Outer Banks Dunes

Out in the Atlantic

Getting away from South Carolina’s Charleston to the Outer Banks is easy… find Highway #17 and go north. Driving along the coast line was a surprise, no ocean views from #17. Instead, there were continuous waterways to cross, water, water, water all the time with the accompanying luscious celery green grasslands. No doubt many love Myrtle Beach, the resort town plunked at the half way point. From evidence, tons of hotels, the amazing amount of miniature golf courses and a Technicolor water park, people here are enjoying themselves.  

As our goal to visit the setting of many novels, the South Carolina Outer Banks starts with a two hour ferry ride to the most southern island, enchanting Ocracoke. Immediately fanning out is a merry harbor filled with welcoming outdoor cafes, treasure shops, trails to bicycle and wandering alleys to explore. Sunsets sit down in the bay so the silver and pink trail of light etches the sailor’s way out to the Atlantic.

Kill Hill Beach

Moving on, another ferry carries cars to Cape Hatteras, that most easterly point spoken of in weather reports and that won the honor of one of the three best beaches in the US. Continuing, names like Buxton, Avon, Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, Duck, and Corolla, book end the north and bring long ago heard stories and history alive.

Fishing on Kill Hill Beach

Traveling along the skinny dune bordered islands, that marvelous sense of being free of the busy world comes alive.

The multitudes of newer homes

mimic the southern style, three stories and straight up in the air. But future trees and natural island growth will soften the popped-up look, as if these structures are surprised to have found themselves so far off the terra firma of the mainland.

Living on the Outer Banks

The miles of ever shifting sand beaches and grayed down brown shingle homes tell another story, one of many years of weekends of play and happiness for those fortunate enough to wander onto the far-away Banks. 

Oak with Spanish moss

As the roads from Florida wind their way north toward Savannah, Hilton Head Island and Charleston, the vastness of the marshes is mighty impressive. Rivers, estuaries and sounds crisscross miles and miles of grasses. What a way to approach these loveliest of southern coastal cities, with grasslands being gentle guards of the ladies and their island gent!

What impressed me the most about the three, Savannah, Charleston and Hilton Head Island? First off, it was entering Savannah and finding 21 beautiful squares dotted throughout the large historic district, the streets laid out around them in perfect geometric grids. There were 24 squares in the beginning, 21 still exist. Each square has a history behind its name…one is even Washington Square, named after George who visited Savannah once. These live-oak tree-covered squares, replete with statues, fountains, benches, azaleas and grass-lined walkways are surrounded by the most handsome homes, small and large.

In the early days, the commercial and residential buildings centered on these public squares. I loved them, these charming gathering places rooting the communities surrounding them. Built on a bluff in 1733 overlooking the Savannah River, the port was a marriage for the cotton industry. Today we stayed on River St. in a hotel surrounded by restaurants and tourist shops, where once stood the cotton warehouses. As in all of the original colonies, church spires dominate the city skyline; religion playing a big part of the residents lives then as well as now.

Cathedral of St John the Baptist

The Catholics in your families will love this tidbit…the Cathedral in Savannah is thought to be the most beautiful in Georgia. And it is gorgeous …

For you history buffs, the city had a garrison of soldiers in the long-ago revolt against England but were surprised by the British who then used Savannah as their colonial headquarters before leaving in 1782. During the Civil War, the force of Gen. Sherman burning his way across Georgia resulted in the defenders of the city withdrawing so Savannah would be saved from destruction. Sherman entered the city on Christmas Day, in 1864 and offered it to President Abraham Lincoln as a present.

Hilton Head Island – Northeast of Savannah lies the gentleman of this group…just off the South Carolina coast. The stands of trees buffer the coastal marsh shoreline, and protect the nature life on the island. What surprised us the most were these dense woods which covered this 12 mile long and up to 5 mile wide island. Carved into these woods are about 25 golf courses, 300 tennis courts, hotels, resorts, businesses and who knows how many homes, mostly hidden by the trees. Golf now is the other name for this island.

In earlier days the history of the Gullah, or freed slave was predominant. Before 1956 when the bridge to the island was completed, the Gullah population’s culture was hunting, fishing and farming. Today the island has become an all-year resort. As we expected to see open vistas to the sea and waterways, it took us many wrong turns to find a waterfront restaurant for our lunch, one that had an Atlantic Ocean view.

Charleston is the grand-dame of it all. What a heady combination of homes, history, and historic aristocratic attitudes. This impressed us, all of it. The city is placed between the Ashley and the Cooper Rivers, who meet to build Charleston Harbor, a bay and an exit to the world.

The Battery

Where these two rivers join is called the Battery, where all who live or visit here end up to contemplate this remarkable piece of southern history. In a bygone era women promenaded arm-in arm along the Battery past the gracious homes. Many of these houses were built with piazzas (open covered walkways with columns) on the sides of the houses to let in the air and for privacy from the streets…making the house look as if they’re riding side-saddle to the lot.

The daily harbor sails on the 84-foot wooden Schooner Pride use just wind energy, the high-end antique stores on King Street are masters of re-using, and the high-ranking notable restaurants—many focusing on the region’s Low Country cuisine—celebrate local ingredients.

Charleston is known for its gardens, many hidden behind homes that hug the sidewalks. Gardens are part of the landscape, silently speaking about the talents of those who tend them. Towering over these peaceful places are the trees, all draped in that dusty looking moss called Spanish Moss. In fact it’s all over the south, and being air and dust fed, it doesn’t harm these magnificent trees.

