Charming Charleston: Part Two
We had a lot of fun during our first week on the farm, getting to know some local places and people in the greater Charleston area. However, Renee knew that we wanted to check out downtown Charleston, so she offered to give us a ride there on Sunday, after taking us first to The Pour House on James Island, which has a Sunday Farmers’ Market in their parking lot. It was fun to hang out at a happenin’ local spot, check out what the vendors had to offer, and try some local food truck fare.
After hanging out at the market for a couple of hours, Renee drove us over to downtown Charleston. She had some work to do on her computer, so she told us she would go to a local coffee shop to do that while we walked around town. She dropped us off on Market Street and told us to meet her at Marion Square in a little while, giving us some directions to some local sights before we hopped out of the car. We started out at the Charleston City Market, a historic market with many local vendors selling art, collectibles, food, souvenirs, and everything in between. We liked looking at the locally-made sweetgrass baskets, which are based on those that were historically used by African slaves to separate rice seeds from chaff (http://www.africanamericancharleston.com/sweetgrass.html).
We walked through the entire market, emerging near the US Custom House building along the waterfront. We continued walking until we found Waterfront Park, which follows the Cooper River. The park was bustling with locals and tourists, and it was fun to see children wading and splashing in the fountains. We walked up and down the pier and along the park, following the water until we reached the edge of the park.
As we continued walking down the East Battery, we were able to see the Coast Guard doing some kind of exercise or demonstration in the water near the Carolina Yacht Club. There were many beautiful houses along the road as we walked, and some were obviously very old homes. There were a few of Charleston's famous horse-drawn carriages that passed by as well. At the end of East Battery we found White Point Garden, which looked beautiful as the sun broke through the clouds. We could really feel the history of the Charleston area at the park and garden, and get a sense of the local pride in Charleston’s military history as well.
After strolling through the park, we continued down to King Street, where there are many houses that were built between the mid-1600s and the late 1700s. It felt like we were walking through time as we passed the homes, which are amazingly well-kept and still lived in.
After passing through some of Charleston’s oldest neighborhoods, we emerged in a bustling shopping area with many modern stores, finally reaching Marion Square just in time to happen upon Renee in her car. We hopped back in, and headed back to the farm to prepare dinner for ourselves and a guest of Renee’s.
Andrea prepared a delicious chili dinner for the group that evening, and we shared the meal with one of Renee’s old friends, Bonnie Earl. Renee had told us that Bonnie was once a well-known jazz musician and singer, but we soon found out that she had a much deeper history than that. Over dinner and a subsequent Scrabble game, we learned that Bonnie started performing country music many years ago after learning guitar at a young age. She told us how she would pass for 22 to be able to play in bars when she was just 14, and eventually toured enough that she began performing on a 1950’s television show called Abbie Neal and Her Ranch Girls (search for clips on YouTube). We even managed to find a recording of her while she performed with the group, called “I’ll Take Back That Heartache”, in which Bonnie sang and played guitar under the stage name “Betty Brent”. Here’s a YouTube video of the song:
Bonnie went on to tell us how she toured around the West playing country and rockabilly music. She played regularly in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and other places, meeting Frank Sinatra and many other famous people along the way. She eventually tired of performing, and needed to take a break, so she went back home on the East Coast to rest. It wasn’t long before she was performing in local clubs and bars again, and was eventually introduced to a performer who worked for the circus. She fell in love with him, and joined him on the circus route, performing a musical revue with him under the big top while spending her free time with the elephants and other circus animals, who she loved. She then went on to live and perform on a cruise ship for three years, after which she left the circus performer to live a calmer life. She settled down for a while, then performed as a jazz musician for many years before finally retiring to a quiet life in Charleston. She was an amazing person to meet, and we only wish we had more time to hear more of her stories. It was really a privilege to meet her, and we were thankful that our fun Sunday ended with her.
