Oct 27, 2013

PALS Stitching at the Beach - Part Two

Since I had never traveled to the East coast or to South Carolina, I wanted to do a little siteseeing.  I decided on a couple of excursions.  When I was young, every week my family would watch the TV Show, Ripley's Believe It Or Not.  In Myrtle Beach, there is a Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum.  I thought it would be fun to go.

Considering how big the building looks from the outside, I thought there would be more exhibits than there was.  For the price, I was disappointed.  However, there were a few neat exhibits.
HUGE Transformer 
Dog made out of nuts an bolts.
Portrait of Lucille Ball made of puzzle pieces. 
Thor and Ironman Exhibit

There were other exhibits but they weren't that interesting.  Honestly, I've been to better museums than this one.


The second excursion I went on was a Jeep Safari Tour.  "Safari" is a bit misleading, lol.  It was a 3 hour tour and during the jeep ride, the theme song to Gilligan's Island ran through my head.

First, we drove through Murrells Inlet which is where Blackbeard lived.  The tour guide told us stories about pirates that hid in the area while they looted the ships that traveled along the shorelines of South Carolina.

Next, was a drive to Huntington Beach State Park. After the death of Anna Hyatt Huntington, the land the park sits on was donated on the condition it would become and remain a state park. after the death of Anna Hyatt Huntington.  Anna's husband, Archer was a noted scholar of Spanish culture.  He built Atalaya for Anna as a wedding gift.  The castle is now a national historic landmark.  It's too bad the tour guide didn't take us to it.  We only saw it from a distance.

The park is home to several bird species and other wildlife.  The tour was lucky enough to spot a few alligators.  Could you imagine walking upon this guy?

 
At the park, we were able to get out and stretch our legs.  Despite the overcast skies, the beach was beautiful.



We then drove to a true southern plantation (now an inn and golf course).  The land still has miles of rice fields, slave quarters, and the "big house".

 
Remember the oak lined driveway of the southern planatation?  We drove in and out on one of those oak lined driveways.  Just like in "Gone With the Wind."

 
From there, we went to Pawley's Island.  Apparently, South Carolina gets very hot and humid in the summer.  Back in the day, residents would leave the main land and go to Pauley's Island because it was cooler there.

 
This was a church built for the Gullah slaves.  The Gullah people are the descendants of the slaves who worked on the rice plantations in South Carolina and Georgia. They still live in rural communities in the coastal region and on the sea islands of those two states, and they still retain many elements of African language and culture.



 
Plantation owners would come from the rice fields to these "gazebos" on their boats.  The gazebos sit across the road from the island homes.

The most interesting part of the tour was the trip to All Saints Episcopal Church. 



All Saints’ Episcopal Church was one of the most significant Episcopal churches in the South Carolina lowcountry in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its first congregation was formed in 1739, and the church has been located at this site since then.  The tour guide told us there is someone from every war the U.S. has been involved in is buried there.  He showed us the grave site of a Revolutionary War soldier.



The cemetery dating from 1822 is located primarily to the south and west of the church. The majority of the monuments are simple slab steles sculpted in either marble or granite but the graveyard also includes table-top tombs and sculptural monuments.

 
The above grave marker is called a cradle grave.  Cradle gravestones frame the plot and look much like a cradle without the legs, which is how they get their name.  One end is larger and more prominent, like a headboard and the other end smaller, resembling more of a footboard.  Most of the time, these type of markers were used for children.
 
The most interesting resident of the cemetery was Alice Flagg.  The tour guide told us her ghost often appears in the cemetary and people have sworn they have seen her apparition.  Raised in South Carolina aristocracy, she was expected to marry someone of the same calibur.  She fell in love with a commoner and seemingly died of a broken heart.  Her brother had her buried beneath a headstone with just her first name because he was furious that she had disgraced the family.
 
 
A complete account of the entire store can be seen HERE.
 
That concludes my excursions of the area.  Part Three will be coming soon!
 


16 comments:

Pam in IL said...

Looks like you had a great trip! I've always wanted to visit SC.

cucki said...

aww such a pretty place..
thank you for sharing
hugs x

Anonymous said...

Hi Meari, Some great excursions. I lived at Georgetown about 15 minutes south of Pauley's Island back in the 70's. Some of the photos really brought back lots of memories of that time in my life. Will you go back to other retreats at the Beach? Maybe I'll be able to go next fall and we can connect.

In those days, the inlet was known for it's seafood and had the best crab cakes around. Did you get any of the local seafood this trip?

HUGS, Dee in TN

Berly said...

You're a wonderful tour guide, Meari!

Anonymous said...

Enjoyed reading about your trip to SC - we used to live in SC there when dh was in the Navy.

Pardon my ignorance but what is PALS?

Blessings, Donna

Sue said...

Meari! The safari tour really looks wonderful; I am just sorry I could not go with you!

Thanks for sharing all of your photos! Mine were not near as good....LOL

Hugs,
Sue your SM

Kay said...

So many wonderful photos! Thank you for sharing with us, looks like a great time you had!!

Vickie said...

So neat!Thank you for sharing something very new to me.

Anonymous said...

It looks like you had a great time on your retreat! Thank you for the graveyard photos - I love old graveyards. :)

Karin in MA

CatsnCorgis said...

Meari,
Thanks so much for sharing. I really enjoyed it.

Sally

Carol said...

So glad you finally made it to the east coast, Meari!! And it looks like you saw some very interesting sights. I've never been in that part of SC either so I enjoyed your photos and descriptions.

Katie said...

Loved the info. Thanks for sharing your trip.

Vicky L said...

What a great post about the area! And you didn't get to the stitching part yet, lol. I love the story of Alice. It was very sad story. I wonder if the ghost will appear at midnight as the you tube video said. Cant wait to see more about your trip. Your pictures of the beach, of part 1, are beautiful pictures. Too bad you got a lot of cloudy days.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your photos of your trip to Myrtle Beach.

Marl

SueH said...

Sounds like you’ve seen quite a lot of the area you were staying in Meari and had a wonderful time by the sounds of things.
Hope you managed to get lots of stitching done too, seeing as that was the whole point of the retreat.

Happy Stitching!
Sue
x

Faith... said...

Thanks for taking us on your tour! The area looks beautiful!

It is always fascinating to learn legends and myths of the area you are visiting. Never saw anything like the things in that cemetery before. I am going to go back and read the story of Alice.