Spring, 2005: Out

This trip report is divided into three parts: "Out," "Texas," and "Back." To jump directly to "Texas," click here.

Columbia, South Carolina
March 2, 2005

Hi, Y'all:

We're on the road again, but briefly. Too many things were going on at home that we weren't able/didn't want to leave for our usual trip.
We left our house in the care of Dan, Carrie, and Genevieve, packed the trunk of the car, and headed south. That's right: the car.


We left the van in storage in the driveway, where it has been since February of last year, and decided that the car would be more practical for a trip to visit cities rather than forests, deserts, and swamps. Shortly before we left, I drove the van up and down the driveway a few time just to keep its juices flowing. We left the bikes and scuba gear at home as well; if need be, we'll rent.


Also, we have the 100,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty on the car that we have to use up by 2010 With our usual driving of 8,000 miles per year with the car, we won't even come close; we do most of our touring in the van.


We'll have to make some life-style changes, too. With no kitchen with us, we'll be eating out more. [Stock tip: Buy Burger King or McDonald's] With no bedroom with us, we'll be staying more at cheap motels [Movie tip: Psycho was one of Hitchcock's best] With no bathroom with us....[Dietary tip: Don't eat yellow snow]

Myrtle Beach, SC

After leaving about half a foot of snow behind is in Richmond, VA, we headed for Myrtle Beach, S.C. Myrtle Beach has three things going for it: Golf (which we don't), miniature golf (which is closed until spring), and the beach (which is cold and windy). We did have the opportunity to hole-up while Sarah got over a spell of bronchitis.


On the way out of Myrtle Beach heading south we visited Brookgreen which advertises itself to be the largest sculpture garden in the world. With more than 500 pieces, some by artists of whom we've heard, I can believe their claim. The property was cobbled together, as a winter home, from three defunct rice plantations in the early 1900s by the Huntingtons, a couple with bucks. The rice plantations had deteriorated after the emancipation of the slaves following the Civil War and returned to native vegetation. The homes fell into ruin. Only the kitchen of the original plantation buildings remain; it's the snack shop.


Sarah at Brookgreen, Myrtle Beach, SC

In addition to being a sculpture garden, Brookgreen is an ecology center. Of course it is a classic example of 'old field succession,' but they also maintain domestic animals that were present on the plantations in the 1700s and ecology study areas with native fauna. The easiest to see were the red foxes (their color makes them stand out) and the alligator (which doesn't move too much at the current temperature (mid 50s). The wild turkeys were easy to see; they were all over.

Charleston

We ended up for the night just outside of Charleston and went into town the following morning. Our plan was to take a motel downtown, use the parking lot, and hoof it for the day. The plan worked: We registered (even though the room wasn't ready), parked, and started to walk. Charleston is smaller than Boston and we were easily able to see the highlights. The housing is largely antebellum, but often painted in pastels. It was interesting to see retrofitted indoor plumbing with the pipes running up the outside of some of the houses. They can do that here because it doesn't get too far below freezing for too long. (We saw the same thing done in England a few months ago.) Many of the homes have small, charming enclosed gardens which are well tended. Some of the larger homes have large formal gardens; tended by professional, no doubt.


One of the highlights of Charleston is the Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon. Here travelers from other states and countries could exchange their currency for South Carolina specie. Also, pirates and other malefactors were held for a short period of time: The few days between capture, trial and execution.


Charleston (or Charles Towne as it was known before the Revolutionary War) had a 'Tea Party.' Instead of throwing the casks of tea into the drink ala Boston, the Charles Towne rebels sold it on the black market to finance the revolution. Also during the Revolutionary War, the rebels captured tons of gun powder from the British and hid it in the Exchange behind a brick wall. When the British reclaimed Charles Towne, they used the Exchange as their headquarters, but didn't discover the gunpowder. Much of the gunpowder was sent with Andrew Jackson and helped defeat the British at New Orleans.

We also visited the cradle of reform Judaism in the U.S., Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim which was founded in 1749. (They became Reform in 1841.) The current building is from 1840. It is, they say, the oldest surviving Reform synagogue in the world (which is the unfortunate result of World War II) and the second oldest synagogue in the U.S. and the oldest in continuous use.


In an interesting and sad turn of events during the Civil War (The War Between the States here), believing that Sherman was on his way to burn Charleston, the congregation sent their torah scrolls and their organ to a synagogue in Columbia, the state capitol, for safekeeping. Unfortunately for them, Sherman burned Columbia, starting with the synagogue, and didn't go to Charleston at all.


