Date: 7-8 November 2012
Location: Charleston, SC
South of Broad, North of Broad, all around the peninsula bounded by the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, we explored the city looking for landmarks….landmarks we had become familiar with in the book. We did this collectively via a horse drawn carriage, and individually via foot and vehicle. Mostly we explored the Historic District down to The Battery. Some landmarks were easy to find, such as the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist and the Four Corners of Law. For others, we had to use some imagination…was this the house where they retreated to the upper floor when Hugo washed through the city, and where Hugo accomplished what mere man had failed in doing…claiming a long overdue debt on the father of the twins; or was it the one on that next block on Waters Street? We had our choice of houses to pick on Tradd St., where Leo inherited his South of Broad house from Harrington Canon. Projecting our memories of the book onto these homes, we would envision those passages in a different way, standing in front of the actual, or imagined, houses.
Others were missing and were left to our individual imaginations. When we looked for the house where Leo was raised and found his older brother, Steve, covered with blood in the bathtub, and the house across the street where Leo’s life was changed forever by a tin of cookies and his first meeting with the twins, and where Sheba’s life ended…all we found on Lockwood Blvd. now, was a green way along the banks of the Ashley River. Others that were missing, we were assured by our resident Charleston and Citadel expert, Bob F., were there at one time. The Piggy Park was there, a short walk from the Citadel. According to Bob, when the cadets approached one of the tables at Piggy Park, they would shout out HB and PBR before sitting down and shortly they would be washing down a hamburger with a Pabst Blue Ribbon. He didn’t say if he ever made it to the Charleston Yacht Club for dining.
While touring Charleston on the carriage, pulled by Freddie who was guided by Christie, we learned that Christie had read the book and she pointed out some of the places mentioned in the book. We asked about walking Leo’s paper route and were told that would be a very long walk. With several carriage companies escorting the tourists all around town, the method that had been devised to distribute the carriages more or less equally around the city was to define a number of interesting routes around town and then have the carriages all start in the same place, where a ball was drawn, much like a ping pong ball at a bingo game, which dictated which route that carriage would follow. The length of the carriage ride was determined by the spirit of the horse pulling the carriage – some wanted to move faster than others. The carriages do somewhat restrict the flow of traffic around the city with their slow movement and the pauses along the way to point out things of interest. Also, as horses are wont to do, when they made a deposit in the street, the driver throws out a marker for a clean-up team to take care of it before it becomes a menace to traffic.
Our discussion of the book took place around the pool at the Days Inn, where most of the group were staying. Earlier in the day we had taken our carriage ride and then explored more of that area of Charleston. The weather was cool, so we weren’t lounging around the pool in our swim suits. Everyone had read some or all of the book and everyone liked it, some more than others. Some read passages they particularly liked and we had a nice discussion, which covered all of the high points of the book. Which meant that for those who had not finished the book yet, there would be no major surprises. Most indicated they would finish the book anyway.
I was reminded of the parallel universes in Timeline or fate, as in Fate is the Hunter…when Leo’s story unfolded from having a package of cocaine put into his pocket to receiving a substantial inheritance through court ordered community service. Also, when I see a Convent, which is seldom, I will probably always envision a truck arriving with an annual supply of soap, or laundry detergent, or floor polish, or hand towels, or shoe polish or a Sister who gave up the Church to marry someone who ran fully clothed into the river and then asked her to help with the cost of replacing a watch and wallet.
Looking forward to picking another destination and a book which take us there.
Happy Bloomsday — Reynolds