Sunday
I learnt some time ago from a great coach of Miami football that:
'On any given Sunday, you're either going to win or lose, but can you win or lose like a man?'... That great man's name, you ask?
Tony D'Amato...
The former coach of the Miami Sharks...
Anyone...?
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| Wait, so, Al Pacino doesn't coach a football team? |
This momentary lapse aside, it was indeed Sunday, and that meant football day... So, when my alarm went off at 8:55 AM you can imagine how I jumped out of bed ready for the day ahead... What actually happened was I hit the snooze button on my phone... This snoozing until 9:02 AM made me appreciate the saying 'You snooze, you lose', because in that time the obese Panamanian hostel room mate waddled himself into the bathroom and did his business... I needed to use the shower so that I could get going for some breakfast and to get out to Sun Life Stadium, so, there wasn't really a choice in the matter and I was forced to enter the biohazard and shower.
Needless to say, it was a short shower...
I jumped out of the bathroom, covered myself in deodorant and got myself ready for the day... As it was football day in Florida, I decided to not make the same mistake as in Tampa, and wore t-shirt, shorts, baseball cap and shoes... I also brought my sunscreen, which was to prove invaluable later in the day...
I wanted down a few blocks to the Diner on 11th Street, where I had had breakfast for dinner the night before. At this point I had breakfast for breakfast, knocking over a stack of pancakes before exiting and deciding how to make it to the arena.
When I arrived in Miami I drove by Sun Life Stadium, and knowing how far away from Downtown it was I figured I would avoid a cab... Public transport, whilst cheap, would have arrived me there at kick-off, so I figured that getting an Uber was my best bet... So, I jumped on the App, was informed that due to rush demand it was going to be 2x the normal fare, which whilst expensive I figured wouldn't be a ball breaker when compared to a cab...
The guy who picked me up was not the guy who had been matched with me (the guy who was on the App was white, the guy picking me up was black), but he knew my name so he must have just been using the phone... He was a nice enough guy, we chatted for the duration of the trip about him applying for work in the Government (as a Special Agent in the US Postal Service) and the perks that come with that... Apparently the job he has been approved for as an intern is a job that FBI Agents want to get; the reason being is because the Bureau can send you anywhere they like, where as, as a Special Agent in the USPS, you stay where you are originally stationed and only move if you choose to... And he was still going after Federal employees, so it was a step above normal detective work apparently, but still super cushy... He was also a Veteran, who had done disaster relief in Haiti, and had done a tour or two in Iraq... Because Australia had troops on the ground he gave me a tick; although, the same could not be said for Egypt, and especially for the French... He was not a fan of the French... We also chatted about bad experiences with cab drivers and an argument he had with a cabbie who had started the meter running when he hadn't actually gotten into the cab (due to booking it for 5:30 and it showing up at 5:20)... It was actually a really funny story...
Arriving at Sun Life Stadium we worked out too late that we were in the lane to park, so, after the driver chatted to the staff they sent him out, but not before he dropped me off... (I would check my phone later and find that the actual cost of the fare was $20 (which was way cheaper than a cab), but due to various fees and multipliers the total came out to something like $65... Next time I think I'll take a cab or chance it with public transport...)... I really should have known better, as this was not the first time I had been to Sun Life Stadium (in 2010 I saw the then Florida Marlins walk off against the Atlanta Braves in a crazy game), but last time I split a cab with 6 other people, so it was cost effective.
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| Sun Life Stadium |
I did a lap of the Stadium looking for a statue of Dan Marino to kiss... This is an in-joke... Those of you who know (which should be a lot of you) will know, and those of you who don't, well, sorry...
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| Dolphins Hall of Fame statues |
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| Without being arrested, trying to fulfill the in-joke |
I found one statue which was in a hall of fame tent and, not wanting to be kicked out, chose to French kiss it in my own way... I continued my lap around the arena, only to find that the actual statue that was being referred to was on the other side of the arena completely... So, I had to French him again...
