THE CAROLINAS

[Music] good evening ladies and gentlemen this is jack douglas with another armchair vacation in america if the airplane had been invented in the 16th century here is what the first settlers to the carolinas might have seen a land flat but often fertile a wilderness rich in water and woodland a vast region having natural access to the mighty atlantic the spaniards were the first to discover and settle south carolina back in the early 1500s the permanent settlers the english colonials did not arrive until a century and a half later but today is what counts from the vacationers viewpoint what are the worthwhile things to see and do in this one of the original 13 states well the camera will be our guide as we search for the answers this ladies and gentlemen is your armchair vacation and mine too the carolinas south in 1680 charleston became the first major settlement in what is now south carolina so naturally this fabulous atlantic seaport is the state's oldest and perhaps most charming city charleston's main characteristic however is that the city is a composite picture of all the major events in the history of the state in marion square for example charleston honors the great south carolinian john calhoun the articulate formidable champion of states rights and the slave issue calhoun studied law in charleston and he is buried on the site of saint philip's episcopal church slaves were bought and sold in this slave mart now a museum and gift shop and the old powder magazine used as a munitions storehouse during the revolution is the oldest public building in the city you'll find another first at the corner of meeting in chalmers streets the first fireproof building in the usa today it houses the south carolina historical society well here are more firsts the first chamber of commerce organization in the us founded in 1773 the dock street theater first building in america designed solely for theatrical purposes and finally the st john hotel charleston's oldest and indeed only antebellum hotel and from this roof general robert e lee watched in anguish as fire laid waste much of the city in 1861 these street signs introduce us to charleston's rainbow row so named because of the beautiful soft pastel colors of the houses and buildings predominantly blues pinks and yellows st michaels in the heart of the city is also a famous landmark washington lafayette worshiped here and its bells through a series of events have crossed the atlantic five times another interesting as well as attractive churches is the french huguenot church the last remaining huguenot house of worship in the u.s for 150 years services were conducted in french but english is now also used it's friday afternoon at the citadel in charleston the citadel one of the world's great military colleges the 2000 cadets are on parade honoring general mark clark of world war ii fame and for quite a few years the head of the citadel after dress parade the visitor is invited to tour the college of special interest is the stunning monument to his majesty's ship seraph the submarine that landed general clark and his staff on the coast of africa for the historic rendezvous with leaders of the french forces the year was 1942 the chapel at the citadel is large but not particularly distinctive however this admonition is one will not soon forget remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth once through the entrance gate the citadel will remind you of west point [Music] this is charleston's most sacred and historically important landmark this is fort sumter guarding the mouth of the harbor on the morning of april 12 1861 this federal installation was bombarded by confederate batteries in the charleston area and this bombardment signaled the beginning of the war between the states today fort sumter is a national monument and i'm happy to report that tens of thousands of schoolchildren and an even greater number of vacationers visit this proud shrine each year these harbor excursion boats will take you from the city to the fort in a matter of minutes fort sumter is more than a tourist attraction it is a tremendous emotional experience one you'll remember long after your visit [Music] all along the carolina coastline you'll envy people enjoying the sun while swinging lazily in a rope hammock well these hammocks are made by the weavers that's the family name appropriately enough and you'll find the weavers on pawley island about 75 miles north of charleston these pawley island hammocks are hand-woven from high-grade cotton twill cordage and use aged oak stretchers to stabilize the width of the hammocks the prices were a most pleasant surprise ranging from fifteen dollars to thirty dollars for the largest size which was about fourteen and a half feet overall the advertising brochure says you're in for some of the laziest easiest hours ever wild away and you'd better believe it driving north again we stopped at brook green gardens a few miles from paulie's island at the entrance your attention will be arrested by this heroic group in aluminum fighting stallions one of the largest castings in this material ever attempted green is the dream come true of mr and mrs archer m huntington a dream that became reality in 1931. now in a nutshell