Friday, May 18, 2012

Sullivan's Island

Dear John,

I'm never coming home....

(Have you ever seen the movie "Shirley Valentine?") If so, you understand. ;)

Though the weather is a bit grey today, we managed to get some decent photos. This is the infamous "Poe's Tavern", where we lunched yesterday...




Poe spent thirteen months on the Island, as an enlisted man at Fort Moultrie, but despite his short time here,  it definitely sparked his imagination.  Here is how he describes Sullivan's Island in "The Gold Bug":

“This island is a very singular one. It consists of little else than the sea sand and is about three miles long. Its breadth at no point exceeds a quarter of a mile. It is separated from the mainland by a scarcely perceptible creek, oozing its way through a wilderness of reeds and slime, a favorite resort of the marsh hen. The vegetation, as might be supposed, is scant or at least dwarfish. No trees of any magnitude are to be seen. Near the western extremity, where Fort Moultrie stands and where are some miserable frame buildings, tenanted, during summer, by the fugitives from Charleston dust and fever, may be found the bristly palmetto; but the whole island, with the exception of this western point and a line of hard, white beach on the seacoast, is covered with a dense undergrowth of the sweet myrtle.”

This is the Breach Inlet, between the Inland Waterway he describes, and the harbor...


And the tree which local legend has it Poe wrote about in "The Gold Bug", now on a residential street...


How cool is that?

And here are a couple of shots of Fort Moultrie, parts of which have been rebuilt since Poe's time. Originally built of palmetto logs during the American Revolution, it would have been brick in Poe's time. These sections have been rebuilt since...



Here are a couple of other "downtown" Sullivan's Island places, Dunleavy's Pub and Mamacitas, which are typical of the laid back, small beach town vibe here.



After our ramble around the island, we lunched at R.B.'s in Mount Pleasant (on the mainland)...


Blackened Mahi Mahi with Mango Chutney. Soooooooo good!

Finally, I have to share a couple of Island house photos. The first is what the locals call "The Egg House", built like this, with no resistance, to withstand hurricane winds of something like 150 miles an hour...


And during a phone conversation with John, he joked that I should look for property down here. So I posted this one to Facebook. How's this, honey? It's for sale, haha...


And probably only about thirty or forty times more than we could ever afford, but it's fun to dream, right?

We're here on the Island for another couple of days, then assuming all the planets are in alignment, and no more pet disasters occur (see previous post), it's on to Savannah.

Until then,
~ Carolee and Ann








3 comments:

GOTHAM239 said...

Beautiful! As I read I felt I was there. ;). Enjoy every moment. Poe and stormy weather.....;)

Eva

Ms. said...

OMG You did it! And you're on your way starting at this charming place. I too hope all goes well at home and will be watching from afar. That tree-what a gem! And the house for sale too! Cheers to you.

Unknown said...

Gorgeous! Great post, I love Charleston...this Hawaii girl has traveled all over, but for some reason that area just appealed to me..maybe the ocean? I am so envious, have a blast!