Eclipse Trip -- Eclipse Day

Monday, August 21, 2017

Today was the excuse for this entire trip...America's Eclipse.  First the basics about the eclipse as seen from Charleston SC, as indicated by this website we found earlier while preparing for the eclipse:

Total solar eclipse visible (100.00% coverage of Sun)

Magnitude: 1.0035 
Duration:2 hours, 52 minutes, 59 seconds

Duration of totality:1 minute, 38 seconds

Partial begins:Aug 21 at 1:16:56 pm

Full begins:Aug 21 at 2:46:19 pm

Maximum:Aug 21 at 2:47:08 pm

Full ends:Aug 21 at 2:47:57 pm

Partial ends:Aug 21 at 4:09:55 pm

Times shown in local time (EDT)

The eclipse would not start until early afternoon, but there was great concern that Charleston would have traffic gridlock.  Many businesses were closed, schools were closed, and the University of Charleston was not starting fall classes until Tuesday.  We were not sure how credible these fears were, but any such fears we did have were only exacerbated when we heard on Sunday afternoon that one of the bridges over the Ashley River, which is a draw bridge, was stuck in the up position.  Oh great!

The Denison Physics Department Eclipse Watch had been put together by Glenn Masline, a physics alum several years ahead of the Frog.  There had apparently been a Physics Department eclipse watch some 50 years ago that Glenn had missed.  He had recently gone on record that he wasn't going to miss this one and wait another 50 years.

We were planning on viewing the eclipse from a condominium owned by Jeff Jalbert downtown on the Cooper River near the Charleston Aquarium.  Dr. Jalbert is a former Denison Physics faculty member and was the director of the Denison Computer Center when the Frog was first playing with computers...albeit batch jobs with punch cards.  Making it to their condo from our room at Motel 6 meant a trip over the Ashley River and across the peninsula, a trip of at least 20 minutes under the best of conditions.  However, it had always taken longer on the multiple similar trips we had made the past several days.  We planned to park in the Aquarium Parking Garage, then walk the several blocks to their condo building.  

GPS track on day of the eclipse

The Jalberts had invited us for lunch, followed by an afternoon of eclipse viewing. To avoid any potential traffic or parking problems, our group decided the night before that we would leave early to make the drive across town, get the cars parked, then walk somewhere in Charleston for breakfast before making our way later in the morning to the Jalberts'.  

Since the Frog and I knew we would need breakfast before most of the others, we got up early and walked to that world famous restaurant next to the motel, McDonald's.  That worked out great, since we could get by with just fruit and such for our "second" breakfast. 

Our trip across town was uneventful, although there were clearly lots of people already starting to gather and the parking garage was filling.  We did end up, totally by chance, at a great restaurant for our group breakfast, Saffron Restaurant and Bakery.  It turns out to be somewhat of a Charleston institution.  This turned out especially well, but there seemed to be so many restaurants everywhere in Charleston that I am sure we would have found something.

We then made our way to the Eclipse Event at the Jalberts'.  It was absolutely terrific to see Dr. Jalbert and another Physics prof, Ron Winters, who had been the Frog's research advisor.  There was lots of reminiscing about old times and catching up about the intervening years.

Most of the Denison contingent:  Pat Winters, Bob Malcuit, Dave Curry, Cliff Thomas, Ron Winters, Doug Hamilton, Mary Ann Malcuit, Ruthanne Thomas, Glenn Masline, Diane Kitelinger, Jeff Jalbert

Although the Denison crew was only a subset of the people present, I don't have pictures of most of the other folks.  In any case, it was a delightful group.  

The Jalberts went all out with a big spread to feed us.  Then we began peeking at the sky through our eclipse glasses from one of their multiple balconies.  Of course, if we got bored with trying to find the sun through the clouds, we had spectacular views of the Charleston Harbor.

