Bluffton Farmers Market & Foolish Frog

We have slowed down in our touring and are checking out some of the local sights here in the Lowcountry.  Yesterday we drove over to the Bluffton Farmers Market to see what they had there.  We thought it was in a park, however they closed down a city block for the market.  Parking was at a premium and I had to drop Gerry off at the market and then try and find a parking space.  I wound up parking in a no parking area and stayed with the car to avoid getting a ticket.

Gerry managed to find a vendor who had some nice vegetables and picked up some tomatoes, green beans and zucchini.  I did manage to park close enough to the market so I could take a few pictures.  

 The restaurant on the corner near where the man in the pink sweater is walking had a free wine tasting.  We managed to snare a parking space and walked back there for the tasting.  They had 4 wines and I didn't care for any of them, while Gerry liked one that was half price.  It was listed as $24.00 and we thought it was selling for $12.00.  Nope, it was a $48.00 wine that tasted like a $4.00 wine so we passed on it.

We drove around and managed to get past the security gate at a Del Webb homes subdivision called The Haven which is near to Bluffton.  It looked like a nice place with nice size lawn and interesting homes.  That caused us to visit the sales center today and check out some of them.  They had some nice homes available and Gerry's interest is perked up.  Oh Oh!!

After the homes visit we drove down to Beaufort, SC to pick up some shrimp and grouper.  We didn't get there in time and they were closed up tighter than a drum.  There was another shrimp place nearby and we picked up a couple pounds of shrimp at $13.00 lb.  They look mighty good and I think Gerry is going to cook them up on Saturday.  No grouper though, the shop only sold what they caught.

By this time it was late and we stopped for dinner at the Foolish Frog restaurant.  Gerry had the shrimp and penne pasta dinner which she said was just ok.  I ordered Fish Tacos and they were great, the best I've ever had as a matter of fact.  We had fried pickle chips for an appetizer and they were very good also.  The meals were a little pricey, but not excessive.

Foolish Frog interior

 

Bar area at the Foolish Frog

 Then it was back to the motorhome to watch some TV and relaxation.  We enjoy watching The Amazing Race and we finally were able to see an episode of it this season.

That was our day, how was yours? 

Bluffton, SC

The other day on our way back from Hilton Head Island we drove through Bluffton, SC and thought it looked like an interesting little town.   They have a number of old homes, businesses and other historical places to visit and today was our chance to do so.

I looked up the history of the town and pulled the following from a tourism brochure. 

"Beginning more than 250 years ago settlers began making their mark in this pristine wilderness, just north of the Savannah River. But the area was already occupied by a group of over 1,200 indigenous people, the Yemassee Indians, when in 1715 the Yemassee War broke out and after several years of fighting, the tribe migrated to Florida.

Opening the “Indian Lands” to European settlement, the Lords Proprietors carved the area into several new baronies in 1718, including the Devil’s Elbow Barony that contained the future town of Bluffton.

Historic Old Town Bluffton emerged in the early 1800’s in small dwellings atop high river bluffs overlooking the May River. This coastal community grew in popularity during the antebellum period as an escape from the harsh inland plantation conditions in the summer months that often manifested into yellow fever and malaria outbreaks. Strong southerly breezes from the river kept the infectious mosquitoes at bay and made sultry summer days bearable.

The layout of the town's streets in 1830 indicate that it started as a summer haven, and soon developed into a commercial center for isolated plantations in the vicinity that received their goods from Savannah via the May River. The town was a place where children could attend school and planter families could socialize and discuss the politics of the day. Two notable structures reflecting the history and architecture of the time are The Heyward House, circa 1840, and The Church of the Cross.

Literally a hotbed for political rhetoric, in 1844 some of the first cries of secession were first given voice and debate in Bluffton. Incensed planters gathered beneath what became known as the "Secession Oak" (still existing today, but on private property in Bluffton) and the secessionist movement was born. Sixteen years later South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union.

On June 4, 1863, several Union gunboats and a transport carrying 1,000 infantrymen steamed up the river to Bluffton because, as the officer in charge wrote in his report, "This town has been the headquarters for the rebels for a long time in this vicinity." Troops were landed with orders to fire the town. Confederate soldiers attacked but were outnumbered and outgunned. When shelling and torching ended and the Union forces withdrew, 34 or more homes, churches and other buildings had been destroyed.