On the way out of Charleston, we visited two plantations. The first, Drayton Hall (1738), is the oldest preserved plantation in the U.S. open to the public and the oldest surviving example of Georgian-Palladian architecture in the South. (Our house is also Georgian, but in the North and not so old.)


Second, we went to Middleton Place (early 1700s). It boasts America's oldest landscaped garden (and pretty large, as well). Only one of the three major buildings is still standing. The mansion and 10,000 book library were destroyed by the 56th New York Volunteers in February, 1865 as well as many of the statues in the gardens. (It seems that some New Yorkers are still volunteering to destroy building and deface statues, and vandalize books.) The surviving building was reconstructed to become the family's home by 1870 and continued to be so for more than 100 years.


Camellias were first planted (according to family tradition) here and make up much of the green-walled paths. The Middleton family were big names in South Carolina: a signer of the Declaration of Independence, president of the Continental Congress, governor of S.C., and U.S. representative to Russia (but not all the same person). This plantation is large and, in addition to the house tour, has artisans such as potters and ironworkers demonstrating their skills. An up-scale restaurant prepares traditional South Carolina dishes; it isn't cheap. Touring this plantation can be a whole-day affair.



March 6, 2005

Columbia, SC

We spent several days in Columbia, South Carolina's capital. The first morning we spent an hour at the state Capitol Building. Construction on the edifice began in the late 1850s, but took a hiatus during the Civil War and was not completed until 1907. We spent some time watching debates in both houses of the legislature. One of the debates involved a new federal initiative to require states to enact tougher seatbelt laws by threatening to withhold transportation funds. Several legislators spoke in opposition of the S.C. bill to fine drivers if backseat passengers are not buckled-up. (“I don't care who's in the White House,” said one 'state's rights' advocate.)

A statue of John Calhoun greets visitors who use 52 step stairway to the main entrance. Unfortunately, because of new heightened security, visitors enter through a ground floor side entrance for scanning. The Craftsman multi-tool that I wear on my belt and causes problem with NYC museums was no problem here. Some people can recognize the difference between a weapon and a tool (or, perhaps, a fashion statement).

There are many other statues and monuments on the grounds of the capitol. Of course, there is one of Strom Thurmond who served nearly half a century in the U.S. Senate and also served as governor of S.C.

There are two large monuments of note. The African-American History Monument traces more than 300 years of the history of African Americans in S.C. A part of the monument has four stones for visitors to touch which come from regions of Africa where South Carolina-bound slaves were captured. Second is the Palmetto Regiment Monument which honors the men who fought in the Mexican War of 1848. It is the oldest and most elaborate of the monuments on the grounds of the capitol.

Also on the grounds of the capitol is the Confederate Monument; an obelisk erected in 1879 and a flagpole flying the flag of the Army of Northern Virgina (the ubiquitous Confederate flag). The Confederate flag flew over the statehouse for several decades and was on display in both houses of the legislature until 2000. Those flags are gone (to the State Museum).

Most of our afternoon was spent in the South Carolina State Museum. The museum has dioramas of S.C. habitats, displays of prehistoric S.C. animals, and a traveling exhibit, dinosaur predators. Cultural history is presented in displays of plantation and rural life. Special attention is paid to Mill Life and textiles.

On the science floor, there are numerous hands-on devices to teach scientific principles, particularly in physics. Particular attention is paid to native son Joseph Goldstein who won the Noble Prize (1985) for his work with cholesterol.

On a historical note, we saw a full size model of the CSS Hunley, the first successful submarine. (It sunk the USS Housitanic during the Civil War. The Hunley attached an underwater bomb to the wooden hull of the Housitanic with a spike. It looked much like a narwhal with its single forward-projecting tusk)

More battles of the Revolutionary War were fought in South Carolina than any other state. One of the first was at Fort Moultrie (a week before the Declaration of Independence, 6/28/1776) in which the British were kept out of Charles Towne harbor, the largest seaport in the South. The hastily-built fort was constructed of palmetto logs which absorbed the cannonballs rather than shattering. This battle is commemorated by the palmetto on the state flag.

The Battle of Cowpens (portrayed in 'The Patriot,' but set near Charles Towne for the film) also played an important part in the war. Mostly, the South Carolinians kept the British occupied with numerous small skirmishes and kept troops from the larger battles lead by George Washington and others in the north.