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| Actual Dan Marino statue |
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| Again, trying to fulfill my in-joke requirements |
That aside, the Miami Dolphins fan experience outside their arena was one of the best ones of all the places I've been to on this trip. They had a live band (which isn't unique), plenty of activities for kids and adults to take part in (such as throwing/kicking, prize draws/wheel spins, player entrance/locker room simulations, being able to touch and feel the equipment the players would use and the other assorted food/drink items... Again, not unique), and a blow up mascot walking around and having photos with people... All these things weren't unique to Miami, but all of them together made for a great atmosphere and a really happening vibe outside the ballpark. I walked by a bus load of Raven fans who had made the trip (I guess through the team, because they all had 'Ravens Trips' badges on). Whilst outside the arena I also covered myself up with sunscreen, figuring that if they took away my bottle of sunscreen at the gate for whatever reason, then I'd already have at least put some on...
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| Blow up Dolphin walking amongst the Dolfans |
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| Live music |
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| Player entrance simulator & 'Dolfan' Makeover tent |
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| Player locker room experience |
I entered the arena, walked up the curving walkways and ended up on the 400 level of the arena... I was in section 416, row 5, seat 9... "Upper Prime" they called it... I found my seat, and I was very happy to find that I was in the middle of a row (so, no getting up for anyone, unlike at the Heat on Wednesday night), I was equal with the 25-30 yard line (so, I would be getting a good view of the play), and it was slightly breezy (just to keep it from being an absolute sweatathlon)...
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| Pretty good seats for the upper deck |
It was about 90 minutes before kickoff, and rather than sitting in the sun I chose to sit behind the grandstand on the chairs and tables they had for people to eat at... At this point I got to thinking about my night in Nashville where I walked behind the grandstand to try to keep warm... I was doing it this time for the exact opposite reason... Less than 3 weeks earlier I was freezing my tits off behind the grandstand at LP Field in Nashville; today I was avoiding the Miami heat... That said, it was a glorious day, and sitting in the shade behind the grandstand in shorts and a t-shirt was so, so comfortable...
To kill time I read through the free Gameday magazine, and then started talking to the woman who I had sat across from... The woman was an old woman, a typical Florida resident in many ways, in that she used to live up North but moved down for the weather in her retirement... So, she was dressed up completely, head to toe, in Ravens black and purple... It was another typical chat for me, in that, I had to explain my trip, have her commend me for travelling while I had the chance and by myself, and then explain anything about Australia that she wanted to know. She was a nice enough woman, she wants to go to Australia but hasn't found the time or people to go with her, she was intrigued about the differences in our countries, for example, the metric system, and she helped me kill some time before she left to go find her husband...
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| View to Downtown Miami from the upper deck |
Just prior to this, a pair of Dolphins fans sat down at the table and were eavesdropping on the conversation... When the Baltimore woman left they picked up right where she left off, although, I had to go over the ground I had covered before they had arrived... Where I'd been, how long for, where I was going, etc etc... Then, potentially because I let slip a swear word without meaning to, potentially because it was always going to be spoken about, this conversation happened:
Zealot Moment of the Day
Male: "So, what about Jesus Christ? Do you guys follow him down there?"
Sam: 'What? Jesus Christ the person? I wasn't aware he'd even come to Australia in person...'
Male: "......."
Sam: '.... No, we do have Jesus Christ in Australia... People go to church... That's a thing...'
Male & Female (together): "That's a thing" *laugh*
Sam: 'Yeah, so, I know a lot of people who go to church, my grandmother is very big into it... I go on occasion'
Male: "So you don't know?"
Sam: 'Know what?'
Male: "That following Jesus is the only true path to salvation"
Sam: 'Uh...'
Male: "That letting him in to your heart is the first step"
Sam: 'Oh, no, yeah, I totally follow Jesus, I go to church more than my friends...' *awkward silence* '...Hey, you wouldn't happen to know what time the players enter the field?'
