Buggie Tour 2008-2014: Georgia/S.Carolina Adventure continues

On St. Helena Island in Beaufort County, we walked the campus of the former Penn School, one of the country’s first schools for freed slaves. The campus of the Penn School is the only African American landmark district in the nation. Est. in 1862 as an experimental program to educate Sea Island slaves at the beginning of the Civil War. In the museum we learned of the Gullah culture and how they are working to preserve their heritage and language. The Gullah language is a combination of the African and American language. It was a lot of fun trying to decipher the writings on the walls.

Example of Gullah language;

Gullah: Den, Fox staat fuh talk. E say to eself, a say, “Dish yuh Crow duh ooman, enty? Ef a kin suade um fuh talk, him haffuh op’n e mout, enty? Enef e op’n e mout, enty de meat fuh drop out?”

English:

Then, fox started to talk. He said to himself, he said, “ This here Crow is a woman, not so? If I can persuade her to talk, she has to open her mouth, not so? And if she opens her mouth, isn’t it true the meat will drop out?”

The Penn Normal, Agricultural and Industrial School helped the freed slaves to learn trades that would help them prosper in everyday life. The Butler Building was constructed in 1931 by Penn students. This edifice originally housed the economics department. Darrah Hall ca. 1903, is the oldest building on campus and was used as the gymnasium. I liked the little Cedar Cottage ca. 1907, it was built to house Penn’s single female teachers, the nurses office and dispensary.

Brick Church

Bell Tower

Cedar Cottage ca. 1907

Darren Hall ca. 1903

Butler Building ca. 1931

The school closed in 1948, not that long ago. Penn has remained a major educational resource for African American Sea Islanders and a national resource for historical preservation..

Fort Fremont

Ft. Fremont

Also on St. Helena Island we discovered Fort Fremont. Real cool place to explore. This 15 acre site with a 900 foot frontage on Port Royal Sound is completely fenced in but all the ruins are there to explore and climb at your own risk. Fort Fremont Historical Park is a unique unspoiled example of a Spanish American War Era fortification. The fort played a vital role in its mission to protect the U.S. Naval Station in Port Royal during the Spanish American War Period. The Fort was completed in 1889 and was active until 1921.

When you are in the area, Savannah Georgia is a great place to explore.The last time I was in Savannah was a mother/daughter weekend get-a-way two years ago. Stacey and I explored the city then but this time I was with my husband Austin and we discovered even more interesting pieces of history. Upon our arrival we hopped on Savannah Carriage Tours, and had a fun hour long tour of the city. The river walk is always fun. Stopped in the Savannah Bee Company where Austin sampled 9 different honey’s , then there were all those nut samples at The Peanut Shop.

After lunch at One-Eyed Lizzy’s (link) we took to the streets in the Historic District. Colonial Park, this cemetery, the second in Colonial Savannah was the burial ground for the city from about 1750-1853. In this cemetery, many victims of the Great Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1820 were buried. Nearly 700 Savannahians died that year.

Next door to Colonial Park is the Savannah Police Department ca 1869-1870. The oldest continuously used city police department in the country. We looked for Forest Gump’s bench at Chippewa Square but apparently it has been removed. Our final stop was to The Salt Table a place Stacey and I stumbled upon 2 years ago. Every flavor of salt you could ever want, plus sugars, spices, teas and coffee. They have added a basement room that stocks local wines, oils and other items.