Looking for the eclipse.  On the left in the background is the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown at Patriots Point Park across the Cooper River.  The blue container ship is steaming through the main shipping channel.  In the foreground is part of a commercial pier, which in other pics seems to be a holding spot for pallets of aluminum.

Physics alums just hanging out hoping the clouds will clear. 

Geek alert.  There is extra credit to anyone who can identify what Glenn's button means without Googling first.  What?!  You knew what it meant?!  Wow!  You are definitely a Super Geek!

It soon became apparent that the roof over the balcony would likely obscure the sun, so we moved to the pier outside their building.

It slowly got darker and progressively cooler (or at least less hot) as the eclipse approached totality.

There continued to be lots of clouds, but they parted just at the right moment as the eclipse reached totality.  Cheers went up from the various groups sprinkled along the waterfront.  I think I even saw the corona briefly.  Very cool! 

It did not get as dark as I had expected, but perhaps the light was dispersed by all of the clouds.  It was more of a twilight effect, but in all directions.

We were in total eclipse.  Then, before we knew it, it was over and the sun started to reappear.  However, a significant thunderstorm to the north showed flashes of lightning and the clouds came back with a vengeance.  I barely saw the sun after that, but it did not matter.  We at least got to see it during totality.

Pelicans over the Cooper River before the eclipse

I had always heard about animals exhibiting strange behavior during an eclipse, so I made a real effort to watch for that.  Unfortunately there weren't many animals to observe.  I did watch what appeared to be pelicans flying around, but I don't know what is normal for them let alone abnormal.  I took several pics, but my iPhone is not necessarily the camera of choice for birds in the distance.

Despite the fact that my cell phone was not the greatest of cameras, I did notice later that I think I could see Fort Sumter on the horizon. 

Part of the above picture--note Fort Sumter in the distance

After the eclipse we went inside to do more reminiscing with all of these great people.  We really hated to leave because it had been so good to see all of these folks, but we finally called it a day after finishing off more food.  

I don't know what time it was when we left, but it was well past dark. The parking garage was nearly empty and the streets were nearly deserted.  By going early and leaving late we had avoided any of the major crowds everyone had feared.

The South Carolina flag is blue with a palmetto tree and a crescent moon.  As with such things, there is all kinds of symbolism.  However, from now on, I think I will always think "eclipse" when I see that flag rather than crescent moon.

Eclipse Trip -- Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

Sorry for the delay in chronicling our Eclipse Trip.  We decided to take advantage of some extended fall-like weather to explore the trails at LLELA, including some in the woods which are much more tolerable in lower heat and lower humidity.  I will have more to say about our LLELA adventures in the future, but it is fair to say we continue to find all kinds of things that are new, at least to us.  For example, we ran across some ebony jewelwing damselflies.  They are actually pretty common, but they only seem to hang out in a few selected areas in LLELA we had not explored recently.  Anyway, we were excited to see them for the first time.

Ebony jewelwing on Blackjack Trail at LLELA

Unfortunately the heat outside has returned, so I am again inside in front of the computer.  Therefore it is back to our Charleston adventures. 

Plantations near Charleston

On Sunday morning we enjoyed exploring historic parts of the city of Charleston.   However, South Carolina was primarily built on agriculture.  It is perhaps not surprising that any search of things to see and do around Charleston includes locations outside the city and most notably several historic plantations.  But which one should we visit?

We did not want to drive too far, so that ruled out Boone Hall Plantation in Mountain Pleasant (east side of the Cooper River).  That still left three plantations along the west side of the Ashley River:  Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Middleton Place, and Drayton Hall.

Drayton Hall is the only plantation home on the Ashley River that survived the Civil War.  For the purist interested in period architecture and hand-crafted woodwork, it is probably the first choice.  However, it is in its original state, i.e. no furniture, no new paint, no restoration of the peeling wallpaper, etc.  That did not sound especially appealing to us, so we decided to pass on Drayton Hall.

