In the
spirit of visiting a neighbor who’s suffered a hardship, my girlfriend and I
made a call on Georgetown . Just four months earlier, a devastating fire
had ripped through the downtown. Seven
buildings on the scenic boardwalk were destroyed, 130 people put out of work
and 13 residents lost their homes. I thought of the boardwalk as the only
reason to stop in Georgetown
John Cranston hadn't missed it. Unaccountably he recognized opportunity when
his friend Peter Scalise suggested that there was a market for a sophisticated
menu amidst the fast food and Calabash seafood.
And they were right. Their
boardwalk eatery Zest with views of the harbor and Sampit River Front Street
Just ten
minutes outside of town is another epic story, The Mansfield Plantation. The oak tree-lined driveway passes the
partially restored slave quarters as it meanders to the main house. Looking like images from Southern Living, a
bride a groom were staging a photo shoot under the Spanish moss-draped trees as
we arrived. Stephanie and Greg Farbo met as pilot and
co-pilot while flying commercial airliners all over the world but they chose Mansfield for their picturesque
wedding photos. Many romantic occasions are
celebrated there but its background is more of a Gothic novel than a love story.
After a
restful night in the former kitchen cottage that has been converted into two
adjoining luxurious guestrooms, we joined innkeeper Kathyrn Green in the formal
dining room for a lavish breakfast. No
stranger to tragedy herself, Kathryn came to Mansfield after a series of personal
hardships that devastated her family and left her unemployed. It was a place where she would recover and
rise to become an essential part of the bed and breakfast enterprise the 1,000
acre Plantation
has developed. She loves sharing its story, especially about the Parkers, their
ancestors and their newly discovered relatives.
The Plantation began in 1718
as a land grant and became one of the largest producers of rice in the country.
In fact, when the Dr. Francis Simons Parker married into the dynasty in 1836 he
relinquished his medical degree from the College of Charleston Plantation . But after the war when slave labor was gone,
the rice cultivation ended and eventually the Plantation was sold as a vacation home and
hunting lodge to rich industrialists, ending the Parker family’s ownership in
1912. Eighty two years later John and
Sallie Parker realized their lifelong dream and bought their ancestral Plantation back. Sally said, “The first time I saw Mansfield , I said ‘John
I’m home’”. They weren’t the only ones
drawn back to Mansfield . Dwight Parker had been assiduously
researching his ancestry for years and discovered that he was the descendant of
slaves from the Plantation . “I’m drawn here,” he said when he visited and
made fast friends of the owners. Together their foundation is restoring the
slave cabins, school house and church as well as the cemetery. It’s a daunting task but John Parker explains
that it’s nothing compared to the work of the 100 slaves who dug the rice
fields by hand.
Back
downtown we slowly toured the tree-lined streets. Graceful 18th and 19th
century homes with broad verandas and giant columns are abundant. On Front
Street , cars jockeyed for parking spaces and
restaurants and shops were busy. Plenty
of pleasure boats and commercial fishermen crowded the still picturesque
boardwalk and optimism filled the air.
It was good to see our neighbor recovering from its hardship.
If You Go:
Seven Hundred Modern
Grill + Bar: 916 Front Street
843-520-5720
