Friday 5

More tips for your visitors to the Lowcountry

Today's F5 gave you our top picks for squiring visitors around the Lowcountry, some down-home "authentic" local dining spots and five places to take the kids. But there was plenty of great stuff that came close to making the cut, and depending on your interests, some of these may be better choices...

More places to go
Downtown Summerville: Summerville is a beautiful small town that's increasing enveloped by suburban and strip development, but its historic district is stunning and its downtown commercial district is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon. Go for the shopping, the dining, the strolling, and be sure to drive around town with your camera. One last thing: All Books is now a bit off the beaten path, but if you love reading, don't miss it. It's one of the finest tiny bookshops left in South Carolina, and here's the thing: You walk in and you tell owner Michelle List what you like to read and she'll pick out a book you've never heard of. In our experience, she's never missed with a recommendation.

The ACE Basin and Historic Walterboro: If you're looking for a legit "small town Southern" experience, consider a drive down to Walterboro. There's not tons of stuff to do, but that's kind of the point, isn't it? And the ACE Basin (a wild area drained by the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto rivers) is the most beautiful natural area of the state. You can get some of that beauty by driving through it, but it's best seen by canoe or kayak. If you've got one of those -- or the money to hire a local outfitter -- the ACE is the place.

Drayton Hall and Hampton Plantations: The "big" plantations get more visitors, but if you're interested in a more unvarnished look at the past, we recommend these. Drayton Hall along the Ashley between Charleston and Summerville is privately owned and will cost you admission ($14 adults, with various discounts and options), but what you get is a preservationist's view of the past that is unique in its accuracy. Hampton Plantation is a state historic site on the Santee (between McClellanville and Georgetown), which means you can walk the grounds for free (a tour of the Big House is $4, with some discounts). What sets these places apart is that they survived the 19th century more or less intact and their 20th century inhabitants didn't meaningfully modernize the living spaces.

The Ravenel Bridge: Yes, a bridge makes a weird destination, but the pedestrian and bike lane on the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge has become a local favorite for reasons that go beyond utility and exercise. There are seating areas at each of the towers, and if you make the trek up from Charleston or Mount Pleasant you get rewarded with the best view of Charleston harbor. From the top of the bridge you can see all the major landmarks and much of Charleston, so it makes a great place to start a multi-day visit, because you can orient your visitors so effectively from one spot. Plus it's just gorgeous up there. Be alert, though: You have to walk or bike, and there is no water or restroom on the bridge. Plan accordingly.

Mount Pleasant's Old Village: The historic village of Mount Pleasant snuggles up to the west bank of Shem Creek (look for the Coleman Boulevard turnoff right after cross the Shem Creek Bridge when driving from Charleston) and parts of it date to the 18th century. It's mostly residential, but the village has a tiny central commercial district on Pitt Street that's enjoying a 21st century renaissance. There's fine dining at the Old Post House Inn, and not-so-fine but plenty-satisfying dining at the Pitt Street Pharmacy, a local landmark that continues to offer an old-fashioned drug store lunch counter.  The village has some outstanding public spaces, including the lawn and playground at Alhambra Hall (which overlooks the harbor), and the Pitt Street Bridge, a decommissioned trolley bridge that once connected the village to Sullivan's Island.

The Old Village is best explored on bicycle, and one of our 2007 Lowcountry bike tours detailed a nice but simple ride. Our suggestion: Park nearby, unload your bikes and spend a few blissful hours wandering around this romantic but utterly functional historic area. 

The Old Navy Base/Riverfront Park/East Montague Avenue (North Charleston): "The North Area" is the geographic urban center of the Lowcountry but just gets ignored by visitors. They're missing a trick. The once off-limits Charleston Navy Base and shipyard is now open (well, much of it is -- the government has returned large swaths of the property to fences and guarded gates since 9/11), and it makes an off-beat but interesting drive-around. The base is the site of the Warren Lasch Conservation Center, where the CSS Hunley -- the pioneering Civil War submarine -- lies in a chemical bath during its slow restoration process. Tours are available, but you have to register in advance.

If you turn left after entering via the Old McMillan Avenue Gate, you can follow the signs through the picturesque officers' housing area to the city's new Riverfront Park. This is a nice place for a picnic lunch (Didn't pack one? You can get great sandwiches from Tracy's Cafe inside 10 Storehouse Row).

And finally: While people have long desparaged North Charleston for "not having an urban heart," its East Montague commercial district -- now the center of what the city calls Olde North Charleston -- has been transformed into one of the hottest hangouts in the Lowcountry. If you're looking for an off-the-beaten-path place to spend an evening, consider this one. The restaurants and bars along the recently upgraded streetscape attract plenty of visitors. Madra Rua, the wood-panelled Irish pub that help lead the resurrgence, is a great place to have a beer, eat some tradition pub food, and watch a game.

