Sunday, May 19: We went to High Mass at St. Mary's Catholic Church. Walter and Hal helped the nuns by climbing up the altar and taking down a large statue of St. Anne and the Blessed Mother. Then they put back the statue of our Lady. We had breakfast at the cleanest and classiest place so far. We're looking for a place to swim. South Carolina, Myrtle Beach was our destination. The water was great. Sort of like Coney Island only nicer, the beach was immaculate. Bought a souvenir. We'd like to spend two weeks here sometime in the future. Took 3 photos at the beach. One of a little boy, and one of W&R and H&R. Next stop was at Georgetown, South Carolina. This town is historically known. Lafayette first set foot in America at this port town. George Washington held meetings in a Georgetown house. Editor's Note: Completed in 1911, Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Church was designed by Spanish architect Rafael Guastavino (1842-1908). According to its Wikipedia page, the Spanish Baroque church was constructed "without wooden or steel beams and without nails, instead using brick tile."[13]

Front Street circa 1940
Boston Public Library

Washington's Headquarters
Georgetown, South Carolina

Ref: Wikipedia, Marquis de Lafayette, Georgetown and National Register, Georgetown. Located on Winyah Bay on the Sampit River, the port of Georgetown is part of the eastern coast of South Carolina known as the "low country." In 1777, Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de LaFayette (1757-1834) sailed from France to join the Continental Army. Spending most of the voyage disguised as a woman to avoid capture by the British, he landed in America on North Island near Georgetown on June 13, 1777. The Continental Congress, skeptical of "French glory-seekers," approved his commission only after he offered to work without pay. As a major-general under George Washington, he served with distinction in many important battles of the Revolutionary War. Named in honor of the major-general, Lafayette Park is part of the 220-acre National Register Historic district of Georgetown. Its gardens surround the Georgetown Rice Museum, a learning center of rice production for the history of rice production and its impact on South Carolina. The museum is housed in the Old Market Building, a one-story, brick, Classical Revival building that sits atop an arcade base. Built sometime between 1832 to 1835, "It served as a town hall, a jail, an open-air market, and a slave market" according to the National Register. The brick, Greek Revival Town Clock was erected in front of the market building in 1845. Both the market and tower were added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 2, 1969. Adjacent to the Town Clock and running parallel to the Sampit River is Front Street. The back doors of its shops exit onto Harbor Walk, a 1,000-foot-long, 12-foot-wide boardwalk at waters edge lined with boutiques, art galleries, antique shops, specialty stores, and restaurants. Known as "Little Charleston," Georgetown offers the same southern charm of its coastal neighbor.[14][15][16]

Monday, May 20: Heading for Charleston and as we drive further south noted the tobacco leaves seem to grow larger. Going over swamp on a narrow bridge two miles long. (You can get the same effect riding a horse.) Phoned Harrydele Davidson in Augusta, Georgia, at 2:30 p.m. Harrydele and Naomi waited up for us and we stopped at Mrs. Davidson's before going to breakfast at Snappy's - we had our best breakfast waffles, and W&H enjoyed their butter. We picked up Mrs. D. and she took us to Sacred Heart Church where Carmine served mass once. From there we went to Camp Gordon and rode around the camp. Saw the Chapel where Carmine worked. We couldn't take pictures, the area was restricted. We met the Markwalkers, Anne & her sister, and Fr. Grady at the Catholic Community Center. The Davidson's took us to dinner in the Dixie Cafe and we had an enjoyable meal there. Mrs. Butler joined us (she was the one who cooked all the great meals for Carmine and the soldiers from Camp Gordon.) Had a very enjoyable day at Augusta. Editor's Note: "Built 1898, Sacred Heart Catholic Church closed its doors in 1971 and reopened in 1987 as a cultural center." It was listed on the U.S. National Registry of Historic Places on March 16, 1972. For more information see  Sacred Heart Church, Augusta, GA.[17]