With the Civil War raging and the occupation of Hilton Head Island and Beaufort by Union forces, the town was mostly abandoned by residents and utilized as a base for Confederate pickets observing Union troop movements. The town was pillaged by Union forces on several excursions up the May River and eventually burned in June of 1863. Although the overall destruction was severe, 75% of the town was destroyed, only 15 homes and 2 churches survived."

The Church of the Cross

A place of worship, beauty and spiritual reflection for over 150 years, The Church of the Cross has played a pivotal role in the Bluffton community since July of 1854, when the present building was consecrated. As one of Bluffton’s oldest surviving buildings, and listed with The National Register of Historic Places since 1975, The Church of the Cross overlooks the May River at 60 Calhoun Street

The Bluffton Oyster Company shucking house is near this spot on the May River.  It is built on oyster shells that have piled up over the past 200 years.  I couldn't get a good photo since the parking lot was full of cars.  The building looks like it could be 200 years old.

 Spa Vino and Restaurant on Calhoun Street.  They have happy hour from 4-7 and we may go back and check it out.  Not the Spa, but the Happy Hour.

We weren't able to tell what this home was, but it was beautiful and had every light on in the place.  It's common down here for the large 2 story homes to have wrap around porches on each floor.  The home was recently sold, however the ad is still out there and shows the rooms and beauty of the house.

Click on the Seven Oaks  ===>  1850 House For Sale   

This ramble shack is called "The Store" and had lots of interesting stuff around and in it.  We hope to go back and check it out further in the next few days.

It was getting late and we stopped at a Publix grocery store for a few items and that in itself isn't that interesting.  However, picking up a Key Lime Pie for dessert is important to us.  Publix makes the best KLP that we have ever tasted and can't resist buying one when we can find them.  It was good for a snack this evening and we still have some leftover.  

That was our day here in sunny and warm South Carolina Lowcountry.  How was your day?

Beaufort & Hunting Island State Park

A vote was taken and the consensus was that a trip to Beaufort, SC was the destination for the day.  We weren't sure what we would find there, but wanted to check it out.  It turned out to be a good move and we enjoyed the area a lot.

The Beaufort Arsenal is now the visitors  center and was the first stop of the day.  Originally constructed in 1799, the brick and tabby arsenal has participated in a number of U.S. wars. During the Revolutionary War, a volunteer company served valiantly. The artillery also saw action during the Civil War during the battle of Port Royal.

Just inside the gate, a series of Civil War era cannons stand as sentinels to the arsenal’s rich history. The two brass trophy guns on display were captured from the British in 1779 and seized by Union soldiers at the fall of Fort Walker in 1861. The museum also features informative exhibits including World War I hand grenades, Confederate sabers and a 1915 machine gun.

The Beaufort Arsenal Museum opens a fascinating window on the past, offering insight into the rich history of the Lowcountry. Historic artifacts on display represent Native American settlements, the earliest 16th-century Spanish settlement, Union occupation during the Civil War and 20th-century phosphate mining, truck farming, fishing, shrimping and oystering industries.

Construction of the Beaufort Arsenal was begun in 1795 and was completed by 1799. The building had deteriorated substantially by 1852, when the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery Company rebuilt the complex.

The Arsenal was once home to the Beaufort Volunteer Artillery, which was organized in April of 1775 and has the distinction of being the fifth oldest military unit in the United States. As part of a 1934 WPA project, the original arsenal building was renovated and enlarged.

Today, the Beaufort Arsenal Museum is open Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is closed on Wednesday and Sundays.  

Dr Henry Woodward (1st permanent settler in South Carolina)

 We picked up some literature there and drove to Hunting Island to check out the state park and campground there.  The campground hosts were very nice and said it was fine to drive around the campground and see if we could find a nice site for us.  There were a number of large sites, along with many that we could not fit into.  The interior roads had trees right next to the pavement and a few areas would be a little difficult for a 40 ft motor home.  If we had time, we would like to come back and spend a week or two in the campground.