brook green accents the beauty of nature with the beauty of man's creative genius there are dozens perhaps hundreds of sculptures spotlighting the landscape works of stone and bronze that exhilarate the eye i don't know the size of brook green but it is enormous and i do know that you and i could not walk every acre in a single day well that's not important what is important is the ecstasy you will feel just being here at brook green [Music] while we were here one woman visitor said well i guess this is what heaven would look like if landscaped by mortal man she spoke for all of us and all who have taken the time to enjoy a garden that is unique among america's great gardens myrtle beach is 20 miles from brook green and like the gardens and paulie's island the beach is located on highway 17 which hugs much of the south carolina coastline that's highway 17 on the coast myrtle beach reminds me of california and florida rolled into one now the dunes country club is at myrtle beach in the february 22 1965 issue of sports illustrated magazine labeled the dunes 13th hole one of the most difficult par 5 holes in the country listen to the club pro jimmy d'angelo we at the dunes club are very proud of having our 13th hole selected as one of the outstanding holes in the country robert trent jones the well-known architect who designed our course did an outstanding job on this hole and is recognized by all types of golfers in the country as the finest par 5 hole they've ever played let me show you the 13th hole jack the 13th hole is a left to right hole which is referred to as a dog leg we like to call it a fish hook hole because actually you are driving away from the hole from the t in order to arrive at the correct position i am using a driver and attempting to fade it slightly now to make certain that i clear singleton lake which by the way has several alligators in it i have selected a three wood this is all i need to put me in position to hit into the green my third shot will be played with an eight iron in order to clear the trap and stopping the ball as closely as possible to the hole which today is located in the valley i have a 15 foot putt a terrific right to left roll and downhill i shall attempt now to put it in the hole for a birdie but making sure that i do not go too far beyond stopping the ball close enough so that my par is insured while jimmy taps in for his par here's some info for you golfers the dunes is a private club but extends privileges to people staying at the major myrtle beach hotels the city of conway is just a few miles inland from myrtle beach the localites are proud of the fact that robert mills who designed the washington monument also designed the conway city hall but we were more interested in the old institution known as joggling now in the plantation days the juggling board was much like a swing after dinner entire families would sit on the board and just joggle and many a plantation mammy joggled the masters children to sleep on juggling boards similar to this so throughout the carolinas you're going to be invited to set a spell and joggle and frankly i think you'll like it the wackamaw river in conway is another delightful form of escapism it offers boating and swimming fishing and a lot of greenery in other words it beats working and maybe even joggling speaking of fishing you anglers should try lake moultrie farther south and slightly west of conway and closer to charleston moultrie is noted for its landlocked striped bass a saltwater fish that has adapted itself to this particular body of fresh water we try to get more information for you but you know fishermen everywhere are alike give them a rod and they're in the world of their own well we don't like to bother people so we got what information and pictures we could and tiptoed away aiken near the georgia border is the horse center of south carolina and some of the country's top breeding farms are located in the aitkin area if you like horseback riding aiken was made to order you shouldn't miss it and here mr walter newman a riding instructor and trainer escorts several guests on a jaunt over the bridal paths some of the most peaceful and pleasant riding trails you'd ever hope to see the sign is plain enough entrance famous view the place is caesar's head in the northern part of the state not far from the border of tennessee mounting the observation tower you look out on the high country elevation over three thousand feet a small section of appalachia now in recent years appalachia and poverty have become somewhat synonymous but this bountiful land is far from poor as far as the eye can see this is indeed america the beautiful this unusual formation is known as dog rock shaped by time and the elements to resemble the head of a dog caesar's head a sample of nature's hand to work in the carolinas south ford is pronounced buffer the second oldest town in south carolina now in the travel brochures buffers claim to fame is saint helena's episcopal church the oldest episcopal church in the 50 states but these shacks and bungalows tell a story the brochures bypass the doors and shutters are painted blue to keep out the evil spirit known hereabouts as the platy that's p-l-a-t platite yes and even newer homes obey the