the south

Beaufort, Bluffton and the Wildlife Refuge

Posted on by Seniye Groff

Just five minutes over a beautiful bridge from Savannah pops me into South Carolina. And an hour drive (about 38 miles) lands me in the surreal, charming town of Beaufort. Beaufort is the second oldest city in South Carolina with its downtown considered a historic district filled with mansions with Victorian, Greek Revival, Neo Classical and federal styles. Wealth came from cotton and indigo plantations and trading. Beaufort has quite a history and was one of the first areas captured by the Union in the Civil War. I visited the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park which shared the history of how freed slaves grew wealth and prosperity in Beaufort, too.

After wandering the historical downtown with its shops and homes, I drove over the Woods Memorial Bridge to Lady’s Island. I wandered Whitehall Park and viewed Beaufort from afar across the marshlands. I returned to Beaufort for lunch and met a man who has lived in Beaufort for 45 years. He told me it is the place to live and he invited me to stay with him and his wife to experience the real Beaufort. Even crazier, his kids live in Bend. It truly is a small world. We exchanged numbers. For lunch I enjoyed a Lowcountry shrimp melt. Pete managed to eat about half of my fries!

Once lunch was done, I got into the car and headed to Bluffton about an hour away. It was another picturesque town on the May River dating from the 1820’s. The Union burned the town on June 4,1863. 13 houses and two churches survived and the town grew once again. Although no longer a center for trade, many summer homes and a bustling historic area continue.

After Bluffton, I drove another hour to the Savannah National Wildlife Reserve. This protected land has a four-mile drive-only loop with beautiful marshland, birds and alligators. I saw several alligators and was more than happy to stay in the car!

The beauty of this area astounds me. The green, lush foliage coupled with all the water make this area stunning and although hot and humid in the summer, I would definitely return!

Whistling Past the Graveyard

Posted on by Seniye Groff

I laughed out loud to the many antics of nine year old narrator, Starla, in Susan Crandall’s latest novel,  “Whistling Past the Graveyard”.  Starla lives with her Mamie (grandmother) in a small southern town while her father works on an oil rig and her mother is busy getting “famous” in Nashville.  Starla is sassy and acts before she thinks and lands herself on restriction on her most favorite holiday:  July Fourth.  So Starla decides she is going to run away, find her mother in Nashville and her father will join them and, of course, a perfect family will form.

Starla is quickly picked up by Eula, an African American woman in an old rickety truck accompanied by a white newborn.  Eula Takes Starla and the newborn to her home and husband, Wallace.  Wallace is a bit of a drunkard and nuts and insists that Eula cannot form an “instant” family with two white children.  Starla tries to escape and disaster ensues.  Eula, Starla and the baby decide to head to Nashville to find Starla’s mother.  During their adventures to Nashville, Starla begins to understand what is “allowed” for Coloreds in 1960’s America.  Watching (or reading) Starla discover the discrimination is mesmerizing.  As the reader, I almost felt I had been transported back to the 1960’s.

This story has so many layers to it: the south, being nine, being white vs. African-American, being childless, being battered and being a part of small town America–just to name a few.  Starla is smart, clever and naive all at the same time.  Crandall writes with skill and emotion and this novel will make you laugh, cry, smile and gain an understanding of how difficult it is to make change happen (and how brave those change agents really are!).

Crandall has written nine novels prior to this latest release, and I cannot wait to read all of her other books!