The lighthouse and beach are a few miles down the road and that was our next stop.  When we pulled up to the pay station and found out it was $5.00 per person and then $2.00 per person to walk up the lighthouse we decided it wasn't worth it that late in the day.  A quick U turn had us heading back to Beaufort.

Along the way back to Beaufort I noticed a number of shrimp boats at a small dock and decided to check out what they had for sale.  It was an old time place and I felt very much at home there.  I don't care for sterile places with no personality.  

Shrimp boat on way out

Docks and seafood market

This poor fellow decided to snitch a few shrimps and got caught.  He was left out so others could see what could happen to them if they weren't on the straight and narrow path.

They had fresh shrimp on sale for $12.00 a pound and they were nice and large.  We hope to be able to go back with a cooler and some ice and pick up a couple pounds before we leave the area.  Grouper was $15.00 a pound and looked great.  It will also be added to the ice chest and my mouth is watering thinking about some grilled grouper.

All this good food on display made me very hungry and we headed for a local restaurant on main street in Beaufort.  Plum's looked like a nice place and had a reasonable menu so in we went.  It was a little early and we were seated quickly by a window with a river view.  Nice!  The meals were great and everyone decided it was a place we would return to in the future.

The girls decided to do some shopping with the remaining time and thought the shops were interesting.  The only purchase were some fudge and chocolates at the Chocolate Tree.  

The side streets had some great old very large homes and looked to be over 100 years old.  They were beautiful homes with huge windows, wrap around balconies and oak trees wrapped in Spanish Moss.  Quite scenic to say the least.

Major parts of Forrest Gump were filmed in the Beaufort area and also in Savannah and they seemed quite proud of the film.  The shrimp boat scene was filmed nearby the seafood market we stopped at and when we return I hope to stop by and get some pictures of the area.

We all enjoyed the day and were quite impressed with the Beaufort area.  Now we just have to get back there again before we leave here.

Judy and Herb are leaving around 6:45am Tuesday morning on their way back to Arlington, TX.  Herb packed the car Monday night and once they get their coffee fix, they will be on the road quickly.  

*** NOTE ***  Tuesday evening   They arrived in Meridian, MS for the night and are leaving early next morning for the remainder of the trip.

That was our day, how was yours? 

Gracie & The Bonaventure Cemetery

Bonaventure Cemetery is older than 150 years and has been written about in poems, books and  films extensively.  Numerous military generals, Conrad Aiken the poet and Johnny Mercer are among those buried there.  The remains of 344 Holocaust victims are buried in a mass grave near the entrance to the cemetery.

John Berendt's book, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" featured the famous "Bird Girl" statue which was formerly located in the cemetery.  The statue has been moved to the Telfair Museum of Art, founded through the request of Mary Telfair, who is also buried at Bonaventure.  The statue was moved after the book came out due to people chipping away at it to get a souvenir.

Perhaps the most famous person buried there is Gracie Watson.  She was a precocious little girl of six who was loved by many people.  Her father was the manager of the Pulaski Hotel, one of the most prestigious hotels in the south.  Little Grace passed away in 1889 just before Easter due to pneumonia.  As a tribute to his beautiful little girl, Gracie’s father had sculpture John Walz carve a monument to his girl. Using a photograph as reference John Walz scupltued the monument which now sits upon Little Gracie’s grave site out at Bonaventure Cemetery. It is said to be life size and a picture perfect representation of Little Gracie Watson. This hauntingly beautiful monument to Little Gracie has captivated visitors to her grave site for over 100 years. 

People leave toys, candy and little gifts on the family plot for Gracie and it has been said she talks to some of the people who visit the gravesite.  We didn't hear her, but that isn't to say it's not true.  If you want to see the gravesite, it is located in section E.

There is a Jewish section in the cemetery, one for military veterans, politicians and many others.  Some of the headstones are quite elaborate and ornamental.  The one below was quite old and had a lot of Germanic writings on the headstones.

Obviously, this headstone on a family plot belongs to a musician or someone who really loves music.

This elaborate headstone was in the Germanic section of the cemetery.

