Daufuskie Island, Eating, Tours, and Hometown

Or as the Gullah spelling shown was D’fuskie. The island has been inhabited for thousands of years though most of that time was by numerous Indian tribes and mostly the Muscogee tribe which also provided the name meaning sharp feather describing the shape of the island. The Spanish date back to the 1500’s as having explored and eventually settling further south near St. Augustine. There are various inhabitants that explored or settled for some time, but it wasn’t until the island showed a remarkable thriving to produce sea-island cotton that plantations were built. The Civil War followed and by then there were as many as eleven plantations. One of these was even built of tabby, unique to coastal South Carolina, it is a type of concrete made by burning oyster shells to create a lime, then mixing it with water, sand, ash and broken oyster shells. Today, there is only a small remnant of a wall on the northern most part of the island called Bloody Point. It wasn’t until after the Civil War that Daufuskie’s remoteness allowed for Gullah culture that survived to flourish through generations to the modern day. Although original descendants exist in the same homesteads, having been there for as many as seven generations, there is also a very modern-day existence on the island too. The likes of recluse stars such as Meg Ryan to less recluse and louder, and more obnoxious like the Tuttle’s of Orange County Choppers.

Gullah, and further south the Geechee, speak a language heavily influenced by West African language and rural English. The horses are descendants of Iberian horses and known today as Carolina Marsh Tacky. Live oaks are present in splendor with the oldest on the island over seven hundred years old. The first church, the First Union African Baptist Church, still stands and to our pleasure there was a black women in our tour group who serves as a minister and read from the Gullah Bible. Pretty moving even with the difficulty for her to read in the broken rural native English. The Mary Field Church still stands with a storied history of teaching blacks to read and write when it was illegal to do so in the South. It now serves as a coffee shop and artist studio. There was a woman dying scarves and other material with indigo in the old-fashioned methods that Jen might research to try her own hand at. She always love a good craft challenge. The Bloody Point Lighthouse is now a museum and shop best known now for their Bloody-Mary mix. We rode in golf carts over the entire island and the only way to reach the island was via ferry or boat. The boat ride, although I think any boat ride was fun, was very jarring on my fresh surgical area.

Other tours included a Port of Savannah paddle-wheel ride for a couple of hours with a cannon fired at us from Fort Jackson. We took a trolley tour and although the tour was informative, we were packed like sardines in the trolley and due to the chill in the air, the plastic windows were down to keep us warm. Thankful for the temperature control but made for a difficult view out with the sun glare and scratched up plastic. We later took a ghosts and graveyard tour that was less serious in nature and more a humorous attempt to celebrate Savannah ghostly recognition.

Now lets get serious about a significant thing while in the South, and that is dining on the local cuisine. Oh, my goodness honeypot! These folks know the art of the meal. Being near the Atlantic Ocean and the brackish waters of the savannah’s, seafood is the main fare. From snapper with collards and cheese grits at the Pirate’s House to Ela’s on the Water feasting on the east-coast version Cioppino, called Bucatini with garlic and olive oil base instead of tomato. It was on my mind for hours after eating. Not because of heartburn, but because I wished I could have extended my eating experience. I did take a piece of key-lime pie back to the room to enjoy with the top button open on my pants. Our final big meal was at Paula Dean’s “Lady and Two Sons”. Served family style, we each picked a main course and side along with a dessert. Had the waiter been more accommodating, it would have been a better experience, but judging by other wait staff in the building, we just drew a dud.

We woke the last morning going to breakfast with Bettie and John before leaving. Bettie found a little mom and pop diner that was rated very well. Score, the breakfast was excellent, and it was also Bettie’s B-Day, so we got to wish her a happy day as we said our goodbyes with hugs and kisses and the promise of another trip to come as soon as we can. We hit the road headed for Laurel Mississippi to tour the town of one of our favorite home renovation shows, Hometown. Intrigued by a house in the historic downtown area that sits on .5 acres and is over 4000 sq ft, we intend to call and see if the price is within our investment reach for an Air B-N-B possibility. The shops toured the next morning were great as we found out the people are just as friendly as they seem on the show. Loaded down with many wares for Jen and I individually, we also snagged a couple of really cool household items to accent our home. The final must-do was to see what the restaurant Zaxby’s was all about. We keep seeing them and they always seemed busy, we tasted their takes on wings and things and left satisfied it was just another fast food eatery, though locally a favorite.

We ended our drive just as it started with rain in Texas. But after getting home we looked into the secret garden and were pleasantly surprised with all the showy flowers in full bloom. We’ll enjoy them for weeks and remember this trip for a long time and plan for a return date in the future. Maybe a little less busy and more in the fashion of how we do so many of our vacations, wandering around, enjoying people, and stumbling on memories and eats with some time to just lay and watch the ocean waves and daydream of the art of doing nothing!