superstition of the platy the door frames are painted blue however don't be deceived by a few localized superstitions south carolina is neither backwoods nor backward we're flying now from charleston to columbia the state capital and the state's largest city in terms of population in colombia you may wish to see the boyhood home of woodrow wilson america's world war president and that passionate disciple of peace the university of south carolina the lancaster jail built in 1823 and still in use today and the presbyterian church used to quarter general sherman's horses during you know which war and ps sherman is not a nice word hereabouts so may i suggest we skip it and let's move on and don't let these signs fool you we're still in south carolina passing three towns named after scandinavian countries the iris festival at sumter not to be confused with fort sumter takes place during the first nine days of may now this means that people who can only vacation during the summer miss out on this and other colorful treats of the festival well let's hope they change the date because frankly nobody pays too much attention to the iris or any other flower for that matter these are the flowers they've come to see some of the loveliest beauty queens in the land and all are southern bells [Music] [Applause] [Music] on the day that robert e lee surrendered at appomattox courthouse sumter south carolina was the scene of one of the last battles of that epic war the battle took place at dingle's mill three miles from town 158 confederates stopped for several hours almost 3 000 union troops this reenactment is an annual observance at sumter and it's one of the best reenactments we've seen anywhere in the states not because it's big which it isn't but because it is so completely authentic for example the sumterites have resisted the temptation to make their confederates look like hollywood movie stars they are young but old before their time they are tired and tattered pounded to pieces by four years of bloody war [Music] news of lee's surrender did not reach sunder for two weeks and so on the day that the war had officially ended men died at a place called bingo's mill to those of us who visit here there is no north no south no question of who won or lost for dingle's mill like the alamo belongs to all of us who all who place a premium on valor and rock courage 158 against almost 3 000. this is part of a beautiful island hilton head south of charleston and near the georgia boundary line yes hilton head also has memories of the great war here was fought the battle of port royal which gave the north the key base from which to operate the naval blockade that ultimately strangled the southern cause but that was many many yesterdays ago today hilton island is pure paradise for the vacationer and say have you ever seen a driftwood tree as big and as interesting as this one if an artist painted it we probably wouldn't believe it there's a real touch of excitement at the sea pines golf course time and again you'll have to hit over water and you'd better make it or forget it because the ponds and lagoons are stocked with alligators we checked in at the william hilton inn which incidentally has an excellent gift shop a shop that specializes in the unusual here's an example a confederate music box which plays dixie [Music] showing no favoritism the inn offers equal time to a union soldier and the battle hem of the republic [Music] the adventure inn is another of many first-rate inns and motels on hilton island and you couldn't ask for a better setting with the atlantic for a background cycling is the island's favorite means of transportation as well as a sport you rent a bike and head for the beach and you'll see whole families pedaling along the beachfront and surprisingly the tires do not sink into the sand [Music] walter greer is a well-known name on hilton island where he is referred to as the man that got away a man who gave up a share of a successful company founded by himself and his brothers a man who traded security for the insecure life of an artist the decision wasn't easy he was in his late thirties married and the father of three children but he wanted desperately to paint and here on hilton island he found the variety of subjects he liked painting mostly landscapes but also unusual he is adept in realism and equally at home in abstract impressionism when greer isn't exhibiting his work around the country he likes to teach vacationers like ourselves who have a yen to dabble i'll look him up on hilton island walter greer well this night would be our last on the island and we spent most of it on a cookout at the hilton inn the food excellent by the way had been prepared in advance and was served to face style we weren't exactly roughing it but after weeks of being served at a table at one restaurant after another it was nice to just fill a plate and find a seat on the ground by the huge fire pit it was kind of romantic certainly nostalgic and a perfect ending of our visit to the carolinas south footstep across the border from south to north carolina but as these few brief preview scenes indicate north carolina has many attractions of its own separate from its sister state look for it soon the carolinas north on america