I had read earlier that both Magnolia Plantation and Middleton Place have interesting tours and both have interesting but very different gardens.  The gardens at Middleton Place are very formal....think gardens at Versailles.  Most importantly they have NO SHADE.  That was not going to cut it on this very hot, sunny day, so it was off to Magnolia Plantation.

Magnolia Plantation

We did not know exactly where we were going, but set the gps and headed out.  This took us north on Ashley River Road for about 10 miles under huge live oak trees draped over the road and dripping in Spanish moss.  Once we turned into the property it was more of the same.

There were huge trees everywhere, many of which were probably already in place when the plantation was started nearly 350 years ago. 

To understand Magnolia Plantation it helps to know a little of the history of the place.  Thomas Drayton immigrated to the new English colony of Charles Towne in 1671 from Barbados.  His wife's father gave them 2000 acres along the Ashley River as a wedding gift.  The Draytons built a home there in 1676 and thus was the beginning of Magnolia Plantation.  What is incredible is now, nearly 350 years and 13 or so generations later, the plantation is still owned and run by the family!

BTW...Although I have not seen the details, I suspect it was significant that Thomas Drayton moved from Barbados to Charles Towne (later Charleston).  According to Wiki, by 1660 Barbados generated more trade than all the other English colonies combined.  Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados, was one of the three largest cities in English America. (I know, who knew?!)  The other two cities were Boston, Massachusetts and Port Royal, Jamaica.  The growth of Barbados was due to sugar cane and its exports of sugar around the world.  As the sugar industry developed into its main commercial enterprise, Barbados was divided into large plantation estates that replaced the small holdings of the early English settlers. Some of the smaller landowners who were squeezed out moved to the English Leeward Islands, especially to Jamaica, or to the newly founded Province of South Carolina.

However, the wealth and power of the Draytons was not built on sugar cane, but on rice.  More specifically it was Carolina Gold Rice.  Rice was the basis of the colonial and antebellum economy of the Carolinas and Georgia, with South Carolina producing the vast majority of it.

Magnolia Gardens -- the nation's oldest public garden

The history of Magnolia Plantation is long and involved, with multiple generations of owners.  Of particular note was Thomas Grimke Drayton's inheritance of the plantation in 1836 at the age of 20.   Thomas, as a second son, had not expected to inherit anything and planned to enter the ministry. Despite his new found massive wealth, he became an Episcopal minister and was rector of St. Andrew's Parish Church in Charleston for 40 years.

In addition to his ministerial duties, Rev. Drayton also actively managed the plantation.  What is particularly significant is the massive expansion of the gardens he initiated at Magnolia Plantation for his wife.  The garden was huge and, more importantly, was the first Romantic-style garden in the Americas.  He patterned it after gardens he had seen while visiting England.  Many of the plants he used were those that his wife had seen only in conservatories when she lived in Philadelphia.  He imported and planted camellias from Europe.  He imported rare Indian azaleas from southeast Asia, the first azaleas to be planted outdoors in the United States.  Even today he is credited with being the first to bring azaleas to the U.S.  He also built extensive paths, lakes, and bridges so the two of them could enjoy this massive set of gardens.

The Long Bridge, built by Thomas Drayton, as it looked on the day we visited.  The sign in the foreground is a Beware of Alligators sign.  For scale, note the person in the blue shirt to the left of center on the bridge.

The garden was so significant at the time that one of Rev. Drayton's friends, John James Audubon (yes, THAT Audubon) painted two of his final works at Magnolia.

The Civil War was a major turning point for Magnolia Plantation.  Although the family had escaped to their summer home in North Carolina upon the advancement of Sherman's army, the plantation was in dire straights following the war.  The main house was destroyed and rice farming, the main enterprise of the plantation, was no longer economically feasible without slave labor.  Fortunately the gardens, although not in the greatest of shape, survived.