Male: "Oh, I think about 12:30"
Sam (checking watch): 'Oh, I might go try to catch the players then, nice chatting to you...'
Yeah, I don't reckon I could have gotten away quickly enough as soon as religion got brought into it... No offence to the guy, I felt I was polite to him, but yeah, no, not interested...
I made my way back to my seat, sat for a moment, walked back down the other tunnel and got something to eat... Then returned to my seat with about 20 minutes to go before kick off... I took the opportunity to reapply my sunscreen, as it was quite clearly going to be one of those days... There was a public address warning about those who aren't used to the South Florida heat, and signs to identify you've got heat stroke... They took special care to mention that it would particularly affect people wearing purple and black...
The players then entered the arena, with the normal kind of fanfare, the National Anthem was played and we inched closer to kick off. As I sat and waited for all the pre-game fanfare to end I was boxed in by a rather large Ravens fan on my left, and a tall Dolphins fan on my right who decided to make himself wide for the sake of it... So much for the benefits of the middle of the row!
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| Ravens enter the arena, as the Dolphin mascot is held back by some guys... I assume to avoid bottlenose marks and the other work of rowdy teens |
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| Dolphins prepare to enter |
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| Dolphins enter arena |
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| Offensive starters |
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| Ryan Tannehill |
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| National Anthem |
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| Only thing they'd win all day |
I had wondered why but it hadn't struck me until it was flashed up on the screens, all the flags in the arena were flying at half mast... This was due to the day being Sunday, December 7th... Pearl Harbor Day... So, later in the day two World War II veterans were paraded in front of the crowd for Veteran Appreciation (which appears to be standard practice at all venues and sports in the USA)... Pearl Harbor is another place I would like to go one day, perhaps on my next run through the USA...
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| Pearl Harbor Day |
Miami won the toss and elected to defer, meaning they kicked off to the Ravens. Baltimore opened with a 3 and out, while the Dolphins offence went rolling in the first quarter, with first down after first down... They got out to a 3-0 lead, and then a 10-0 lead, and even called a timeout with 3 seconds left in the 1st quarter to force the Baltimore punter to kick into the wind... Based on how each offence was playing it looked like it was going to be a very one sided affair.
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| Kickoff |
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| First play from scrimmage |
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| Second play from scrimmage |
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| Nice glitch from the Scoreboard operators... The Buffalo Bills were playing the Dolphins at the same time as playing Denver |
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| Miami on offence |
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| Tannehill hands off |
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| The back cuts back to some space |
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| Good for another Miami Dolphins... FIRST DOWN |
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| Miami in the redzone |
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| Tannehill tries to fit it into a tight window |
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| Touchdown Miami |
The second quarter, with the teams switching sides, also saw the teams start playing like the other team had done in the first quarter... Baltimore all of a sudden seemed a force on offence, Joe Flacco found his form through the air and their rushers all of a sudden found some room to run... And despite a Flacco interception, the Ravens recovered to score the only points of the quarter, going in to Half Time behind 10-7...
(Above - Flacco intercepted)
(Below - Flacco throws a TD)
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| Keeping cool in the Miami heat |
At the Half I walked behind the grandstand to get out of the sun, buy a bottle of water and kill a bit of time... The line for food was huge, but the line for water was non-existent, which surprised me a little... I saw a bloke wearing a Hawthorn jumper, and was considering king hitting him over the Prelim Final which still pains me, but I didn't want to get booted out so I just watching him go by... I did telepathically wish his team all kinds of ill though, so, there is that...
The 3rd quarter started much the same way as the 2nd ended, with a strong Baltimore performance, and another 7 points to the Ravens... It was then that I worked out that I was sitting in a strong Ravens contingent in the upper decks, with them getting a few of their songs and chants going... Although, they were super generic...
