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Happy New Year Join us in 2012 as we explore Charleston and Savannah |
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BookLover's Travel | | |
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Calendar
"A Garden of Delights in the Coastal South"
April 11-19, 2012 | |
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People You'll Walk in the Footsteps of during "A Garden of Delights in the Coastal South" Tour (from the Books on the "Suggested Booklist")
Fictional People
Charleston
Celia Garth (in Celia Garth): "Sassy" Celia, age 20, transforms from a fashionable Charleston dressmaker to a patriot spy during the American Revolution, when she is recruited by the "Swamp Fox," Francis Marion of the Continental Army (a real person). Celia matures during the two-year occupation of Charleston by the British forces.
Peter Ashley (in Peter Ashley): Peter, age 23, returning to Charleston from Oxford University, shows himself to be a nonconformist in a culture dominated by tradition as he questions slavery and the wisdom of South Carolina seceding from the Union.
Leopold Bloom King (in South of Broad): One day in Charleston at the age of 18, Leopold Bloom King (named after James Joyce's fictional character) meets all of the quirky friends who come in and out of his life for the next three decades.
The Bell Family (in Charleston): The saga of the Bell Family begins with Sydney, a British immigrant who arrives in Charleston in 1720, moves to Edward (Sydney's grandson) during the Revolutionary War, and follows Alexandra (Edward's granddaughter) during the Civil War era.
Savannah
Mark Browning (in Savannah): Mark is a young man who comes to Savannah to build a life for himself and meets two remarkable women, Eliza Mackay and Caroline Cameron.
Hattie (in Savannah, or a Gift for Mr. Lincoln): Feisty 12-year-old Hattie moves to Savannah with her widowed mother from their plantation and promptly collides with General William Tecumseh Sherman (a real person) and the rag-tag group of Union soldiers and hangers-on who have just marched from Atlanta, torching towns along the way.
Real People
Savannah
Characters in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: Jim Williams, an arrogant antiques dealer; Danny Hansford, a turbulent young gigolo; Joe Odom, a sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; Lady Chablis, a black drag queen; John Berendt, the writer from New York who narrates the story of these remarkable Savannah characters.
Beaufort
Robert Smalls in (Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls from Slavery to Congress, 1839-1915): Robert Smalls, a 24-year-old slave and deckhand from Beaufort, steals a Confederate ship from the port of Charleston by impersonating the captain, picks up his waiting family members, sails past five Confederate forts, and turns the ship over to the Union troops blockading the area. | | |
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Tour Details
Welcome Dinner at Hyman's Restaurant
Charleston Tea Party Tour with Laura Hipp incl. southern breakfast and lunch
Charleston Tea Party Walking Tour with Marianne Wichmann
Nathaniel Russell House
Edmondston-Alston House
Fort Sumter Tour and boat ride
Aiken Rhett House
Private Transportation to 3 Plantations
Middleton Place Plantation
Magnolia Plantation Tram Tour
Drayton Hall Plantation and Oyster Roast
Private Transportation to Beaufort and Savannah
Jon Sharp's Walking Tour of Beaufort
Historical and Literary Walking Tour of Savannah with Tess Scheer
Private Transportation to Bonaventure Cemetery
Juliet Gordon Lowe Mansion
1790 Restaurant Farewell Dinner
Evening Carriage Ride tour of Savannah |
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Little Connie, Big Tree |
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Real People You'll Meet during "A Garden of Delights in the Coastal South" Tour
Charleston
Laura Wichmann Hipp: A Charleston native, Laura takes visitors to her friends' private homes and gardens as part of her Charleston Tea Party Private Tour. A knowledgeable and charming guide, Laura gives visitors a chance to experience Old Charleston as a guest rather than a tourist.
Marianne Wichmann: Laura's mother, Marianne, known as the "grand dame of Charleston walking tours," takes visitors on a dramatic walk through Charleston's history, followed by tea in her own little garden.
Beaufort
Jon Sharp: Jon's Walking History Tour covers the 500-year history of Beaufort, with tales of Indian wars, massacres, pirates, slaves, wealthy planters, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, fire and hurricane, and the people who lived through it all. | |
Savannah
Tess Scheer: Tess is an experienced tour guide who really knows Savannah: its places, people, history and stories. She takes visitors around the town on walking tours and in horse-drawn carriages.
