Charleston - Part 1

The “Girl Scouts of America” organization was founded in 1912 by Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Lowe at her home in Savannah, GA. 

Girls Scouts of Michigan Junior Troop 97 was founded sometime around 1990? (give or take) in rural mid-Michigan.  

In April of 1993, Junior Troop 97 decided to pack up eleven members (ages 9-12) and a half dozen moms and drive from the Great Lakes State down to visit the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace in Savannah.

Via a short stay in Charleston, SC.

I tell you this because this week - actually as this newsletter is sending - my husband and I are taking a short trip to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary - in Charleston, SC.  And I thought it would be fun to compare the trips.  

Fourth grade me, 30 years ago, was a typical 10-year old - I think.  I wore ridiculous clothes and gave only about half of my attention to anything that was being said, believed everything I was told, and took way too many pictures of useless things, given that the dawn of digital photography was still over a decade away.  Like most kids that age - I think -  my memories at that time were cemented in by powerful emotions, such as excitement or trauma.  

And then there was the hair.  Oh my word, the hair.  I pulled up photos of the trip to show my daughters a few weeks ago and have regretted it ever since.  My permed bangs have become a household meme and I’ll never live it down.  WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!?!  

Anyway…

Back in 1993 our little troop of girl scouts loaded up in three or four vehicles and headed south from Michigan, though the Appalachian mountains, which was a first for me.  Despite having seen a few pictures and been told what to expect, there were far fewer rocky peaks and far more sick-inducing curves and elevation changes than I had hoped for.  Window seats and chewing gum were my best friends.  We had CB radios in each of the cars to communicate with other caravan members.  We did far more communicating with truckers and rich grandparents in giant RVs than with one another.  There was a fresh burst of excitement every time someone new popped in and could tell us where they were from and where they were headed and which vehicle to look out for if we wanted to give them a wave.  I remember it in detail.  It was quite possibly my favorite part of the trip. 

Once past the mountains we made our way to Charleston.  Despite the chilly drizzle, we went straight to the beach.  It was the first time I’d ever seen the ocean.  It was impressive.  

We left there and got checked in.  Not to a hotel, like normal travelers; we stayed on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Yorktown, permanently docked at Patriots Point.    

I just… honestly, I don’t even know what I was thinking with that hair… I mean, what?!?!  🤦🏼‍♀️ 

Anway…

It was an unforgettable experience.  Mainly because they traumatized us all with a fire-drill at 02:00.  Try figuring out what in the world is going on when you’re jolted out of a dead sleep by deafening sirens and flashing lights, and bang your head on the metal bottom side of another of the triple stacked bunks.  Several hundred guests, mostly school and troop groups like our own, went rushing out into the night in our pajamas only to be laughed at by the staff who wanted to make sure we “got the full sailor experience”.  Revelry and breakfast followed in the same genuine manner.  

Honestly, though, I had an amazing time.  Patriot’s Point remains one of my favorite things I’ve ever visited.  I remember the sheer size of the decks and hanger-areas - full of old war planes - on the Yorktown.  In addition to the aircraft carrier, we were able to tour a submarine (the USS Clamagore), a destroyer (the USS Laffey), and a merchant ship (the NS Savannah).  I have a very clear memory of standing in front of the dancefloor in the “lounge” of the merchant ship with the tour guide describing its importance (I believe it was the first nuclear powered ship of its kind) and what it looked like in its prime.  I also have a memory of cracking my head on the little oval doorway in the submarine.  I remember sitting on an anti-aircraft gun, too.  It was huge.  

Before leaving Charleston we boarded a ferry and headed out to visit Fort Sumter.  I’m not gonna lie, to a 10 year old it was just a grassy bump filled with piles of rocks and a few old cannons.  I don’t remember much else, so I assume it was pretty boring.  Some of the other scouts saw dolphins from the ferry on the way back.  I missed them.  This did not go down as a travel favorite for me.  

We did make it to Savannah and enjoyed all sorts of scouting things.  

Oh that hair.  I’m going to have nightmares about it.  What adult professional would’ve done this?!?! 

Anyway…

We had a great trip.  We ate at a pirate themed  restaurant and took a “ghost tour” of the city, in which we stored up all sorts of terrifying visions to haunt our little dreams. I believed everything the guide said.  Including the fact that if you took a photo of ivy you may see ghosts in it once the film developed.  This contributed to the “way too many pictures” that I took.  

While in Savannah we celebrated my best friend's 10th birthday with pizza and ice cream and balloons.  The balloons joined us in our hotel room for the remainder of our stay.  One night when the AC came on it blew one, string dangling beneath it, across my face.  Remember the haunted dreams of ghost stories?  This event contributed to the unforgettable nature of the trip with additional trauma. 

The trip back was not so fun.  We were bored with the radio and the rain made the roads worse.  I got carsick.  Our troop leader got food poisoning, and we had to stop at a hospital.  It is a blur of nausea and rain in my memory.

Three decades have passed since that trip.  A few months ago my husband said, “We should take a long weekend away for our anniversary.  How about Charleston?” 

So as this newsletter is dropping into inboxes everywhere I am on a flight somewhere between central Ohio and Charleston, SC and hoping that nobody in that city remembers the spindly, gullible little elementary student with absolutely awful hair.  We don’t plan to visit Patriot’s Point or Fort Sumter this time around, but we also didn’t want to PLAN much at all.  

We’re touching down in a half hour with a vague notion of what’s available and a few things we might like to try while we’re here, and an open itinerary.  Weather permitting I think it would be a lot of fun to kayak the estuaries and find a few dolphins and exactly zero alligators.  There is a restaurant called “The Obstinate Daughter” that I somehow feel obliged to check out.  We might visit “The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon'' where part of the Constitution was ratified - I think.  Folly pier looks worth a visit, and I hope to devour a bucket of crab while we’re there.  Other than that we’ll just have to see what adventures await us!  It will be fun, I think, to see it with eyes that are 30 years older and wiser.  And to go where we want to go and see what we want to see.  We cover your prayers for safe travel and you can be sure I’ll fill you all in once we’re back!