When Hurricane Hugo hit Charleston head on in 1989, it did more damage than both the Civil War and the earlier war with England. Huge waves pounded over The Battery onto the city streets, where first floors of houses flooded up to the second story, and the city was left in shambles. What is impressive is the spirit of the Charlestonian: persistence and courage in rebuilding over and over, pride in their history, and respect for their ancestors.

One of Charleston’s best restaurants

Those portraits of past family members that hang in prominent places in their homes, are there out of a real caring for the past plus a respect for their contribution to the community. As integration changed the aristocratic rules, the walls of an upper class society that had ruled Charleston were broken down. In spite of all that Charleston has endured, the lovely restored homes in the south of Broad district tell of a casual elegance that has continued. Today, the city has become a tourist mecca,  filled with sightseers, all eager to relive the Rhett Butler days of “charm and grace.”

Did you know Johnny Mercer (“Moon River” and “You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby”), and who won 4 academy awards is from Savannah? And so is the lady who started the Girl Scouts!

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Come with me where tourists are not allowed. How strange it is to be in a land where tourism is for Muslims and foreign business people and workers only. Because we were invited to Saudi Arabia by a prominent businessman, we received a business visa under our business name. It is difficult to describe the impact on us from the world of the Arabs.

All woman must cover their bodies when out of the home, none can drive, and never show their wrists or ankles outside of the home. So wearing the abaya is for everyone, plus face coverings are very common. Restaurants have family sections but separate entrances. Chauffeurs wait with their cars lining the streets at night.

During the day, if prayer time comes during shopping, the doors are closed, Muslims go to their knees and pray and shoppers wait to continue shopping. But my reaction was strange for the time we were there, just for the my clothing issue though As I did not cover my face or hair I enjoyed wearing a pretty abaya! It was lightweight, trimmed in colors, with no thought to what to wear before going out in our chauffeured car. Living this way all my life is a different thing!

There’s a certain understanding for Muslin women that comes from this experience. It’s one that makes the woman feel very cared for, very special in some reverse way. Many Muslim women in other countries do feel a certain identity by the wearing of their “costume,” even though it seems an anathema to independent women of the world.

In today’s Saudi Arabia women live under the guardianship rule, which says the man is in charge of her life. Be it father, husband or relative, all women must have the authority of a man for all her decisions. This archaic practice is being seriously contested by those women who understand that they are the equal to men, and can decide what they want for themselves.

There are so many rules to keep track of about women’s behavior, while the Mutawa, the dress code police switch women if parts of their body show that should not be seen.

One Saudi man with three wives and wishing no one to see them, built a huge hanger-like structure over his entire estate that shields those on each side of his property to be able to see in. This covers his main large palace and two other smaller palaces for his second and third wives, plus sumptuous gardens interspersed throughout his property.

Riyadh, the capital city, located in the center of the country is very strict with the women while Jeddah which is on the Red Sea tends to be looser with certain rules. The latter city has beautiful architecture that has clean symmetrical lines, brick and stone with plaster facing homes, well-maintained streets, especially the ones traveled by the King. His royal palace and grounds are humungous with a view of the world’s highest water fountain that he had built. The King is known to have many wives. The entire Royal family numbers in the thousands. When guests visit the King, they usually stay at ornate guest houses outside the palace grounds.

Foreign business executives live in compounds, walled, gated and guarded communities that provide many amenities for these impermanent residents. Gardens are everywhere, flowers, fruit and palm trees spring up out of the desert sand with the use of desalinated water from the sea. Gasoline at this time was $.15 a gallon! All the businesses there have at least a half ownership by a Saudi.

Western Saudi Arabia has well-preserved and beautiful ancient ruins, similar to Petra in Jordan. Saudi Arabia’s are unseen by most of the world because of the inability of tourists to come there. Those privileged to visit Mada’in Saleh, a sister to Petra, can get there by an hour’s flight and a two and a half hour drive. The extraordinary tombs were built by an ancient people called Nabataeans whose settlement flourished in the first century BC and remained strong until the latter half of the first century AD. On the way to the site, camels, sheep and donkeys dot the rocky desert landscape. It is thought that the carved tombs surrounded the tents of the residents. At present there are almost one hundred monumental tombs with decorated facades dug out of solid rock outcroppings.

Nearby Al-Ula is another historic oasis. There well- preserved houses still stand on an ancient trade route. It was at these places that civilizations grew and passed, trade flourished, then failed, and people lived, passed away and were buried in rock-cut tombs.

Jeddah is a city of 3 million residents with millions coming to do their ‘once during their life’ pilgrimage to close-by Mecca. Along the highway to this sacred city is a road sign, “Straight ahead for Muslims” and a turn-off for “Non-Muslims.” Modern-designed Bedouin tents cover acres next to the airport where foreign Muslim pilgrims register for their Hajj or pilgrimage, and even they are closely monitored and only go to and from this area to Mecca.

Conversely, most of the workers in Saudi Arabia are from other countries; Pakistan, India, Syria, Philippines, and other Arab countries, though it is now required for companies to have 30% of their employees be Saudis. Our business friend has become somewhat of a pioneer in hiring Saudi women, who are eager to work.

The roads day and night are filled with all types of cars, many very large. In the evening and especially at 10pm and after, the restaurants are filled with people. Any type of alcohol is forbidden; fruit juices are a popular drink. Women go out together, many covering their faces. Some remove their head scarves when seated at a table as there are separate and private areas for these women. At the beach, black abaya-covered women sit and visit, picnic with children and swim in the water, never removing their cumbersome and heavy coverings.

Visiting Saudi Arabia is like visiting another world, one with every luxury and modern convenience possible, yet with thinking as archaic as the ancient tombs of Mada’in Saleh.

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