To raise capital, Rev. Drayton sold nearly two thirds of the original plantation to a fertilizer company for phosphate mining.  He also opened the gardens to the public starting in 1870.  Magnolia Gardens are now the oldest public garden in the U.S.  The garden and its role in bringing camellias and azaleas to America was recently featured in an article in the Smithsonian Magazine.

What did we get to see?

It was very crowded while we were there...I am sure due to everyone in town for the eclipse the following day.  We took the tour of the main house, the one that was rebuilt after the Civil War and then lived in by family members until very recent times.

Front of the main house at Magnolia Plantation.

The tour was interesting and provided an overview of the history of the plantation.  Unfortunately photos were not allowed.  However, this site has great pictures of both the gardens and the interior of the house.

We then took the 45 minute train (really tram) tour of the grounds.  It allowed us to see what used to be some of the rice fields that are now nature areas for wildlife.

The aggressive peacock that came up to the tram looking for handouts

This is looking across one of the former rice fields, now a wildlife pond.  There is an alligator on the platform and a great blue heron beyond that in front of the low tree.

We also saw some of the former slave quarters, at least from a distance.  We did not take the separate slave quarters tour which, according to some of the others that we met later for dinner, was apparently quite good.   Slaves at Magnolia were almost exclusively from west Africa because they had expertise in growing rice.  In looking online later I discovered that Magnolia Plantation has been part of a program over the last decade or so to help trace African American genealogy in the Carolinas and Georgia through plantation records and other means.

Former slave quarters

After eating a couple of their over-priced hotdogs, we took the walking tour of the gardens.

I am sure the gardens would be breathtaking in the spring when the hundreds of thousands of azaleas (the largest collection in the country) are in bloom.  I don't know much about plants, but their website indicates the azaleas include multiple varieties that were thought to be extinct.  Magnolia Gardens also has the largest collection of camellias in the country,  more than 20,000 camellia plants of 2000 different varieties.  Seeing them during their peak from mid-January to mid-March would undoubtedly be spectacular.

Even though we were visiting during an "out of season" time, the gardens were still very nice.  They just went on and on, with little areas tucked in out of way places and developed in different ways.  Unfortunately the heat and humidity were beyond oppressive, so we did not linger as long as we might have otherwise.

Bridge over the lake (between 3 and 4 on the map).

A small alligator cruising along near the red bridge.

A variety of full sun plants

Some shade loving plants along the path with the Ashley River below.  This was apparently at low tide (note the mud and rocks).  It looked like the river level had been much higher very recently.

More flowers

A volunteer among the cypress knees? Probably a red spider lily

Before we visited I had been a bit concerned that Magnolia might be too much of a tourist trap or at least not worth the expense, but it was very worthwhile despite a somewhat down time for the garden and the overwhelming heat and humidity.  The three things we did (house tour, train tour, and garden walk) were all interesting in their own way.  Despite the heat, I am glad we explored the gardens.  The size and diversity of the gardens is impossible to grasp without seeing them in person.  However, it is also clear why folks that could afford it did not stay in the low country during the summer before air conditioning.

Update.  Here is a promotion youtube video I found which shows portions of the gardens and the grounds:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4ZHrdSas3w&feature=share

Eclipse Trip -- Historic Charleston

When we first began exploring what to do while visiting Charleston, there were two things I wanted to do for sure:  (1) visit Fort Sumter and  (2) walk through some of the historic parts of the city.  Fort Sumter requires a boat trip of four miles out into the harbor.  After returning to the room Saturday night we tried to make reservations for one of the Fort Sumter boat tours on Sunday but discovered they were sold out (probably due to all those eclipse watchers in town!).  However, Sunday morning seemed like the ideal time to walk around old Charleston.  As it turned out it was, except for the killer heat and humidity.  More on that later.

Overview map of Charleston (on the peninsula) with gps track of our walk through historic Charleston.  The Ashley River is to the west and the Cooper River is to the east.  Fort Sumter is on the island in the far southeast corner of the map.