Cathedral of St John the Baptist

We topped off the day with a visit to Carey Hilliards BBQ & Seafood restaurant and enjoyed a very nice meal.  I had a BBQ platter, Gerry & Herb had their catfish fix and Judy enjoyed her shrimp dinner.  If you are in west Savannah, try the place, you will like it.

Then it off for some more touring around Savannah and a stop at the Savannah Coffee Roasters for some great coffee.  The owner was there and stopped by and chatted with us for a while.  She and her husband have remodeled the building and have some great coffee and pastries for sale along with free wifi.  Try it out. 

Coffee Roaster

 Finally, it was time to call it a day and we went back to the motor home.  The weather played a trick on us and the temps dropped down into the 30s at night.  We were warm enough in the motor home and got a good nights sleep.

That was our day, how was yours?

Halloween In Savannah

October 31, 2014

This is a continuation of my Oct 31st blog since the first part was so long.  We had spent the day at Tybee Island and the evening in downtown Savannah on River Street.  River Street is full of bars, restaurants, gift shops, nice parks and docks.

THE WAVING GIRL

"For 44 years, Florence Martus (1868-1943) lived on nearby Elba Island with her brother the lighthouse keeper, and no ship arrived for Savannah or departed from 1887 to 1931 without her waving a handkerchief by day or a lantern by night. Throughout the years, the vessels in return watched for and saluted this quiet little woman. Few people ever met her yet she became the source of romantic legends when the story of her faithful greetings was told in ports all over the world. After her retirement the Propeller Club of Savannah, in honor of her seventieth birthday, sponsored a celebration on Cockspur Island. A Liberty ship, built in Savannah in 1943, was named for her"

After 44 years, Florence died in a hospital in 1943. The citizens of Savannah erected the Waving Girl statue of Florence Martus to honor the woman who stood by her man for all those years (even when he never returned) with a statue on the Savannah waterfront.
 

Florence Martus

 The free trolley runs back and forth along River Street and is a great way to walk along the multi blocks long street and then take the trolley back your starting point.

 Notice the couple on the right side of the picture as they come into view better later in the blog.

The Peacemaker, originally named Avany, was built on a riverbank in southern Brazil using traditional methods and tropical hardwoods, and was launched in 1989. The original owner and his family motored in the southern Atlantic Ocean before bringing the ship up through the Caribbean to Savannah, GA, where they intended to rig it as a three-masted staysail Marconi rigged motor sailor. The work was never done, however, and in the summer of 2000, it was purchased by the Twelve Tribes, a religious group with 50 or so communities in North and South America, Europe, and Australia. They spent the next seven years replacing all of the ship’s mechanical and electrical systems and rigging it as a barquentine. The refit vessel set sail for the first time in the spring of 2007, under the name Peacemaker.

The Peacemaker is used to travel between the communities of the Twelve Tribes while providing an apprenticeship program for their youth in sailing, seamanship, navigation, and boat maintenance.

The town was full of Halloweeners all decked out in really neat costumes.  There was a Crawl-O-Ween on Saturday night and participating bars had special on bar drinks after you bought a $10 ticket.  The fee included a drink cup and it was used to receive the discounted drinks.  

 This young lady was a waitress at Tubby's restaurant.  She wound up wearing this costume because she was the last person hired.  One other waiter was dressed up as Urkel and looked just like him.

The Spanish tall ship El Galeón Andalucía is docked on River Street from Friday, October 24, 2014 to November 2.  The Tall ship will be visiting Savannah for a 10 day stay during its five month tour of the east coast.  The 170-foot long, 500 ton ship is the only Galeón class vessel sailing today.  Five of the seven decks are for the public to tour.  It carries an all-Spanish crew of 25 sailors, several of which will welcome visitors aboard when they tour this one-of-a-kind vessel.  It was transformed into a haunted ship for Halloween and was a popular destination.

 One of the entrance ways to River Street and the streets are cobblestone and bricks which make for a bumpy ride.

El Galeón Andalucía 

 Well, shiver me timbers, here comes Blackbeard and one of his wenches.

Some more revilers on River street dressed as ??

  
We hung around River street for a long time and finally wore ourselves out and decided to head back to the motor home and get some much needed rest.

That was our day, how was yours?