It was at this point also that I heard my favourite nickname of the day, and one that I will certainly be stealing... Referring to Ryan Tannehill, the Dolphins quarterback, the large Raven fan to my left continually called him 'Captain Checkdown'... I thought this was funny... It was much nicer to hear these kinds of jibes directed at AFC East QBs... I'm much more used to hearing 'Cry-baby Brady' and the like... Though, I'm sure they'd have come up with something like that should the subject have come up...
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| Flacco comes to the line under center |
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| Its play-action |
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| He looks... |
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| He throws... |
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| Caught in the back of the endzone for a Baltimore touchdown! |
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| And the Ravens come from everywhere to celebrate |
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| Aren't they happy! |
The last quarter was a bit of a wash... The Dolphins failed to capitalise on good field position and kicked a field goal to reduce their deficit to 1 point, before the Ravens scored again (to make it 21-13 Baltimore)... Were the beneficiaries of an overturned fumble ruling, the Dolphins trying to throw it downfield for the first time all day (Cpt. Checkdown had been checking the ball down all game), and the running game getting a hold of the Miami defence... It was an entertaining game, a warm game, and one, ultimately, which may have killed off Miami's playoff chances...
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| Captain Checkdown takes the snap |
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| Aaaaaaand... Checks down to the back... |
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| Fumble!! |
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| Dolphins recover... For the moments... |
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| Overturned on review, incomplete pass... Next Baltimore play from scrimmage... |
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| Touchdown Ravens |
Final, Ravens 28, Dolphins 13
I exited my seats and made my way down to the Guest Services desk, where I hoped there may be buses back to Downtown Miami, or even better Miami Beach... I was told by the first woman 'no, only cabs', but then after she asked she said that there were buses... Turns out they meant city buses, and not purpose charter buses (like they had in New York the last time I was there)... Not that it mattered, I was not paying $70 to get home, so, even if it took 3 hours I was happy to take the public transport...
I got to the bottom of the arena ramps, and asked an attendant where the buses were... He looked at me, perplexed by the question, then proceeded to tell me very slowly and as though I were a simpleton how to get to the bus, and to 'make sure you're going South'... So, following his instructions, I exited the car parking area and began making my way to the bus stop area (which I assumed would not be signposted at all)... During my exit there was a guy with a clipboard loudly yelling 'South Beach? South Beach?'... I chased him down, asked him how much, he said $20, and I was sold... Sure it was 10x more than the cost of a bus fare, but it would take me directly to my hostel...
I jumped in a shuttle and waited in the substantial traffic with a group of Dolphins fans from around America... There were a few from Montana, there were some from North Carolina, and even some from New York... The mix of regional accents was brilliant... I could have sat there and listened to them shoot the shit all afternoon... The ones from Montana were very loudly bemoaning the fact that the playoff chances were pretty much gone, and it was two years in a row that it had happened like that... The ones from North Carolina were explaining how much more expensive things were in Florida when compared to home... And the New Yorkers joked that they had knives and would rob everyone... I briefly thought about doing the Crocodile Dundee 'That's not a knife' bit, but my enjoyment of Paul Hogan kind of died a little with him making 'throw another shrimp on the barbie' a thing...
The traffic was horrendous... I guess it stands to reason, but horrendous! I imagine that that is what it would have been like driving back to the Melbourne CBD from Waverley Park back in the day... But, like, that, but on steroids... Steroids shouldn't be hard to find in Miami... Anyway, we barely moved for close to 40 minutes before we got on a roll and eventually made it to the upper ends of Miami Beach, completely avoiding the Downtown area... The first drop off was made near 186th street... I was staying at 15th street... The traffic on Miami Beach was no better than outside the ballpark... The first group to be dropped off were the Montana and Carolina groups, who for some reason apologised for their behaviour to the New Yorkers, who promptly after the door had been shut proclaimed 'Whaddafugwerdeytakingabout'... If you need a translation you can send me a message...
