The Gullahs

The first time I ever heard of the Gullahs, was several decades ago when I was on a cruise which made a stop in Charleston. 

Gullah perfection. A display in the African American Museum.

I had visited the craft market there and in talking to a vendor who sounded very Caribbean, as a Caribbean person myself, I naturally asked her which island she came from?

Imagine my shock when she said she was born in South Carolina and had never been to the Caribbean!

Shock, as I had no idea any born Americans spoke anything but American!🌝

Tourists flock the market to get Gullah craft

Naturally I questioned her about their ancestry, language etc, but not being satisfied, determined to one day I would get to the bottom of who the Gullahs were, their language and lifestyle in the USA.

It took me many moons to get around to it, but I did, on a recent visit to Charleston, S. Carolina.

Incidentally in the interim I did meet a lady at my bank, who told me she was from S. Carolina which she told me was a 'must visit,' but alas, she misinformed me as to the origin of the Gullahs and their language! 

Anyway, it was her intervention which caused me to remember the project.😀

 In short, on visiting  S. Carolina, I learned that like our ancestors,  the Gullahs were brought as slaves from West Africa and because they brought their rice growing skills with them, many slave owners in S. Carolina found that very useful for their huge plantations.

Gullah iron craft

Because of their relative isolation from whites while working on large plantations in rural areas, they developed a creole culture that has preserved much of their African linguistic, artistic and cultural heritage.

 Their language which is called Geechee, evolved just like our Jamaican patois, Barbadian creole etc. 

No wonder it sounded so Caribbean when I met my first Gullah decades ago!

 Gullah traditions remain very strong in Charleston and even when they migrate north to places like New York,  I hear, like us Jamaicans, second-and third-generations often maintain many of their traditional customs and still speak the Gullah Geechee language.

They are also extremely artistic people, best known for their baskets and other creations made from Sweetgrass.

These are beautiful products which can last a lifetime, I was told. 

Because they are time consuming and delicate to make, the tend to be very expensive, some for home decorations, costing up to US$10,000 I was told! 

I thought of buying a basket myself, but on seeing the US$450 price tag, departed quickly.😁

There is  a lot of info about the Gullahs at the Afro American Museum in Charleston and I highly recommend the Gullah Tour there, to get a good feel of their interesting but somewhat similiar culture.

Water taxi, the best bargain

Whenever I go to a new city, I always try to take a Hop on Hop Off bus tour, as that gives me a good overview of the place. Better yet, I can come off if I like a particular place, explore then get back on to any other bus from the same company, without further cost.

 On a recent visit to Charlston, South Carolia, I discovered to my chagrin that they had no such thing, so bought a regular tour through Expedia.

Big mistake, for that turned out to be somewhat of a red neck tour. But more on that anon.

So, I bought a pass on their water taxi which follows the same principle as the hop on hop off bus.

Much cheaper and more enjoyable.

When they promised the possibility of seeing dolphins I was over the moon, as those are among my favorite animals.

I even had illusions of them swimming beside our boat and doing their famous surfacing in unction, beside us as we sailed along.

That was not to be at all!

Not even one jumping up as in the pic above.

We did see about four, but no big jump, just the fins.

Oh well what can I expect for a $17 boat trip?😏

Oh well, for that price I got to see Charlston from the water, Fort Sumpter, an actual retired air craft carrier and the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.

Built in 1929, this is the third longest cable stayed bridge in the Westen Hemisphere. It crosses the Cooper River and connects downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant. It has a main span of 1,546 feet (471 m).

It is 2.7  miles long  and we were told that it has a jogging lane, so is a favorite among outdoor lovers in the area.

An actual air craft carrier which once was manned by 3000 sailors.

It is now retired and just a tourist attraction.

The marina

Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island near Charleston. It was being constructed to defend the region from a naval invasion, after British forces captured and occupied Washington via a naval attack, during the War of 1812. 

It was however still incomplete in 1861 when the Battle of Fort Sumter occurred sparking the American Civil War, but it was then severely damaged and left in ruins.

 Although there were some efforts at reconstruction after the war, the fort as conceived was never completed. 

Since the middle of the 20th century, it has been open to the public as part of the Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park.

This water taxi trip was definitely a better option than the land tour I took earlier.