Naomi, Harrydele
Mrs. Butler & Carmine

Fort Gordon Chapel
Pinetucky Augusta, GA

Ref: National Park Service. The Davidsons, Markwalkers, and Mrs. Butler lived near Fort Gordon, and, according to Mom, they welcomed many of the soldiers into their homes during the war. The Davidsons lived in a huge antebellum mansion with unusually high ceilings. The National Park Service describes the impact Fort Gordon had on Pinetucky, an area 10 miles south of Augusta: "The town would never be quite the same. Victorian and antebellum homes were converted into apartments, resorts became commercial hotels, the old arsenal was put on high security and uniformed soldiers were everywhere." My mom and my grandmother met Harrydele when they visited Uncle Carmine while he was stationed in Augusta. Assigned to the Chaplain's office, he worked at the Fort Gordon Chapel depicted above. He died in Belgium on October 4, 1944, when the jeep he was driving overturned in an embankment. Harrydele thoughtfully sent a Mother's Day card and photos to my grandmother after his death. On the back of one of the photos she wrote, "Yankee gentlemen with Southern ladies under Southern Wisteria." I believe she had a great sense of humor as well as a kind heart.[18]

Tuesday, May 21: Left Augusta at 11:10 p.m. and arrived in Macon, Ga., at 3:00 a.m. Camped in the outskirts May 21st. Visited Earth Lodge in Macon. Learned quite a bit about the Creek Indians. Saw pottery and other articles Indians used as ornaments. Also, saw the Lodge Indians used as a temple or meeting place. They used to gather around a fire and hold council meetings.

Walt & Hal picked blackberries. They were delicious. All that was missing was the cream. Continued on to Lakeside where we expected to go swimming. However, out of nowhere a squall took care of the plan. Sorry we missed going in the water, I was there three years ago with Mom. Now headed for Columbus, Ga. W & H wasted 6 gallons of gas looking for cheaper prices. Gas up to 24 cents. Visited St. Joseph's in Macon-beautiful. Picked peaches while driving along.

Dad's CCC Unit Eugene, OR

Ref: Wikipedia, Little Ocmulgee State Park and Oak Ridge Nature Trail. "Lakeside" may refer to the 256-acre Little Ocmulgee Lake in the 1,360-acre Little Ocmulgee State Park just north of McRae, Georgia. According to its Wikipedia website: "art of the park was initially built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression, around the natural diversion of the Little Ocmulgee into a lake. The soil around the Little Ocmulgee River is a fine white sand, providing the lake with its own "beach sand." The lake can be reached by the two and one half Oak Ridge Trail that the website Georgia Trails recommends for its diversity: "Although relatively short, it offers a view at three distinct ecological communities, making this one of the most diverse trails for its length." Editor's Note: Dad was in the Civilian Conservation Corps stationed in Eugene, Oregon. CCC workers remodeled and constructed buildings (including their own), built roads, tunnels, retaining walls, improved landscaping and helped fight forest fires for government agencies such as the Forest Service. His unit is pictured.[19][20]

Ref: Saint Joseph's Catholic Church. The mound-building Mississippian culture existed from 800 to 1500 A.D. in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States. The Ocmulgee area tribes were still around when the European explorers traveled westward into their territory in the 1500s. Franciscan friars accompanying the Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto (died 1542), baptized two Indian boys on the banks of the Ocmulgee River in 1540. Christianity grew in the Macon Plateau and in 1889 the Jesuits started construction of St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Dedicated on November 11, 1903, the Gothic edifice is noted for its 200-foot twin spiral towers that create a striking Macon skyline. On the day it was dedicated, the Macon Telegraph wrote this poetic description of the church: "If architecture may be fittingly described as frozen music, St. Joseph's Church, to be dedicated today, is a symphony." It was added to the U.S. National Registry of Historic Places on July 14, 1971.[21]

Saint Joseph's C.C.
Macon, Georgia

Earth Lodge National Monument is the beginning of a chain of events that tell the story of Alabama statehood. From the ancient mounds by the Ocmulgee River to Chief Menawa's Red Stick camp on the Tallapoosa River at "Horseshoe Bend," the story twists and turns through a pacification program, bloody massacres and acts of betrayal.

