The Upcountry has rolling hills, pristine forests, whitewater, rolling brooks, and red-clay earth. It was first settled by German, Scots, Irish, and Welsh immigrants in the early 1700's. Theirs was a farming community, with a self-sufficient way of life. In stark contrast, the early colonial days of the Lowcountry boasted fine plantations and a gentleman's way of life. The first settlement was Charles Town named for King Charles II of England.

Charleston is a lovely old city. It has often been called The Holy City, and for one who can never expect to visit Italy's Holy City, he can make a fine substitution by visiting Charleston! Settled in 1680, this city must be seen to be believed. The aura of Charleston is difficult to describe (more difficult than telling of its narrow cobblestone streets, the impossible one-way streets, the horse-drawn carriages which have right-of-way over traffic and the seemingly doll-size town houses that line the streets) but it is one of quiet peacefulness, where the blue sky meets the earth.

Charles Towne Landing is the site of the first permanent English settlement in our state and the birthplace of South Carolina. The Landing is home to the Adventure, a full-scale replica of a seventeenth-century trading vessel. On board one can observe the settlement's original fortified town from the water. Back on land, there are eighty acres of beautiful gardens and walking trails which meander through a natural habitat zoo.

A hop-skip-and-jump from Charleston is a tiny village called Frogmore. Frogmore is the center of the Gullah culture and language. The Gullah of the South Carolina coast are the only group of African-Americans who can trace their roots to the villages of the Sierra Leone territory in West Africa. The Gullah excell in music, coiled basket making, rice growing, cast-net fishing and their unique language. It has been said that during the Second World War, the Japanese were continually able to break our codes. An African-American who spoke Gullah began sending code in his language. The Japanese were unable to decipher it, and thereafter much of the American code was done in Gullah language.

North of Charleston is South Carolina's Riviera--Myrtle Beach. At Barefoot Landing, boardwalks and bridges play among the shops and restaurants. This is unlike any shopping complex you will find. There are more than one hundred twenty specialty shops catering to your every need. Outside rocking chairs are numerous and beckon those who just want to sit and people-watch, or bird watch.

See snowy egrets wade among cattails at the edge of a 20-acre lake entertaining diners who spy them from restaurant decks. Hear country music, carousel mellodies, the calls of sea gulls, and the flapping of colorful windsocks as their colors play in the breeze. Nearby a paddle wheeler horn toots as it begins a sunset cruise along the Intracoastal Waterway.

Stop by any book store and pick up the following little paper backs:

Hilton Head Guide Book by Rebecca Crowley, 1995; Coastal Villages Press. Beaufort, SC and South Carolina-Off the Beaten Path by William Fox, 1996; Globe Press.

My brevity will conclude with a few words about Daufuskie Island. Daufuskie is located across Calibogue Sound, southwest of Hilton Head Island. The island can be reached only by boat. It is a little known part of the Sea Islands. The island was settled by the British in the mid-eighteenth century. Raiding parties of the Yemassee Indians often landed on the island making life precarious. There were several battles between the Yemassees and the British troops in the 1700's which caused the southern tip of Daufuskie to garner the name of Bloody Point.

In 1740, King George II gave Daufuskie to one Captain John Mongin as a reward for his bravery in fighting Spanish pirates. Mongin started plantations on the island, with indigo as the main crop. During the Revolutinary War the planters of Daufuskie remained loyal to the Crown; their Hilton Head neighbors were true Patriots.

Today, Daufuskie remains a quiet island, seemingly untouched by modernization. Its population is primarily that of descendants of the African slaves who once labored in the cotton fields. The Gullah dialect is still spoken. The islanders fish, farm and raise oysters. Pat Conroy's best-selling novel, The Water is Wide, recalls his days as a school teacher on Daufuskie in 1970. Boat tickets to the island can be obtained from a tourist kiosk.