut, applesauce, and salad…yum! (Thanks, Dennis and Mimi!) We stayed up too late talking and talking. We are so glad to be here spending time with Dennis and Mimi!