Our College Reunion – Day 9, 4/14/15 - Charleston, S. Carolina - The City of Rhett Butler

Our College Reunion – Day 9 (4/14/15)

Charleston, S. Carolina – The City of Rhett Butler

Preface

I suggested taking a special tour to visit this charming city.  The history book told us the first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on 4/12/1861.  The cannon fire eventually became a four-year struggle that divided the nation.  The racial tensions only get worse from different incidents nation-wide for the past years.  The most current one was only a few days old when a white extremist killed 9 black churchgoers in the bible study of an old predominately black church here in Charleston.   The old wound is reopened and it’s a never-ending war in America.

We wanted to see the place where the real history played out during the Civil War.  And Of course, most interestingly, how did this city shape Rhett Butler from Donald McCaig’s book “Rhett Butler’s People?”   The book is a sequel to “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell.  It covered the life and times of Rhett from 1843 – 1874 when he was twelve-year-old.  

A Trip Down Memory Lane

We took the free trolley offered by the city.  I got the tip from my January trip with my two other senior girl friends, Mimi and Jen-Jen.  It really helps.  Otherwise, we would have missed the significant areas of Charleston if we had stuck with our car.  The parking would be the real headache.  The driver was friendly when we told her where we would like to step off for lunch.  The bad side is the trolley was so crowded as the locals use it too.  I had the map ready to take us to the points of interest. 

The city of Charleston with palmetto tree-lined street – still maintains its old cultural and deep custom - It’s hard to picture how the Union blazed the whole city during the Civil War time. 

Cobble-stone roads – imagine where Rhett Butler’s house was located with the wrought-iron gate in 1840.

Daughters of the Confederacy Building – During the Civil War, the women of the southern states (Confederate) committed to the war effort in their own ways on the home front, cared for the sick and wounded and prepared food for the soldiers while the men went to fight the Union.  In the movie “Gone with the Wind,” we saw the women making the uniforms, knitting socks and rolling cotton bandages.   It’s also the place where the women exchanged social gossips, war information and whereabouts of their own sons, husbands, brothers and plantation neighbors.   

Hyman’s Seafood & Deli – 215 Meeting Street – we are in the center of the city where Rhett Butler’s mother and sister were trying to cultivate Scarlett O’Hara into Charleston’s complex society of the rich and aristocratic.  In the book, Scarlett is from Georgia’s plain White Tara, a cotton plantation, in the middle of Clayton County, Georgia, whereas Rhett, is a free-spirited, son of a wealthy and ruthless rice and indigo plantation owner.  The plantation was along the Ashley River in Charleston, S. Carolina.  Yes, all the names are real and were used in the novels.

We ate the typical southern cuisine – fried tomatoes, grits, fish and She-Crab Soup – how can we miss that – It’s the favorite of Rhett Butler’s mother who normally adds a bit of sherry in it. 

Charleston Place – The oldest and most exclusive Cecilia Society where the elegant balls held in this stately hall for men only with the embroidered initials on the shirts during the civil war time.  The membership included the most prosperous planter, politicians, physicians, lawyers and merchants in S. Carolina Lowcountry.  After that fateful departure at the end of the “Gone with the Wind” movie scene, the shrewd businessman, Rhett, one day, discovered that Scarlett was in the masked ball trying to disguise as a man.  She was determined to win him back.  

LJ stood at the bottom of the famous grand staircase of Charleston Place 

Charleston’s City Market - where Scarlett and Rhett’s mother shopped together in the novel.  Scarlett, on the verge of losing everything, the White Tara and all the men around her.  This was one of her concocted plans because she knew that Rhett loves and respects his mother dearly.  We are only here to sense the long and rich history of the place. 

The vendors with artwork, clothing, jewelry and foods like bags of sugar tea biscuits, grits and Fried Pig Skins (炸豬皮) replaced the old meat, vegetable and fish stands described in the novel. 

The sweet grass basket – a Gullah cultural tradition from West Africa.  It’s the enslaved Africans’ pride displayed in the beautifully weaved artwork. 

Chariot Ride – One of the tourist attractions to tour around the town.  We opted out.

Epilogue

This is my third visit to this southern city. 

The first time was in 1994 when we purchased the Hilton Head Island Grand Ocean Time Share Resort.  My son, Eric was barley 10 years old, already a Civil War buff, who recited all the important Civil War anecdotes happened in Charleston.  The charming of the city, with its cobblestone streets and horse-drawn carriage, did not register to me as I listened to his recount of the hard-fought battles between the Jefferson Davis, the president of the slave states - Confederate and Abraham Lincoln of the Union. 

The 2^nd time was when I, Jen-Jen, the retired Air-Force registered nurse, and Mimi, the successful property manager, made the four-day escape from the frigid Maryland back in January this year.  I was able to re-tell in details of the Civil War novel Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell to them. 

Walking on the streets along the wrought-iron gate mansions, the voices of the history were strong and compelling.  I have found to my shock that how much I love the character - Rhett Butler from the book. 

He is one of the main protagonists in the movie.  With his fine and dandy, well-tailored suites, he ran his illegal but successful blockade ventures for Yankees (Unions) or Rebels (Confederates) alike.  See the Ashley River at Waterfront Park, I also know him better, his childhood, personal and family experiences from the book Rhett Butler’s People by Donald McCaig. 

The neighborhood where we were on the hop-on trolley riding up and down the Church and Market Streets had his footprints where he roamed about growing up until he was kicked out from his father’s family.   I feel like I was in the history.

Another famous protagonist - Scarlett O’Hara- has never been one of my favorite characters.  You can’t deny that her beauty, plus her jealousy, possessiveness and headstrong will to manipulate all men around her - Ashley, and other unfortunate beaus/husbands in Northern part of Georgia, in Tara and Twelve-Oak Plantations.  However, Rhett Butler was the only one who did not give her a damn until she was fully matured in all perspectives his way. 

Charleston is Rhett Butler’s playground where Atlanta and Tara Plantation is Scarlett O’Hara’s.  I let my imagination run wild to see how this city’s formality and rituals in the long years of history shaped Rhett Butler’s larger than life personality in the book Rhett Butler’s People.

 Scarlett O’Hara was desperate to reclaim Rhett Butler when she was forced out to leave Tara Plantation after she lost everything, her parents, Ashley, her first and the 2^nd husband during the Civil War.  Charleston was the only place where she can find Rhett’s mother trying hard to rescue her son’s marriage.  I was anxious to show the Secret Dance Party – St. Cecilia’s Club – where Scarlett, had her first dance in Charleston.

         I still love the history books and eager to share my absolute great memories of all my three trips with my best college chums this time.