Old Santee Canal State Park: This fantastic park in Moncks Corner has indoor and outdoor attractions. It's kid-friendly and cheap ($3 adults). Charles Towne Landing: The site of the original Charleston settlement west of the Ashley has been through enormous changes in recent years after falling into a shameful state of neglect. Whatever its state when you visit ($5 adult), the setting is beautiful and worthy of a half-day's exploration, particularly if you're toting around children. We just haven't been out there personally in a while, and can't vouch for its current condition.

There are others, but this should be more than enough to keep your visitors happy for an extended weekend. Happy touring!

Follow-up file: Pop-Ramen, Noonan and the Rah-Men

Last week’s edition brought you advice on what to do with your Thanksgiving leftovers (here’s our advice on what to do with those leftovers this week: COMPOST THEM), and it included the chorus to a song about Ramen Noodles that we once heard on an alternative radio station in another state:

Ramen Noodles
Must be made in heaven
For nary a dollar
I can buy me seven

Well, it turns out that both the writer of those lyrics and the musician who recorded them both lived here in the Lowcountry.

Here's the extended story...

Columnist, philosopher and stand-up comedian Tom “Noonan” Werner (Noonan was his stage name) of the Isle of Palms first published An Ode to Ramen Noodles 10 or 12 years ago in his “Rude, Crude, Guy Food” column in Charleston’s Free Time newspaper. He describes the column as something that would be equally at home in both the bathroom and the kitchen.

A local musician named Allen “Alpo” Porche approached Werner about setting the lyrics to a reggae beat. One thing led to another and the track (which also featured Teddy Prause, these days the guitarist for Steve Carroll and the Bograts, and Noonan/Werner giving a "spoken-word" commentary) headlined the self-produced Pop Ramen EP by “Noonan and the Rah-Men.”

Anyway, Prause noticed the chorus in last week’s paper, and — ta da! — mystery solved. We wound up on the phone with Noonan/Werner, trying unravel/remember the history of the Ode to Ramen Noodles lyric, the recording, the musicians, and whatever happened to all that time.

Also mysterious: I remember hearing part of the song on a public radio station in another state, which seemed like news to Tom. The record never had a label and didn't get airplay. He was certainly surprised that I'd heard it in North Carolina -- so surprised, in fact, that ever since then I've been trying to figure out if my memory is playing tricks on me. Thing is, I can't imagine where else I might have heard it.

Back in those days, Tom was working on an idea called "Broke and Brilliant," and you can still find some of it online (another chunk was lost in a computer crash), and the Ramen song fits into that theme nicely.

Today he goes by Tom Werner professionally in his work with a flooring company called Charleston One Source (the Environmentally Friendly Wood Specialists) and even has real business cards that he hands out.  So it looks like he's moving up in the world.

But I feel for the guy. As he put it when he dropped by the audio file for this post:

TOM: "You know that thing about how if your work touches just one person, it was worth it?"

DAN: "Yeah?"

TOM: "I'm not feeling that so much right now."

Because I'd hate that too. I'm not exactly the prize in anyone's box of Cracker Jacks.

Anyway, here's your Ramen Noodles song. Enjoy. And if you like it, tell Tom. He could probably use a few more fans.

Lowcountry summertime bingo

Summer is an odd season in the Lowcountry, the period when locals want to get away and everyone From Off seems to want to come here. The heat slows us down and just leaving the house can be a bit of a chore.

So, obviously, there’s only one thing to do: Turn the season into a game — a game with five cells across and five cells up-and-down. We call it Lowcountry Summertime Bingo — a five-by-five grid of things you’re likely to see here this time of year.

To play, all you need is a card and some friends (download additional cards below; as for additional friends, you're on your own) You go out as a group, and whenever you see or hear one of the things on your card, you mark it off. The first person to get five in a row shouts “Bingo!”

What happens next is really up to you. You could celebrate. You could argue over technicalities. You could even digitally photograph or videotape your results and send them to us.

We think strategy is important. Where can you go to maximize your chances of getting your five in a row? This is where your knowledge of the local scene really comes in handy. We also suggest you consider this question: Which of your friends are fun company yet also near-sighted and/or basically unobservant? Invite those people.

Card No. 1 (PDF)

Card No. 2 (PDF)

Card No. 3 (PDF)

And remember: It isn’t whether you win or lose that’s important — what really matters is how you tease the other players.

Don't worry: Be Crabby

Crabbing is a great summer activity for new arrivals, parents with young children or anyone who would enjoy doing something outdoors that doesn’t require complex tackle, a boat — or even knowledge about local waters.

The best part? You can outfit yourself with a fairly complete set of equipment for less than $20.

Where to go
Some spots are better than others, but basically any tidal creek will have crabs in it. Ask around at your neighborhood bait-and-tackles to find out where the locals are catching jimmys and jennys these days, or just go exploring. A popular place for beginners is the Pitt Street Bridge in Mount Pleasant, which provides easy public access to Cove Creek. 