In the same building as the State Museum (and the tax office) is the S.C. Confederate Relic Room & Museum. It is larger than one may expect and the vitrines (a fancy name for glass display boxes) present artifacts for all of the wars in which South Carolinians have participated. One unusual item was General Beauregard's tooth (extracted after the war to treat pyorrhea).

We saw names that we recognized from Charleston. We learned that a boat belonging to F. Mordechai, whose home we saw two days earlier, was used to transport the Federal troops from Ft. Sumpter to New York City. When in Charleston, we saw Silver's five & dime and Silver's clothing store, both on King St. Are they related to Silverberg (also of King St. but in 1861) who was the original manufacturer of Confederate caps?

Friday was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and mild weather. What does one do on such a day? We went to the zoo, of course!

The Riverbanks Zoo is only twenty-five years old, but looks newer. The reptile house is state-of-the-art and showed off our slithery friends in all of their finest with well-lit and well appointed enclosures. It was the best of many fine exhibits. One unusual activity: Giraffe feeding. A buck (a dollar, not a male giraffe) buys some carrot pieces to feed to the long-necked animals lined up near the raised (of course) platform. I had a chance to pat a giraffe of the head. I learned that they don't like that. Giraffes don't bite the hand that feeds them; at least not mine.

Another out-door activity was our private (we were the only visitors at the time) tour of the Lexington Museum, a collection of homes and out-buildings, moved to the site, from Lexington County's past. After the tour, we had the opportunity to chat with the guides about goings on in the area.

We finished the evening at the Columbia Museum of Art which was opened only seven years ago. It is not large and has few works from big-name artists, but we spent a pleasant, if short, time there.

With all that we've read about the South and the Evolution-Creation issue, we took note that all exhibits that we saw represent the accepted scientific viewpoint.

Augusta, GA

Augusta, Georgia had less for us than we expected and we were out of there in a few hours. In the early 1800s Augustans(?) harnessed the Savannah River and built numerous mills and factories along its banks. Today, an impressive 15 year old brick 'Riverwalk' makes the Savannah River a tourist attraction and a site for family outings.

Along the Riverwalk is Ft. Discovery, a hands-on science center that is only ten years old which has many activities. Most of them, however, are physics activities and concepts. We both enjoyed experiencing the gyroscopic power of a motorcycle (secured in place) which helps keep it upright while moving.

Also along the Riverwalk is the Morris Art Museum which appears to be about the same age as Ft. Discovery. While the science museum was poorly visited for a weekend, the Morris was almost empty. Although we knew that there were other visitors, at no time were we in a room with others. Maybe it was the multi-tool on my belt.

After Augusta, we spent a brief, but pleasant visit with our Madison, Georgia family catching up on local events. While there we had the opportunity to see a newborn calf, sit in the recently renovated antique tractor, and visit a giant coop containing thousands (?) of chicks running around. The following afternoon we left for Atlanta.

Atlanta, GA

As with Augusta, we didn't do much in Atlanta, either, but not because there wasn't much to do. As Dan went to school here and was married nearby, we've visited many times and have already seen the sights. Some bear revisiting, but not this trip.

We did go to eat at The Varsity , the worlds largest drive-in, with our GA Tech nephew. We had learned about it on a PBS feature on hot dogs. At one time The Varsity employed 100 carhops. We tried the specialty 100% beef hot dogs; Nathan's has nothing to fear.

Alabama

Alabama has poorer soil that most of the other states of the South. The soil did not lend itself to the development of the genteel agrarian lifestyle, so few plantations. There was much 'sharecropping' in which landowners took a share of the profits from those tilling the soil. There were different levels of sharecropping depending on what the sharecropper brought to the arrangement (tools, mules, etc). There were ½, 1/3, and ¼ sharecroppers.

Driving in Alabama has some peculiar difficulties. For example, in driving from Birmingham to the Southern Museum of Flight, the conversation went something like:

S: Take I-20 West.

A: We want to go east.

S: The sign says I-20 W goes to Tuscaloosa. We want to go toward Tuscaloosa.

A: Tuscaloosa is west; the museum is to the east.

S: The museum is toward Tuscaloosa.

A: No, it's not.

S: (Looks at map) Oh! Take I 20 East...toward Tallapoosa

As amusing as this Tuscaloosa-Tallapoosa confusion may be, consider it at 60 MPH about a mile from the exit.

If only left and right were on the map....

I guess that Tuscaloosa was on her mind. We had just been to the Birmingham Zoo and learned of the dental problem with Alabama elephants: Their tusks are...you know.