Historic Charleston.  The historic part of Charleston is the southern end of the peninsula.  It really is a very long history.  The city's settlement started in the late 1600's (Wikipedia says 1670, but a different website points out that the 1670 settlement was on the west side of the Ashley River).  A fortress city on the east side of the peninsula along the Cooper River was begun in the last few years of the 17th century.  The walls of brick and earth encompassed sixty-two acres of high ground on an otherwise marsh-riddled peninsula.  It was the only walled city built by the English in North America, protecting the English inhabitants from possible naval attack by French and Spanish forces and any land assault by hostile Native Americans. 

Based on early maps and recent archaeological digs, the location of the original walls are well established.  In our wanderings we even saw a tiny part of the original wall with an appropriate historical plaque.  Interestingly, the land mass of the peninsula has expanded significantly over the years (see interactive map here).  Even though the portion we saw was no longer on the river, it may well have been in 1670. 

History seems to be everywhere in Charleston. It is truly impressive how the citizens have gone out of their way to preserve that history.  Indeed, much of the city looks like a period movie set.  I can't possibly do this history justice here...especially since I got so wrapped up in the moment that I forgot to take pictures...but I will list a few of the interesting things that we discovered.  

We were not sure where we would be able to park, but came into town from our hotel on the west side of the Ashley River and drove on the road along the seawall around the southern end of the peninsula.  There were lots of people jogging or walking, but there was still a fair amount of parking on the street.  We snagged a spot and began our exploration on foot.

GPS track of our exploration on foot of historic Charleston

White Point Garden. We started by checking out White Point Garden, a public park at the southern tip of the peninsula.  It is a beautiful area with huge live oak trees, lots of monuments, and beautiful views of the harbor.  Surprisingly to us, there were many signs indicating that the trees were an active bird rookery although we did not see that many birds.

A Revolutionary War monument at White Point Gardens with some of the many live oaks in the background

The park has a long history, including the location of Confederate artillery to defend the city during the Civil War.  We even saw one plaque describing the execution of pirates in the park in 1718 and 1719.

Historic homes.  Leaving the park, we walked north along the top of the seawall or Battery.  The major point of interest in the area is the collection of historic antebellum homes.  

The tip of the peninsula and White Point Garden as seen from the ferry to Fort Sumter.  Note the huge homes.  The red brick building with the white pillars (right of the smaller clump of green) is the Robert William Roper House.

All of the homes in this immediate area are old and most are huge.  A good example of that was the Robert William Roper House, 9 East Battery Street.  It was originally overlooking the park, but there are now two houses between the park and the Roper House.  Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1973, the house is known as one of Charleston’s most beautiful Greek Revival houses.  Robert William Roper, a prominent cotton planter, built the house in 1838. He intended for his showcase home to be the first residence seen by visitors approaching Charleston from the sea and apparently it could be seen by approaching ships from miles away.  Interestingly, despite significant renovations in the 1980's,  there is still a 500 pound piece of cannon lodged in the attic from when the Confederates blew up a gun at the intersection of E. Battery and S. Battery in 1865!

Edmondston-Alston House as seen from the ferry to Fort Sumter

A little further up Battery Street at 21 East Battery is the Edmondston-Alston House.  It was built in the 1820's and is typical of the so-called Charleston single house style where the house is long and narrow but turned sideways on the lot such that only one room on each floor faces the street.  The porches on each floor run along the long side of the house to take best advantage of the prevailing wind.

Northwest corner of Tradd and East Bay, the southern end of Rainbow Row.  Also notice the earthquake bolts on both the front and side of the building.

Even further up the same street, which has now become East Bay Street, is a row of thirteen houses known as Rainbow Row.  It is the longest cluster of Georgian row houses in the U.S.  The name comes from their pastel colors.  I did not realize until after we returned home that this was Rainbow Row or I would have continued on in front of them and taken more pictures.  We read several places that the colors were to aid drunken sailors in finding their correct boarding house or to aid illiterate slaves in finding the correct address.  Although nice stories, those are probably just myths.