The shuttle driver was a Cuban immigrant, who spoke little to no English... He asked for us to tell us the hotels we were staying in but each time anyone answered he became flustered by the language barrier and asked us to write it down... He also had a real difficulty in differentiating 'fourteenth' with 'fortieth', which could have potentially provided some issues but for the decision for us to write down our addresses... Although, when it came to the dropping off of the New Yorkers it became a massive issue again as he overshot their drop off point and had to throw a U-turn... I liked that the New Yorkers told him to 'throw a U-ey', I didn't think that was an American saying, but there you go... I got to talking to the New Yorkers before they got dropped off, both seemed happy to chat, and the woman (who was stunning by the way) was really envious of my travelling, especially when she asked my age and it turned out we were the same age, her having just accepted an internship with no guarantee for an actual position... 'I should be travelling like you're doing' was her line for the next 20 blocks as I chatted through my plans...
With the New Yorkers dropped off, I had a brief chat with my Cuban driver... And, although I complimented him on his ability to try to speak two languages, I am not sure he quite understood any of it... I got dropped off a few streets early so I could walk the streets of South Beach. I got back to the hostel shortly after, had a nice long shower to wash off the heat and sunscreen, and then killed a bit of time on the blog, and organised my bag for the train ride the next day...
I then headed to the nearby Pizza Bar, which sold the massive slices, in order to catch the Sunday Night Football game between New England and San Diego...
Coincidence Moment of the Day
This wasn't the first time that I had watched New England play San Diego in San Diego from the confines of an East Coast pizzeria. The last time I had done so was 4 years earlier, when I was in Boston in late October, where I sat for close to 6 hours and watched the Miami Dolphins lose to an AFC North opponent (in that case Pittsburgh on a dubious call in favour of the Steelers). This time I attended the Dolphins loss to an AFC North team, and then caught the Patriots in San Diego in a pizza bar...
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| Massive slices! |
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| Patriots football and large slices of pizza... Can't go wrong! |
I had two slices, which was the equivalent of about 6 slices and caught the game... There was a massively dubious decision against New England which took a touchdown off the board and cost them a lead (due to helmet to helmet contact when the contact was made with the shoulder... I was pretty livid)... I spent the entire night chatting to an employee of Pizza Bar, who was a Uruguayan named Alex. He was rattling off all these names of Australian soccer players, Viduka, Bresciano, Kewell, Cahill, Schwarzer, Chipperfield, Emerton... He went through most of the 2006 World Cup team, later telling me that it was because we beat them in the qualifiers that he knew all this... He talked to me about Australian football briefly, he chatted about rugby (Wallabies, All Blacks, Springboks, Pumas) and then went on to how boring most American sports were... Despite me being in the Pizza Bar for the express purpose of watching a game, he was bad mouthing it... Eventually when the game ended I shook his hand and left... I offered him a tip for his being a cool guy, but he refused it... Then told me I should feel bad for not knowing anything about Uruguay, and then I left...
I walked back to the hostel, walked into my room loudly because the Panamanians were still there and I was repaying the favour, and went to bed at about midnight.
Monday
I woke up at 6 AM when my alarm went off, and rather than letting the giant go into the bathroom first I hopped straight in for a shower. I showered, dressed, finished packing, and left the room, only once making a point of being loud to exit when the Panamanian tried to sleep again... Nuts to him, you get what you deserve...
I checked out, waved down (see walked about 2 steps from the hotel door) a cab, and got a cab to the Amtrak station.
Miami I have found to be a very spread out city, and regrettably this means that cab fares, no matter the time of day, are a little bid expensive... But I got into the station just before 7, surprised to find the doors open, I lined up, got my ticket and then took a seat and waited for the train to be boarded.
It began boarding at 7:50 AM, with a view to leaving at 8:20 AM. I got given a random seat assignment, which was on a window, although I was very nearly in a windowless window seat, which would have stopped any chance of a fun 'watch the world go by' kind of day... Claiming the seat I wanted (which was also the seat I was assigned) I parked myself and eventually the train pulled out of the station headed North... Back to the cold weather...