John Duncan: John, a retired history professor who now sells antique maps and prints, had a small part in the movie of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. He is a font of information and stories about Savannah, which he enjoys sharing with visitors.
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BookLover's Travel Update |
Charleston and Savannah
"A Garden of Delights in the Coastal South"
April 11 - 19, 2012 $2650 per person
BookLover's Travel is announcing our first domestic tour: "A Garden of Delights in the Coastal South." This nine-day excursion will include visits to gracious homes, historic plantations and buildings, and gorgeous gardens in the delightful southern cities of Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia. We'll experience the historical significance of these two cities that figured prominently in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars and walk in the footsteps of real and fictional people who lived in Charleston and Savannah. And of course, we'll dine on fine low-country southern cuisine as we steep in the culture of the South.
Here are some highlights of the tour:
- Stay in a centrally-located boutique hotel in Charleston and an historic hotel in Savannah.
- Tour Charleston's historical sites, famed gardens and gracious homes during the annual Festival of Houses and Gardens.
- Experience Fort Sumter, site of the beginning of the Civil War.
- Visit three antebellum plantations outside Charleston.
- Stop in Beaufort, the filming location for several southern-based movies.
- Walk through several of Savannah's beautiful squares and parks and tour distinctive buildings.
- Visit sites associated with the book and movie of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
- In both cities, browse in the shops and feast on southern cuisine, including the amazingly fresh seafood.
Day-By-Day Itinerary with Suggested Books
Day 1: Arrive in Charleston.
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View of the Battery, Charleston |
After flying into Charleston, South Carolina, we'll transfer to our quaint boutique hotel, the Meeting Street Inn, located in the heart of the city, and have a welcome dinner of authentic southern cuisine.
Day 2: Tour historic homes and private gardens.
On today's private tour, we'll visit several historic homes and private gardens. The tour includes both a full southern breakfast and a special lunch in one of Charleston's gracious homes. We'll be in Charleston during the annual Festival of Houses and Gardens when the gardens will be at their spring peak. The late afternoon will be free to wander and shop. Celia Garth by Gwen Bristow
Day 3: Walk in the historic district and tour beautiful homes.
We'll start the day with a walking tour of the historic district, past many churches and historic buildings, hearing stories of the Revolutionary and Civil War eras. We'll end in the Battery District, with its many beautiful homes. We'll tour the Nathaniel Russell and Edmondston-Alston houses to get an insider's view of historic Charleston and then walk along the river through Waterfront Park. Peter Ashley by DeBose Heyward
Day 4: Journey to Fort Sumter.
After touring the interpretive center, we'll take a narrated ferry ride out to Fort Sumter, the site of the beginning of the Civil War. We'll listen to a talk explaining the importance of this site and have time to wander around the Fort. Back on the mainland, some of us may want to visit the Aiken-Rhett House, an atmospheric, semi-restored in-city plantation house. Others may want to visit more of the gardens open during the Festival of Houses and Gardens or wander through the shops and craft markets. South of Broad by Pat Conroy
Day 5: Explore three antebellum plantations.
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Magnolia Plantation |
Today is plantation day. We'll tour the sumptuous gardens at Middleton Place and visit Magnolia Plantation, where we'll eat lunch and take a tram tour of the grounds. Then we'll drive to Drayton Hall to see the oldest plantation home in America open to the public, one of only three plantation homes to survive intact the ravages of the conquering Union Army. We'll dine on the grounds of the plantation. Charleston by John Jakes
Day 6: Visit picturesque Beaufort on the way to Savannah.
Leaving Charleston, we'll head south to Beaufort, South Carolina, a gem of a city with an amazing array of historic houses and the locale for the filming of several movies. After lunch we'll take a walking tour of Beaufort. We'll end the day in Savannah, Georgia, where we'll check into the Marshall House Hotel. Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls from Slavery to Congress, 1839-1915 by Edward A. Miller, Jr.
Day 7: Explore historic and literary Savannah.
Our private historical/literary walking tour will take us throughout downtown Savannah. We'll visit many of the places featured in the book and movie of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and drive out to visit atmospheric Bonaventure and Greenwich Cemeteries. The rest of the day will be free to wander and shop. We'll spend the evening with a local character from Savannah. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
Day 8: Visit historic buildings and stroll through Savannah's beautiful squares.
