CHARLESTON, S.C. and LOW COUNTRY BOIL

Charleston, a delightful city in South Carolina, really does ooze old fashioned charm, has loads of interesting architecture and a history that is at once genteel and violent. The city of Charleston featured in both the American Revolution and the American Civil War and was a major player in the slave trade industry.

During the American revolution,  General Sir Henry Clinton, along with 2,000 men and a naval squadron tried to seize Charles Towne (as Charleston was originally called) hoping for a Loyalist uprising in South Carolina. When the fleet fired cannonballs, they failed to penetrate Fort Sullivan's unfinished, yet thick, palmetto-log walls. No local Loyalists attacked the town from the mainland side, as the British had hoped they would do. America's Col. Moultrie and his men returned fire and inflicted heavy damage on several of the British ships. The British were forced to withdraw their forces, and Fort Sullivan was renamed Fort Moultrie in honor of its commander.

This, personally, ticks me off as I would have liked Charleston to be part of Canada. In fact, when dividing Canada and the United States I believe a gross error in judgement was made when the division line went from east to west and not north to south. We Canadians would then have either Florida or California and wouldn't have to travel to a 'foreign' country to get some winter sunshine and warmth. But I digress.

Customs House.

Charleston became extremely prosperous in the plantation-dominated economy of the post-Revolutionary years. The invention of the cotton gin in 1793 revolutionized the processing of this crop, making short-staple cotton profitable. Cotton quickly became South Carolina's major export commodity. Slaves were also the primary labour force within the city, working as domestics, artisans, market workers and laborers.

This plaque is about Gadsden's Wharf where slaves were unloaded and held in confinement awaiting their turn on the auction block.

Originally built in 1767, war and natural disaster led to several rounds of reconstruction and expansion. In its final completed state, the wharf could hold upwards of six ships at a time. Once released from quarantine off the coast at Sullivan’s Island, slave ships proceeded onto Gadsden’s Wharf. An estimated 100,000 West Africans were brought to the wharf between 1783 and 1808 – the peak period of the international trade. Gadsden's Wharf has now been declared sacred ground.

By 1820 Charleston's population had grown to 23,000, maintaining its black (and mostly slave) majority. When a massive slave revolt planned by Denmark Vesey, a free black, was revealed in May 1822, whites reacted with intense fear, as they were well aware of the violent retribution of slaves against whites during the  Haitian Revolution and its many deaths. Soon after, Vesey was tried and executed, hanged in early July with five slaves. Another 28 slaves were later hanged. Later, the state legislature passed laws severely restricting manumission and regulating activities of free blacks and slaves^.

One of the interesting things about Charleston (in my humble opinion) is this violent past is not glossed over. It is out there with plaques, images and museums that depict the deplorable conditions at the time that the slaves had to endure for all to see.

The Invention of Wings, a novel by Sue Monk Kidd, is based on the life of Sarah Moore Grimke a young girl born into a wealthy Charleston family of planters. For her 11th birthday she is given the gift of a young slave girl and so the story begins as Sarah wrestles with the morality of owning another human being. It's a very good read and draws on actual events that took place in Charleston during the time of slavery including the Vesey incident.

Charleston is credited with starting the American Civil War. On December 20, 1860, unhappy about the election of Abraham Lincoln, South Carolina's General Assembly voted to secede from the Union. On January 9, 1861, Citadel cadets opened fire on a Union ship entering Charleston's harbour. On April 12, 1861, shore batteries under the command of General Beauregard opened fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in the harbour. After a 34-hour bombardment, Major Anderson surrendered the fort, thus starting the war. Union forces repeatedly bombarded the city, causing vast damage, and kept up a blockade that shut down most commercial traffic.

While there in March of this year, Erik and I visited Fort Sumter, took a boat cruise and got to see a lot of the beautiful downtown area that retains its old Southern style gentility. We also visited one of the biggest and most impressive candy stores I think either of us has ever seen. Pretty much everything is made on premises and it smelled like chocolate/sugar heaven. Thought it was worthy of a few photos. Photos of Fort Sumter you can get on line but not this.

While visiting Charleston this time in our Fifth-wheel we stayed in a pretty impressive RV park just south of Charleston. The original property had been one large farm that was converted, at some point, to a massive RV park with huge dog park, and a fishing pond that warned of the alligator. Erik chose not to fish there.

Behind these truly impressive live oaks is the original house that was built by the parents of the current owner of the RV park.

Mexican corn bread not so good. Grits - good.

One thing that we both truly love about the south is the food. We can't get enough of the biscuits, we eat grits for breakfast, we both will eat seafood or fish over meat any day of the week and the low-country cooking is just delicious. Everything we tried was good. One of our favourite low-country meals is something called low country boil. Simple, delicious, quick, can be done anywhere and is served in most southern restaurants.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/low-country-boil-recipe.html

Last night for dinner we had Hush Puppies with our meal of Shrimp Gumbo. We are what you might call very happy campers.