My Southern Dreams Came True!

You know what is blog gold? Travelling. Pictures. Story re-telling from far-off exotic climes.

Or -- travelling around the country in a mini-van with your offspring! (wink, wink, cough, cough)

Since I'm fairly certain I'll never have a "Travel" tab on the sidebar of this tiny piece of internet real estate I'm going to regale you with more photos of my all too brief weekend in the South because how often do I get to the South? Never, before last week! Which is why the whole weekend spent in Charleston for The Edel Gathering was really a dream come true for me.

You see, somehow, very early on in my childhood I became completely infatuated with the South. I'm not quite sure how it happened, because I've always loved The South since I can remember, but I think it started when I read Gone With The Wind at a very impressionable young age. After that I was all "Scarlett O'Hara this, Rhett Butler that, let's do a "unit study" on the Civil War," until I discovered Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, and Harper Lee. Then I was officially enraptured with the moody atmosphere that seemed otherworldly when they described the South, with it's eccentric small towns and singular literary characters. It all somehow captured my imagination and I've always dreamed of driving around the South visiting Andalusia, seeing Savannah, the low country, and of course, a plantation.

I'm kinda a nut about it and I think only my husband and my dear friend Haley have completely got how into the South I was. It could signal that I've got some serious regional imagination issues.

Thankfully this trip worked out perfectly because Haley was going to be there too, she'd indulge me, tour me around to the fullest, and come complete with rented car.

I'm sure I could spend a couple weeks meandering around South Carolina and Georgia alone, and hopefully one day I will, but I really soaked up the four days I spent down there as much as I could. I relished every clump of Spanish moss, savoured as much shrimp and grits I could, and was constantly on the look out for a Francis Underwood accent. I loved the colourful, southern architecture of Charleston and how historic it's cobblestone streets felt. Of course, the palm trees that lined the streets didn't hurt at all either!

The city of Charleston was so beautiful, and I loved how we were in such a historic area where every street oozed history. I'm a bit of a history nerd and would have loved to go through every historic house, and visit Fort Sumter, and spend a whole day along the Battery, but since this was a quick trip I couldn't quite do that.

Of course, the dreams really became came to life when we hit up a real, honest to goodness, plantation. I may have lost my mind slightly and Haley may have had to pull over because I was completely freaking out on entering the avenue of live oaks when we entered Boone Hall Plantation. Completely rational freaking out I can assure you. I loved visiting the plantation, the house was amazing and just like I thought it would be, the trees were stunning, and seeing the slave quarters and cotton docks seemed almost unreal. I'm pretty sure I looked giddy the entire time.

Saturday morning we had a bit of extra time to roam about the city. A group of about thirty of us from Edel were able to pray a Chaplet of Divine Mercy and pay our respects in front of Emanuel A.M.E Church. It was surreal to think a beautiful historic church could be the scene of such racist hatred. It defies reason. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

We also roadtripped to Millidgeville to have ourselves a Flannery O'Connor pilgrimage Sunday after the conference ended, but I'll save all those photos for a post to come! 

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