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Forsyth Park, Savannah |
Today we'll visit an historic house to get a feel for the people who have lived in this southern city and an impressive cathedral. We'll stroll through several of the beautiful historic squares and Forsyth Park. Tonight we'll have our special Savannah-themed farewell dinner, followed by an evening horse-drawn carriage ride. Savannah by Eugenia Price
Day 9: Shop, wander and fly home.
This morning we'll have time for a little more wandering and shopping for some unique southern keepsakes. Then we'll fly home from Savannah, steeped in southern culture. Savannah, or a Gift for Mr. Lincoln by John Jakes
Cynthia and Connie
BookLover's Travel
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| Included In Our Tour | |
$2650 per person based on two people sharing a room
5 nights in Charleston at the Meeting Street Inn, a deluxe boutique hotel
3 Nights in Savannah at the Marshall House, Savannah's oldest hotel
Breakfast daily, one lunch, and three dinners
Admission to all group sightseeing excursions: see sidebar for details
Transportation as it applies to the tour, including airport transfers
All tips and taxes
Trip cancellation, interruption, and medical insurance
Airfare not included.
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| BookWoman |
What to Read
Part of the mission of BookLover's Travel is to provide travelers with suggested reading lists: books to read before, during or after traveling to the destinations of our tours. We look for accounts where the places we are going to visit play prominent roles in the narrative. Sometimes these settings could almost be considered "characters" in the books.
We also like to find books set in various time periods so we can see how a place we are traveling to might have either changed or remained the same over time.
In researching books set in Charleston and Savannah, we realized that a major influence on these cities has been war: the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Since neither of us gravitates to war tales that focus on battles and casualties, instead we looked for books that showed the human side of war: how these battles and casualties affected people not directly engaged in combat. That's why five of the seven books on our "Suggested Booklist" for A Garden of Delights in the Coastal South are historical novels that either refer to or focus on the effects of war on the people in Charleston and Savannah.
Historical novels set in Charleston and Savannah:
Celia Garth by Gwen Bristow
Follows the adventures of a young seamstress caught up in the siege of Charleston and the dangers of plantation life during Revolutionary War times
Peter Ashley by DuBose Heyward
Focuses on a young man who questions Southern ideals and values as he tries to pursue a literary career in Charleston on the eve of South Carolina's secession from the Union
Charleston by John Jakes
A saga chronicling one family from the time of the American Revolution through the antebellum years up through the Civil War
Savannah by Eugenia Price
Follows the fortunes of a young man who journeys to Savannah to build his own life in his mother's birthplace (set from 1812 through 1825)
Savannah, or a Gift for Mr. Lincoln by John Jakes
Focuses on a spunky 12-year-old girl and her interactions with Union General Sherman, who marched into Savannah during the 1864 Christmas season at the end of his destructive march to the sea
Other books set in Charleston, Beaufort and Savannah from the Suggested Booklist:
South of Broad by Pat Conroy
A sprawling tale that opens in the area of Charleston famed for its historic houses and spans two decades in the life of Leopold Bloom King and his group of friends
Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls from Slavery to Congress, 1839-1915 by Edward A. Miller, Jr.
Biography of the first Africa American hero of the Civil War, who was born into slavery in Beaufort and became one of the most influential African American politicians in South Carolina history
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
A non-fiction account of an infamous killing in Savannah that reveals the quirky people in this city where everyone seems to know everyone else's business
Connie |
| Travel Tips |
What to Pack
Spring is the perfect time to visit Charleston and Savannah as the flowers are in bloom and the weather is comfortable, with temperatures in the mid 70's. So pack your camera, comfortable walking shoes, and include a couple of skirts, tops and lightweight slacks. While we in the Pacific Northwest are known for our casual attire, the South is the place to dress up. If you ever wanted to wear a sundress and a big hat, Charleston and Savannah are the place to do it. Be sure to include a sweater for air conditioned restaurants and a jacket for the evenings. Cynthia |
| BookLover's Travel | Adventures fueled by books to destinations around the world
We explore the art, history, and culture of destinations around the world, having read novels, mysteries, and non-fiction books set in the places we visit. BookLover's Travel tours contain something for any booklover and every traveler. "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." St. Augustine Cynthia van de Erve and Connie Freeland BookLover's Travel |
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