Birmingham, Alabama

March 6-9, 2005

The Statue of Vulcan is the symbol for Birmingham. It was built to proclaim the the predominance of the iron industry here, now it commemorates it. It is the largest cast iron statue in the world and the second largest statue in the U.S. after the Statue of Liberty. There is no competition in the arena of size: Our girl could easily step on 51' Vulcan with barely the raise of her hem. Built here for the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Vulcan deteriorated over the years (Largely due, no doubt, to the acid rain caused by the emissions of the iron industry.) Vulcan's renovations were completed last year.

What do you do when it's dreary and drizzly? Go to the zoo! Actually, when we went to the Birmingham Zoo, it was only dreary; the drizzle started later. There were few people there. We were the only ones visiting the lorikeet enclosure and spent a while discussing the zoo and its residents with one of the keepers as the colorful Australian birds flew around occasionally perching on us. (We were happy to emerge poop-free.) We were among the six people watching the sea lions being fed. Maybe the weather kept the people away, maybe it was the high admission: $11.00 for adults.

Sarah and the lorikeets.

It is a medium-size zoo that is in a rebuilding phase. Although the exhibits are adequate, I can't say that anything is outstanding. The reptile house can be considered above average. They do have an arrangement that we've not seen elsewhere: Social animals are in a single house (different displays) without regard to phylum.

Across the road from the zoo is the Botanical Garden. Few things were in bloom. We checked out the pansy and bulb beds and the greenhouse, then split for the indoor science museum downtown.

The McWane Science Center, which we have visited before, has changed their exhibit space. The entire third floor was devoted to the King Tut exhibit. There was an extra fee to see this exhibit of 120 replica artifacts; we didn't see it. We had seen, and were very impressed with, this exhibit when we saw it several years ago in a different museum.

Most of the second floor has become an attraction for young children, Richard Scary's Busy Town, with many small-size activity centers. Although I like to play with science stuff, these activities were too juvenile for me. There is, however, a bicycle that one can ride out on a high wire (over a net). We each took a turn. This was NOT for young children, but had to be on an upper floor because it is not as impressive to ride a bicycle on a wire on the ground.

Allen rides on a high-wire at the McWane Science Center.

We made the most of our second day here by visiting a variety of places. We started our day at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, an African-American church, in which four girls were killed during a bombing in 1963 during the Civil Rights era. A large stained-glass window over the balcony was a gift from the people of Wales, UK from collected funds.

The price is right (free) at the Birmingham Museum of Art; parking included. They have one of the largest displays of Wedgwood. There's more than just knick-knacks, and not just jasperware. They also have a fair-size collection from various Asian cultures and Africa.

Looking at art worked up an appetite that we quenched at the Irondale Cafe which was the setting for the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe on which the film FGT was based. Lots of trains went by.

After lunch we took in the country side at the Ruffner Mountain Nature Center (very small). We helped the ranger by pointing out an improperly labeled display and he removed the item. This is a least the third time this trip that we have alerted guides or docents to errors. Most times, we just keep quiet.

The Southern Museum of Flight is a small museum near the Birmingham Airport that we have been visiting about every other year. Most of their aircraft are locally built. I find it fascinating to see aircraft powered with chain-saw motors or put together with pop-rivets (saves time and doesn't require skill, says the sign). They have some commercially built and military airplanes, as well. They are currently building a new wing :-)

On the way back to our motel, we stopped at Sloss Furnace, one of the iron foundries that put Birmingham on the map. Opening in the late 1800s, the foundry employed 2000 men in the arduous task of turning ore into pig iron. It was said that if the company had been using animals instead of men, the ASPCA would have closed them down. With advancing technologies, by the mid 1900s the foundry only needed about 250 employees. This gave the former employees the time to visit the unemployment office, follow their wives around, or watch “As the World Turns.” Today, they'd surf the web.

Montgomery, Alabama

March 9-11, 2005

This is the state capital. Our motel is only a few blocks from the Capitol Building. We've been in so many motels so far this trip, I'm afraid that some night I'll forget the room layout and urinate in the closet.

After the one hour + drive from B'ham, we visited Old Alabama Town , a collection of shops and homes from 19^th and early 20^th century Alabama. Building were brought to the site and arranged onto two city blocks; one for shops, the other for homes. Historic homes that are not open to the public are along the adjacent street. We spent several hours there, then broke for lunch.

After lunch, we wandered the galleries of the Montgomery

Museum of Fine Arts . This museum is significantly smaller than the Birmingham Art Museum, but costs the same. [Free] You seem to get more APB (art per buck) in Alabama than other states.