(Photo: That's Scott Fish of Pittsburgh, Pa., and his 11-year-old son Mitchell "pulling and dipping" at Pitt Street Bridge. You can also barely make out his younger son, 9-year-old Justin, too. The Fish family takes the crabs they catch back to the Sea Cabins pier on Isle of Palms and use them to catch bonnethead sharks. Mitchell caught a junior-record bonnethead using blue crabs for bait this week. Dan Conover photo)

The “get” list
Less is definitely more when it comes to crabbing, and few recreational crabbers do it because they like the nifty gear.

Must haves: 1. A dip net (48-inch spread on a plain wooden handle, $7 at Haddrell’s Point Tackle and Supply in Mount Pleasant) for scooping up crabs; 2. A hand line, to which you’ll attach the bait. You can make do with regular twine, or you can chuck out $2 for a 25-foot, pre-weighted crab line with a hook to hold the bait in place; 3. A standard 5-gallon plastic bucket (if you have to buy one expect to pay about $8) with handle.

Nice-to-haves: Collapsing crab traps made of wire or cotton cord ($2 and up). Go-withs: Extend the reach of your collapsing traps with a 50-foot line ($3.29); You can also bring a standard cooler and fill it with ice, which mellows out live crabs quickly.

Bait: The preferred bait is the chicken neck (less than $2 will get you four of them at a fishing store), but crabs will bite just about anything. Check your kitchen for old, freezer-burned chicken wings and drumsticks before you pay good money for bait.

Tourists ask the darnest things

Veteran tour guide Tom Doyle of Palmetto Carriage Co. puts it this way: “The most dangerous tourist is the one who comes with a little bit of knowledge.” The “dangerous” part may be up for debate, but these partially informed visitors are certainly the most entertaining.

Does this carriage tour go to Fort Sumter?
While most people who visit Charleston are aware that the Civil War began with the Southern attack on Fort Sumter, the geography of the harbor and its most famous fort often seems to elude them. Even Fort Sumter Tours, the outfit that runs the boats out to the island landmark encounters this one. “They often say ‘I don’t want to take the boat tour, I just want to tour the fort,” said Donna Moulton, the company’s group sales manager. But the prize for Most Confused Tourist probably goes to the satisfied visitor who went on and on to Moulton about the nice lunch she’d eaten at Fort Sumter. “I finally figured out she was talking about California Dreaming.”
Photo: That's Fort Sumter in the upper-lefthand corner. D'oh! (Brad Nettles/Staff)

Where were the slaves sold at the City Market?
For some reason many tourists arrive in Charleston with the impression — in some cases, even the firm conviction — that the City Market was where slaves were sold. “That’s just not true,” said Dennis Stiles of the Original Charleston Walks. Slaves were sold elsewhere downtown — outdoors, mostly — but the city’s most famous market was never more than a free farmer’s market during the ante bellum period. “Slaves used to run the place,” said Linda Wohlfeil of Absolutely Charleston, “and you had house slaves going there to do the shopping. I think what happened was the meaning got misconstrued.”
Photo: LeRoy Burnell/Staff

Why are your houses so skinny?
It’s apparently common knowledge among tourists that the Charleston Single House style of architecture is based on a colonial street frontage tax, an entertaining historical factoid that has the distinct disadvantage of being utterly unsupported by facts. “That came from a Triple A travel writer in the 1970s,” said Tommy Dew of On The Market Tours/Tommy Dew’s History Walk. “Our narrowness came from the fact that we were a walled city and that forced them to cut really narrow lots.” Visitors also want to know why the locals “don’t fix these buildings up” and “who lives in all these houses?” Says tour guide Robert Switz of Old Towne Carriage Co.: “I tell them ‘Real people,’ but sometimes if I’m joking around I’ll tell them ‘Carriage drivers.’”

How many ghosts will we see on the tour?
Lisa Harper-Berezny has been in the business for 16 years, but she really started hearing this one when she started giving ghost walks for Bulldog Tours. “I tend to say it depends on the number of cocktails you have first. I tell them we don’t guarantee the number of ghosts you’ll see on the tour.” Among her other favorites: “You’re sitting on a carriage in the market, and they’ll walk up and ask ‘Do you give tours of Charleston?’ So you say, ‘No, we give tours of Savannah.’” Or “Can you tell me how to get to the old church?” and “‘Will my children be scared?’ Well, I don’t know. You know your children better than I do.”
Photo: Alan Hawes/Staff

Why do you shave your trees?
Not every silly question comes from a misconception about local history. Sometimes people are just plain befuddled. Like the woman who, upon seeing her first crepe myrtle, asked Greg Barrow of Classic Carriage Tours why Charlestonians shave their trees. “You just try not to make them feel like an idiot. You do your best to explain what it is.” But really, how would you answer a question like “How old were these houses when they were built?” or “How do you get all your flags to fly in the same direction?” Or how about this clicher: “If Charleston is so historic, why haven’t we read about it in the history books?” Answers, please, on a post card.
Photo: Wade Spees/Staff