Do it yourself

Trinity: I lived in the Charleston, SC area from 1964 to the middle of 1968 and found the old section to be fascinating. It was truly a DIYer's dream. I also made several trips to Savanna and was appalled at how the original part of that city had deteriorated at the time. The grand old homes had over the years been converted to tenements, and trash littered the once beautiful parks. I would love to go back, now that restoration is nearly complete in both the Charleston and the Savanna areas. I've watched several presentations on TV about some of the restoration projects that were in progress, but it definitely took deep pockets to do an effective restoration on one of those old run down mansions. Few people realize that Savanna was the first planed city build in North America. Most Eastern cities have grown up around and along the cow paths that crisscrossed the area, Boston being a prime example. I was in sea food heaven during my years on the East Coast, but the last time we were back that way we couldn't even find a good steamed clam since they said all the local mud flats along the coast were contaminated. Don't know if this were true or just an excuse to deprive one more segment of the population of a way of life. While I lived in Charleston a story appeared in the Charleston Daily news about an old glass jug, and I believe I remember that the final price it brought was around $25,000 which in 1968 dollars is a pretty good chunk. I wrote a piece about that old jug and will send it along for you enjoyment -- or disdain as the case might be. Dale in the Flat Lands