Postcard-Geography Album: South Carolina, "The Palmetto State"

"Charleston is a city rich in history and full of beauty. Founded in 1670, Charleston has survived major natural disasters and human destruction to maintain its splendor and elegance."

This week's postcard holds a special place in my heart. When I was about nine years old, my mother and brother and I went to Charleston, South Carolina for a month right in the middle of the school year. We went to all sorts of places like Fort Sumter, Folly Beach and Charles Towne Landing. It was an unforgettable vacation in which we lived on the edge of the city and I went to the public school with the neighborhood children for a month. So, years later, when my husband-to-be said we could go anywhere we wanted for our honeymoon, I wanted to go back to Charleston, and so we did. We rode a sleeper car train down to Charleston and stayed at Two Meeting Street Inn so that we could take a buggy ride into the historic district. It was a lovely, romantic trip despite the fact that we went in December right after the destruction of hurricane Hugo.

So, I was thrilled when I heard that I was receiving a postcard from Charleston from the Glasers. Mom, Tammy, blogs at Aut-2B-Home in Carolina where she shares ideas about homeschooling her twenty-two-year-old daughter with autism and aphasia.

We looked at what states surround South Carolina and what natural features it has such as its rivers, lakes and the shore on the Atlantic Ocean. We colored pictures of the state bird, the Carolina wren and the state tree, the Palmetto.

"You can almost envision yourself standing in the vast cotton fields and walking along the sandy shores of its stunning coastline. "

"Greetings from the Palmetto state! We live in farm country about 70 miles from Charleston. We grow corn, cotton, tobacco and all kinds of vegetables here in Clarendon County. We are home to many of the Swamp Fox's campaigns, Amelia Bedelia and Brown vs. the Board of Education.

~The Glasers"

When I asked Tammy what foods she would say represents South Carolina, she said,

"She crab soup says Charleston, boiled peanuts as a snack, uh, drink: you won't believe it. Peanuts in an RC Cola. That is truly Carolina."

One student drew his own map for his notebook.

 Believe it or not, I found Boiled Peanuts at the grocery store, so I bought some.

 I remembered that when we stayed in South Carolina that my friends would roast peanuts for a snack just like we do popcorn, but I had never seen them boiled before.

 We also found a recipe for "Frogmore Stew" named after an old fishing community on St. Helena Island, South Carolina. It is basically a shrimp boil, in which shrimp, kielbasa, corn on the cob and potatoes are boiled together with Old Bay and once cooked, removed with a slotted spoon onto a serving platter or newspaper-lined table. It is served with additional Old Bay seasoning and cocktail sauce.

 I also made baked cheese grits.

 We have "visited" 36 states with our postcard geography album.

We still need postcards for these states:
Mississippi, New Jersey, Vermont and Wyoming.
If you live in any of these states and would like to help us with this project, please leave a comment on how I can get in touch with you. Thank you!