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| Ferry to Daufuskie Island, Hilton Head, S.C. |
The ferry leaves from Hilton Head Island. $64 included round trip ferry ride, lowcountry buffet on arrival and either a guided tour or golf cart rental. Plan your trip here. Dolphins escorted our boat and lunch was waiting for us on arrival. We met our guide Roger Pinckney and driver Eddie, boarded our magical history tour bus.The island is very rustic and peaceful. I had downloaded and reread Pat Conroy's book The Water is Wide about teaching in the little school house for a year. Some of the few old cottages are being restored and the church and school are open for viewing as museums. We stopped at an iron artist and pottery studio and ended back at the dock for deviled crab treats before boarding the ferry. It was a lovely day. Thanks to history lover Josephine Humphreys and Roger Pinckney for putting us all together. More photos here.
Daufuskie Island was occupied by native Indians prior to the arrival of European explorers in the 16th Century. Islanders sided with the British during the Revolutionary War. Plantations covered the island prior to the Civil War when they were occupied by Union soldiers. Freed slaves then occupied the island and grew cotton until fields were ruined by the boll weevil. Canning for the famous Daufuskie Island Oysters ended when local oyster beds were closed in 1951 due to pollution from the Savannah River. Electricity came to the island in 1953 and telephones in 1972; however, with few opportunities for work, the population shrank to less than a hundred people, leaving a legacy of rich Gullah history. In the 1980s, tracts of land facing the Atlantic Ocean were purchased, development began and the island was rediscovered as an historic treasure.
9 comments:
What Facebook history group? That sounds so interesting.
The group is a Charleston History group. It includes a lot of local history buffs, writers and local residents. I think I got included because I like taking photos of the lowcountry. People post old pictures and participants did in and share what they know or do research. Lucky me!
I would love to do this one day!
Sally, it was pretty hot and humid. Fall would be a treat. I'd like to stay in the cabins and wander.
1. I'm guessing the name of this island must be pronounced in various hysterical ways after a few mint juleps.
2. It's not the grave that's unknown (there's a sign)... it's the tenant. Perhaps they meant "grave OF the unknown"? 8-)
The island looks wonderful... the gator skull is something else!
Marcheline, you have a knack of pointing out things so obvious I don't even notice them! There were quite a few of those signs in that cemetery!
Now I want a gator skull to put on my book shelf...or dining room table...
I would have loved this tour.
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