May 27, 2019

IDYLLIC ST. SIMONS ISLAND, GEORGIA

Ahhh. Close your eyes and picture a seacoast island with early American history, charmingly upscale shops, a fetching downtown filled with restaurants, luxurious golf courses, as well as enclaves of picture-perfect homes (both old and new). That’s the resort destination of St. Simons Island, Georgia!    I drove to St. Simons from Savannah on Highway 17 and the trip there took a little longer than 90 minutes. I spent a day exploring St. Simons Island and needed more time to relish my surroundings!          Ω     HISTORY     Remnants of shell rings left behind by Native Americans have been found that are 3,000-5,000 years old!…

May 13, 2019

REDCLIFFE PLANTATION STATE HISTORIC SITE IN South Carolina: A SCANDALOUS HISTORY

Not all southern plantations look like Tara or Twelve Oaks but all have histories that span generations. That is the case with Redcliffe Plantation in Beech Island, South Carolina. We spent an entire afternoon learning about the history of the plantation as well as the families and slaves who lived there.  The interpretative history tours at Redcliffe are superb. We learned a great deal!      Our visit to Redcliffe Plantation took us well beyond the romance of the age and any idealized version of plantation life. The documented history of the plantation and what happened there is a stark and very real view into a plantation run by a…