I really enjoyed my week and a half in Florida... Wearing a t-shirt and shorts will be something I cherish when I think about it on those cold days and nights of the American North East... But today it was a train to Charleston, South Carolina, the scene where the Civil War began, and one of the Original 13 American colonies...
I got up as soon as the dining car was opened for some breakfast, although, this wasn't my intention. I figured I would get some snacks and just eat that way, but I was informed of actual sit down food and took my chances with that... So, for breakfast I had French toast with a side of bacon... Another Frenching... I was put on a table with two old Americans, who didn't know each other but were just randomly herded there... We chatted over breakfast about things like Steve Irwin, some guy in Cairns that the guy knew, the differences in cultures/words, Central America, and life in the Army... It was interesting, although, a lot of it was just one guy talking to hear the sound of his own voice... And for a change that guy wasn't me...
I ended breakfast, bought some snacks to take back to my seat, and returned ready to ride the rails for a further 12 hours... We left Miami, Florida at 8:20 AM, and I was meant to arrive into Charleston, SC at about 10 PM...
I slept for about an hour, then got into a book... The next book on my trip was 'How the States got their Shapes', which was essentially the story behind the geography of all the States in the USA. I was reading this more for the history than the geography, although both of these were really interesting and intriguing... I am not a fast reader... But to illustrate the amount of downtime I had on this trip, I got through about 280 of the 300 pages in the book...
In Orlando a girl got on the train and sat next to me... We didn't talk to each other until several hours later, but when we did we chatted for the remainder of her time on the train, which lasted until Savannah, Georgia... Her name was Victoria, who was from Orlando by way of Tennessee... I had dinner with her in the dining car later on, we covered topics ranging from accents (which later became imitations and laughing at my expense), TV and film (especially Jurassic Park), the theme parks in Florida, the Tennessee BBQ, the gun violence in America and what it is like not having guns in Australia, and the reasons we were both travelling, and the difficulties in travelling alone... She was travelling back to her husband, who, without being arrogant, sounded very much like me... Nice guy (though she described him as nicer than I consider myself to be), growing a beard, doesn't eat a wide variety of food ("He's a meat and potatoes kind of guy"), doesn't drink or smoke or do drugs, and was a tall guy... There's hope for me yet...
She alighted in Savannah, where I returned to my book, called the hostel and made sure I could check in even if after 10 PM, and then sat on my phone for 20 minutes... Arriving in South Carolina I found that the weather was again cold, and that waiting for a bag in the cold was not at all fun... Though, I got in a super warm cab, chatted to a really nice cabbie, and then found the hostel... Early enough that checking in on the train didn't come into it...
I found my room, picked my bed, and chatted to the one other guy in my room, who is a construction worker from Ohio named Steve, who is working here and staying in the hostel because it is cheaper than renting or living in a hotel (as he goes home every weekend)... Long day of travel, not much more to it, but a very tiring day... I was happy to be in a warm bed again!
Tuesday
I was woken up on Tuesday by a girl entering my room to clean the bed that my former room mate from Ohio was staying in... I had no idea that the guy had left, but I guess that was just me sleeping heavy... It was about 9:45 AM, so, I'd missed breakfast, but that wasn't a major issue... First and foremost I wanted a shower.
I showered, got dressed (back into a pair of thermal pants... The Florida weather already being missed!), and walked out of my room to find a laundromat... As it turned out, I was informed that I could do washing at the hostel, and it was free... Well, that price agreed with me... So, I took the opportunity to do a load of washing. I hadn't done washing since Atlanta, so, I was well due (I had one set of clean underpants left)... Trying to work out the washing machine was a bit of a task (as it was much less sophisticated compared to the one I use at home all the time... You'd think one with fewer bells and whistles would be easier, but I like it better when things are spelled out for me...). I eventually worked it out and set my load of washing... While I waited I did some blog, and did a bit of research on the city of Charleston, South Carolina. I knew that I wanted to go to Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War rang out, but I wasn't sure how to go about that, so I booked my ticket on a tour boat for the following day and continued to wait for the washing... Then the dryer... Once this was finished I re-packed my bag to a point and then headed out to explore Charleston and get a bit of food!
