My Thanksgiving trip to Charleston, S.C., almost didn’t happen. Friends were to drive me to Union Station (the new departure point for the Connecticut Limo) which I was taking to go to Bradley Airport. Due to a misunderstanding, they never came to pick me up.
Waiting outside my apartment building and frantically trying to reach them by phone, I was just about out of time when help appeared in the form of my neighbors, Vera and John DePalma ,leaving to do errands. Instead, sensing my frantic state of mind, they threw my bags into their car and drove me to New Haven, just in time to make the limo.
I had obtained my limo reservation, airline ticket, boarding pass and even paid in advance for my luggage, all by computer because unless you are flying first class, help is no longer available at the airport, and there are no longer any “niceties” like pillows or food service during your flight.
Finally, arriving in Charleston, where my cousin Faith and her husband, Gary, met me, I was surprised to see cabbage palmetto trees; I didn’t realize they existed that far north.
Charleston itself, which I toured the next day via horse-drawn carriage, is indeed a charming city with block after block of elegant old homes as well as a downtown shopping area featuring all the latest upscale brands plus a several block-long covered arcade known as the Marketplace where artisans sell unique, handcrafted sweetgrass baskets, one of the oldest forms of African art, alongside costume jewelry, scarves and other souvenirs.
Charleston is now the only place in America where the craft is still practiced. Originally used to collect and store vegetables, the baskets come in an amazing variety of shapes and sizes with larger more complicated ones commanding prices of almost $1,000. Since I am a basket devotee and already have a collection from different foreign countries on my kitchen walls, I succumbed to a small, simple one as my remembrance of Charleston.
As you walk or drive through the city, ornate and beautiful ironwork gates and fences can be admired everywhere. On a portion of East Bay Street, 13 historic houses known as Rainbow Row have been painted in different pastel colors. Also evident on many of the buildings are the metal rods used to strengthen the floor joists of homes that had been damaged in the 1886 earthquake.
Time did not permit a visit to either Fort Sumter where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, or to one of the many plantation homes, especially beautiful, I was told, in the spring. I did, however, visit Charleston’s two major museums, the Gibbes Museum of Art, which had a small, disappointing collection, and the far superior Charleston Museum, founded in 1773 and the country’s oldest museum.
Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the same without lots of food, and in addition to a large gathering with neighbors on the holiday itself, we ate out quite often. I tried she crab soup (delicious), hominy grits (like a watery rice pudding) crab cakes and spicy shrimp (both delicious). My cousins live on James Island, across a causeway and about 15 minutes from downtown.
While their home faces a lovely small man-made lake, James Island itself, like others in the area, offer beach-front living and wonderful water views, very much like the waterfront areas of our Connecticut shoreline towns. The new homes there, however, are all built with no basements, but long stairways leading to the front door and then once inside, there is a “Tara-like” entryway with another long staircase leading to the upstairs.
Many out-of-town, younger retirees have settled here, but I predict a huge exodus when they all reach their 80s, some 20 years from now. Meanwhile, y’all take care till next Sunday when we can visit together again.
Contact Jean Cherni, certified senior adviser for Senior Living Solutions and Pearce Plus, a helpful, full-service program for seniors contemplating a move, at jeancherni@sbcglobal.net or 49 Rose St., Apt. 510, Branford, 06405.
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