I’M GLAD YOU ASKED…..   I have just spent the last two hours driving from Savannah, Georgia, to Charleston, South Carolina.  The route was very interesting and took us through some tantalizing areas, marked by numerous “Hysterical Markers.”  (Indicating that something hysterical happened at that particular location.)  Obviously none of the markers had any relation to my lame jokes, but no matter, this is still one of the most intriguing areas in the nation.

The “Lowcountry Shrimp & Literary Book Tour” has taken us to the lovely city of Charleston, which is also known at “The Holy City,” due to the large number of churches in the city.  We are staying at one of the most famous Bed & Breakfast joints in the nation, an historic residence called the Motel 6.   Just kidding.  We are staying at the famous John Rutledge House, downtown, just across the bay from Fort Sumter!  (If you’ve read my new book, TURBULENT TIMES, you know how cool this is for me.)

A word about our new digs…..   The John Rutledge House has a rich history, including the very place where the writing of drafts of the Constitution of the United States took place within its walls!  Mr. Rutledge built this lovely house as a wedding gift for his bride Elizabeth in 1763.  In the second floor drawing room (just below my room) the drafting committee  wrote several iterations of the Constitution of the U.S.  Rutledge, having no computer, found time to sign the document along with a house guest who once slept in the room I am now occupying… a fellow named George Washington!

In 1853, the house was renovated, and during the Civil War (known locally as “The War of Northern Aggression”) the place survived a great fire that destroyed the building next door in which the Articles of the Secession were signed.  The present owner told me that the house took a direct hit from a Union (carpet-bagging scum) cannon during the siege of Charleston.  (Which, by the way, is also described in painful detail in my new book, TURBULENT TIMES.)  Nice segue, eh?

Speaking of segues, the wife and I took a Segway all around Savannah, and after I pay for the property damages we caused, I intend to give you all of the gruesome details.  (On next Sunday’s post)

Well, I must say farewell for now, as our distinguished host has requested my company for evening port.  Any port in a storm, I always say.  It’s not raining, but we can still drink some port.  Tomorrow we are off for Middleton Plantation, and God willing, a profitable book signing at the gift shop!  (If I don’t sell a lot of books, I intend to steal some postcards!)  Hush my grits, and suckle my honey, I do love the South!

Keep those cards and letters coming and we shall converse again soon…

Love to all,

(Especially our new friends, Gina & Lil from Hickory, North Carolina!)

Colonel Beauregard Stephen Ashley Wilkes Yanoff, C.S.A., A.S.P.C.A.