A slight word of warning, not so much for anything travel related, just a general life lesson... Before tumble drying clothes, make sure you check whether or not they are suitable for tumble drying... I didn't ruin anything, but lets just say that Kenny Hinkley's 'Yes we Ken' attitude copped a bit of a hammering in the dryer... True to life, he's got a few wrinkles on his forehead now...
I was going to walk down through the streets down to the markets which I can recall from when I was here for an hour during my last visit to the US. I'd quote 2010 Sam, but his recount of the visit was only 2 lines long and included misspelling 'Charleston' and 'Fort Sumter'... I began walking, but then chose to catch the free buses that run through downtown Charleston, which got me to the Charleston Visitor Center. Here I picked up a bunch of brochures and had a peruse of what could be done in the city and the surrounds (although the surrounds were a little out of my price range if I am being honest). I then went for a walk down Meeting Street to get to Market Street, and hopefully find a place to eat.
There were a few places, but they had people at the door, and not wanting to be sold on a place by a door person when I stopped to check the menu I just walked on by... I had dressed for cold weather, but the weather was something like 14 degrees, which, whilst cold, isn't the cold I had dressed for... So, I spent some time carrying my jacket around (wasn't even my heavy jacket!). I then found a place to eat, it was the Southend Brewery & Smokehouse, where I had a pulled pork sandwich... It is kind of interesting that the day after a travel day I generally don't spend money as readily as on a travel day... On a travel day, such as the train day yesterday, I spent way more than I had budgeted because I was eating in a captive market... On a non-travel day I am not pigeon holed into one thing or place... They do good pulled pork in the US, and the South Carolina BBQ sauce they gave me was very nice as well.
I walked back towards the market to get something for a desert (mostly because I found a place that sold Moon Pie... What a time to be alive!... I had 'birthday cake ice cream', which was actual pieces of cake in an ice cream form... Very nice... Even found Charleston Chew! It was just chewy vanilla nougat under a layer of chocolate...
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| When in Charleston |
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| Every little thing's gonna be alright |
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| Old Exchange |
I entered, paid my $9 and went for a walk through the house. It was at the Exchange where the state of South Carolina ratified the Constitution, becoming the 8th state to do so.
There was a tour down in the basement, but before I went there I just perused the upstairs section, and found out some pretty cool things about Charleston... For example, it was originally called Charles Town, after King Charles II... I don't know why they changed the name, but they did... Turns out that during the Revolution, Charleston was under siege by the British, and was eventually captured in May 1780, with the British controlling the city until they left in December 1782. There was a cool story about a guy called Christopher Gadsden, who was the head of the Charleston Sons of Liberty, he was planning a confrontation, similar to the Boston Tea Party; fearing this, British Officials seized the tea that had recently (1773) arrived and stored it in the cellar of the Exchange for safekeeping. The tea remained in the cellar until 1776, when the newly-independent South Carolina found the tea, removed it, sold it, and used the proceeds to purchase muskets for the state militia about to fight the American Revolution. Gadsden was also the guy who created the 'Don't Tread on Me' flag with the coiled rattlesnake...
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| Inside the Exchange |
After perusing this upstairs I headed to the basement for the guided tour... As I was the only person on this tour, it was a very personalised experience. The guy taking the tour was named Mason, dressed in 1770s garb. He was a recent graduate of American History at some college, and was actually a pretty good tour guide.
