Day 5 - Explorations

Today we made up for our lazy Sunday by a day of industry. We went over to St. Helena Island to visit the Penn Center. The school in Peter's story was formed here. At the musuum, the kids enjoyed a scavenger hunt. Peter was fact checking and I took a ton of pictures so we can remember the lay of the land.


We have met wonderful people here. This morning we met an author with a history degree. He was just walking by and struck up a conversation. The lady at the musuem was also very nice. After touring the musuem we were beginning to feel that there is no way we -as outsiders - could properly represent and enter into the culture here. So I was bold enough and just asked her about it. She graciously pointed out that E. Pierce and Laura Town were outsiders, white, and Northerners and they managed. She reminded us that the peopole are the key. The Gullah community is a lot like a small town. Everyone is related - they all know each other - and they know each other's business. She was so encouraging. We had been walking around in the heat and she generously gave us two bottles of water.

I purchased a hand woven basket there. Ladies, you all are going to be jealous when you see it. I love it. The fancy sweet grass basket can be quite expensive, but this one is just a handmade basket. Still wonderful. I really wanted to get one from the Penn Center because they are doing such great work. You see, the school had to be closed down so the decision was made to create a culture center. They hold classes and events celebrating the Gullah culture. Everyone there has a clear sense of being part of something precious. I think Laura, Pierce, and the others would be proud of what happened to their experiment.


We spent the rest of the afternoon going up and down every island road which sturck our fancy. This evening we had dinner on the water front in Beaufort. After being on St. Helena, Beaufort seems urban, pricey, and yupie. The local restaurants we have tried so far have had second class food and first class prices. There is a place on St. Helena called Gullah Grub. We are working up the courage to try it.