It was chill (well below normal) in the a.m. and President Bush was coming to Montgomery (Auburn University) to promote his Social Security agenda. What do you do when it's chill and the president is coming to town? Go to the zoo!

The Montgomery Zoo is small and has few animal houses. The animals are kept on grassy plains arranged by continent. Predators are kept separate from prey, of course. In one odd arrangement, North America, the nene (Hawaiian goose) is in the same enclosure as bison and deer.

Reptiles are in a modern building with realistic displays. The alligators are kept outside and at the current temperatures, they don't move very much. As we appeared to be two of the six visitors that morning (and two of those were in carriages), the coins sitting on the back of one of the alligators must have been tossed there one or more days ago. Some were still stacked showing how little alligators move when they're cold. I still wouldn't go in there.

Back in town (within easy walking distance from our motel) were the other sites that we visited for the day. The old Capitol building (used until 1985) is much less elaborate than most other historic state capitals. One can see the entire building well in under an hour.

A few blocks away is the MOOseum, sponsored by the Alabama Cattlemen's Association. A small exhibit on the ground floor of the Cattlemen's building; it's designed to get children to eat more beef. We learned a thing or two about cattle ranching in Alabama.

Also in the area are the Civil Rights Memorial with a quote by Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Dexter Street Baptist Church where he was pastor from 1954-60. It was in the church that the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 was coordinated.

Mobile, Alabama

March 11-13, 2005

Before we even got into town, we visited the Mobile Botanical Garden and the Mobile Museum of Art. Both were small. The art museum is only three years old. Although they had works of art from all of the populated continents, there weren't enough from any to fill a room of their own. The botanic garden is free, but not really worth it; certainly not between camellia and azalea season.

Speaking of green things: The following day was the St. Patrick's Day parade (a few days early) in downtown Mobile. The parade, like the Mardi Gras parades, consisted of floats with riders tossing bead necklaces and other trinkets to the crowd. There were much fewer floats than Mardi Gras, but also less of a crowd. Therefore, Sarah got just as much plastic stuff as usual. Of the things that were different with the St. Pat rick's Day parade: Plush leprechauns and fresh cabbages.

The highlight of our visit to Mobile was 'Deuteronomy in Dixie' at the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center. The exhibit here is part of a multi-city tour of Dead Sea scroll fragments and other artifacts from the Israel Antiquities Authority. Discovered in 11 caves along the Dead Sea beginning in 1947, the fragments are the oldest surviving texts of the bible and other religious texts of a Jewish cult living along the Dead Sea in Israel more than 2000 years ago. A small group of experts have been piecing together the fragments like a jigsaw puzzle and translating them. As a testament to the Masorites who hand-copied the books of the bible for millennia, there are few differences between the text of these documents and those that we use today. Until the discovery of these scrolls, the oldest known bible was from about 1,000 years ago. Upon exiting, one of the museum people commented that if it took us less than an hour to see the exhibit, we didn't really see it all. We spent about three hours.

One of the fragments has the section of Deuteronomy which contains the Decalogue, but the commandments are in a different order than what is used today. The curators, who pointed out the different arrangement of books in the bibles of Jews, Catholics, and Protestants and some other differences, missed the opportunity here to point out that the different faiths have different arrangements of the 13 commandments in their Decalogues, but keep the total at ten. (Otherwise it wouldn't be a Decalogue.)

The curators could also have pointed out that the different faiths have different translations of the commandments. This would have made the exhibit even more meaningful to the people of Alabama as there is a continuing controversy over a Ten Commandments monument placed [and later removed (along with the Chief Justice)] in their Supreme Court building.

The exhibit is very popular and tickets were sold out each of the days that we were here. We bought our tickets the night before we went and the earliest time we could get was 5:45p.m. We saw many people who had purchased their tickets on-line before coming to the museum; they had bar-coded print-outs in their hands. The are many church groups coming by bus; we saw their names on the cafe reservation board and the buses loading.

Some of the items that we found interesting include one of the oldest surviving pair of phylacteries, a text of psalms in ancient Hebrew with the tetragramaton written in paleo-Hebrew for emphasis, and the community rule forbidding defecating on the sabbath.

In order to demonstrate the continuity between the writers of the Dead Sea scrolls and the present, the exhibit ends with a Czech Holocaust Torah on loan from a synagogue in Atlanta, GA.

To see "Texas," the next portion of this trip, click here.