We entered the 'provost', which was essentially a dungeon. It had thousands upon thousands of bricks, which had been made locally and built in the 1600s, using a Roman arch structure, they have stood the test of time, or as Mason put it whilst tapping the bricks 'they don't make them like this anymore'... Given that this structure has withstood every hurricane, earthquake and military engagement that the city has seen since it was built that is a fairly major win.
It turns out that we were actually standing on top of the old wall of the city, as Charleston was one of only 3 cities in North America to have walls, the other two being Quebec City (built by the French), and St. Augustine, Florida (built by the Spanish). The original settlement had built an inland wall and a sea wall, we were at the sea wall... This wall was eventually knocked down into the river/estuary and created the landfill that exists now (I was standing on a spot that was water 300 years ago, but today had 3 city blocks between me and the water)... They had only recently unearthed a part of the original wall, the last remaining in the city of Charleston (as all the inland walls had been knocked over years earlier by settlers as the city limits grew).
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| Model of early Charles Town - I was standing at the semi-circle battery in the middle of the sea wall |
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| Looking down on the sea wall |
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| Example of the battery/sea wall |
Moving on I was told an interesting story of hiding gunpowder in the base of the building behind a fake wall, built by American colonialists, which stood during the British occupation of Charleston, and managed to remain, untouched, under the noses of the British for the entire duration of the occupation. It was very interesting.
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| Gun powder hiding room |
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| Illustration of the arched design of the building |
It was a very interesting tour and the one on one nature provided for a brilliant experience.
I then headed upstairs and saw another grandiose room where more politicking had been done, and a wonderful view out to Broad Street. There were some pretty cool artifacts from during the Revolution inside there, and some information about South Carolina's ratification of the Constitution.
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| Broad Street - So named because at the time it was the broadest street in town |
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| Artifacts from the Revolution |
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| Charleston harbour at dusk |
I then caught one bus to the Visitor Center, to wait for the other bus to take me back close to the hostel.
Once back at the hostel I sat briefly on my computer, before Steve came back from his job, we chatted briefly, and then decided to go to Waffle House for dinner... Breakfast for dinner is always a winner... The Waffle House was close by, a short drive, and Steve informed me that it was the kind of place that you'd go after the bars close at 3 AM. I had a waffle with some bacon and a hash brown with ham in it (so, it was kind of like rosti in Switzerland). It was a cheaper meal than lunch by at least $5 and there was heaps more food (and the quality was alright).
We headed on back to the hostel where before we entered the room we go to chatting with an Australian guy, who we later learned was named Callum, and his American friend who was named Andrew.
Callum was from Victoria, out near Sorrento, and apparently went to high school with John McCarthy. Andrew was from Baltimore and had a couple of really interesting stories to tell.
They were sitting there watching a stream of the cricket via Sky Sports, although it was a rain delay back in Adelaide, so we stood around shooting the shit.
Andrew, being from Baltimore, headed down to New Orleans for the Superbowl 2 years ago... But he didn't have a ticket, he just wanted to be in the city because he liked it and he was with his friends (as they all drove down together)... Not knowing where to watch the game, he and his friends went to the casino about 4 hours before the game... He then won about $1,000 playing blackjack, and turned that $1,000 into a ticket to the game... Just walked up and bought one he reckons... I was super jealous...
He also told a story about how American football came to popularity... Apparently prior to the 1940s rugby was king in America, but after a string of deaths of rugby players, then President Roosevelt banned the sport, and during the ban American football (being the only sport of its type and similar to rugby in a lot of ways at the time) gained a massive popularity boost, and just look where it is today as a sport... The more you know!
We also chatted about things such as cricket (which was on the computer screen in front of us), politics in both locations, the comparison between venison and kangaroo, and Australian football/meat pies.
We chatted with them for a couple of hours in total before they departed to meet a friend, and we both headed off to bed. A lazy day which turned into a big day, which turned into a big night of chatting.
Anyway, Fort Sumter tomorrow... Roll on SC!
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