Ref: Muskogee People, Lost Worlds/Ocmulgee Mounds and Explore Southern History/Ocmulgee Mounds. The Earth Lodge is located at the Ocmulgee National Monument Park on the Macon Plateau just above the eastern edge of Macon, Georgia. Ancestors of the Muskogee Creek Indians constructed the lodge 900 to 1100 years ago during the Mississippian Era. According to Creek legend, their ancestors migrated to the area from the west, massacred the inhabitants living at Ocmulgee and began building mounds on the site. The 55-foot-high Earth Lodge was part of a ceremonial complex of seven temple mounds and plazas overlooking the Ocmulgee River. The wood framed entrance leads into the inner chamber capable of seating 50 chiefs or priests. Each participant was assigned a molded seat around the fire pit and three of the top leaders sat on an elevated platform shaped like an eagle. Resembling subterranean structures used by ancient Pueblo and Hohokam peoples, historians theorize that the mound builders were the Cussitaw who migrated from as far west as Mexico.

The remains of a Confederate fort on Dunlop's Hill near the Ocmulgee mounds is also preserved in the Ocmulgee National Monument Park. Dunlop Hill was the scene of the Civil War Battle of Walnut Creek on November 20, 1864, part of General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea. General Sherman was named "Tecumseh" by his father who had taken a fancy to Tecumseh, a famous Shawnee chief. Tecumseh's Confederacy fought on the side of the British during the War of 1812.[22][23][24]

Earth Lodge

Eagle Platform

Ref: Wikipedia, Cultural Assimilation of Native Americans,  Five Civilized Tribes and Wikipedia, Trail of Tears. President Washington and Secretary of War Henry Knox devised The Civilization Plan in 1790 to protect Native Indian rights, improve Indian society, and establish regulated buying of Indian lands. The Lower Muskogee Creek Indians were one of the "Five Civilized Tribes" who adopted European/American customs and maintained good relations with the colonists. Known as the White Sticks, they opposed the Upper Muskogee Creeks or Red Sticks whose leader, Chief Menawa, resented the encroachment of white settlers on Creek lands. The civil war between the two tribes spilled over into the War of 1812 - the White Sticks joined the Americans and the Red Sticks joined Tecumseh's Confederacy in support of the British. Chief Menawa fled to Florida after losing 800 warriors at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend on March 27, 1814. Despite their loyalty to the American cause, the Lower Muskogee Creeks were forced to sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson on August 9, 1814, giving up 23 million acres (over half of their land). Alabama was carved out of this land and admitted to the Union in 1819. The removal of the Indians from the Southeastern United States accelerated after the 1829 discovery of gold on Cherokee land. Under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, Indian land was "swapped" for "grant land" in the Oklahoma territory. The resettlement of the Indians from their ancestral home was swift, cruel and deadly. The route they traveled, metaphorically called the Trail of Tears, was designated a National Historic Trail in 1987.[25][26][27]

"In the whole scene there was an air of ruin and destruction, something which betrayed a final and irrevocable adieu; one couldn't watch without feeling one's heart wrung. The Indians were tranquil, but somber and taciturn. There was one who could speak English and of whom I asked why the Choctaws were leaving their country. "To be free," he answered, could never get any other reason out of him. We watch the expulsion of one of the most celebrated and ancient American peoples.”

~ Alexis de Tocqueville

National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.
Cherubs Playing with a Swan, 17th century lead fountain by Jean-Baptiste Tubi
Smithsonian Castle, National Mall, Washington D.C., opened in 1846.
The Old U.S. Patent Office Building
Forest Hotel Beach, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Sacred Heart Church, Augusta, Georgia

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