The buildings of Rainbow Row were built by merchants with stores on the ground floor and living quarters above.  Most of the original structures were built around 1770 and all were directly on the riverfront of the Cooper River before land to the east was filled in.  However, many of the original buildings were destroyed by fire in 1778.  Most of the current buildings were rebuilt after the 1778 fire.

Looking west on Tradd Street

Although the side streets were quite narrow, they were very interesting. We meandered through some of the residential areas, including some of the streets that are labelled alleys, and finally came out among several churches.

We did not actually walk very far, but it was so hot and humid we decided to circle back to the car.  We went via Waterfront Park, which is home to Charleston's iconic pineapple fountain.  There were also a series of very interesting 3-D maps of Charleston through the years, but I did not take a picture and have not been able to locate any online.

Bombardment of Charleston.  During our entire walk we were south of Calhoun Street.  According to this site, this entire area was within range of Union guns and took a heavy beating from a Union bombardment lasting 545 days from 1863 to 1865.   It was the longest bombardment in military history until the German siege of Leningrad in World War II.  The majority of the population moved north of Calhoun Street to get out of range to avoid injury.  This bombardment, on top of a major fire in 1861, must have resulted in significant damage to this part of town during this period of time. 

Earthquake of 1886.  One of the most interesting things I discovered, at least in part while preparing  to do an earthcache, was the history of the great Charleston Earthquake of 1886.   At an estimated 6.9-7.3 on the Richter Scale, it was the second most powerful earthquake ever on the east coast, behind only the series of three earthquakes in New Madrid, Missouri, in 1811-1812.

For all of you on the west coast 7.3 doesn't seem like much, but actually it was.  Within the city of Charleston almost every building sustained damage and most had to be torn down and rebuilt.  Most surprising to me was how far away it was felt, as far away as Boston to the north, Chicago and Milwaukee to the northwest, New Orleans to the west, Cuba to the south, and Bermuda to the east.  Even at these far flung places, the quake was significant.  According to this site, a telephone operator in Brooklyn, New York, thought he was having a heart attack when all the plugs on his switchboard popped out of their sockets.  At a minstrel show in Terre Haute, Indiana, the galleries swayed, and threw one man out of the balcony who saved himself by clinging to a railing.  The audience in the opera house in Dubuque, Iowa, stampeded, thinking the building was about to fall.

This seemed almost unbelievable to me, so I had to do some more research.  Yes, it is true that east coast earthquakes are fundamentally different from west coast earthquakes.  Most notably, the older, cooler, more solid crust of the east coast transmits motion over much longer distances than an equal size earthquake on the west coast.

What does all of this have to do with wandering through historic Charleston?   Following the earthquake, metal rods were inserted into floor joists of damaged homes.  The exposed bolts were tightened, straightening the house and giving it stability.  These earthquake bolts are still visible on many buildings.  Some are plain, while others are disguised as different ornate shapes.

Close up of the photo above of a home on Tradd Street with more ornate earthquake bolts

 

House with earthquake bolts

Whether caused by war, fires, or earthquakes (not to mention hurricanes), there has been the need for multiple reconstructions of the buildings over time.  However, it was interesting to see a lot of renovation currently in progress.  Given the historical designation for essentially the entire city, I cannot imagine the paperwork involved.

Protestors and counter-protestors at the Confederate Defender of Charleston Memorial

We finally made our way back to White Point Garden.  By this time a small group of protestors and another group of counter-protestors had congregated at the Memorial to the Confederate Defenders of Charleston in the corner of the park.  Although this memorial has been the frequent target of vandalism in recent years, it did not look like there would be trouble today.  However, it still seemed like a good time to move on and find some air conditioning since we were really feeling the high humidity.

Although the heat and humidity had cut short our exploration such that we did not see much of the historical public buildings, we still learned a great deal and got some feel for this beautiful city.  I would be most interested in returning, although some time when it is cooler!