Family Vacation Time is Here!!!!
Yup! It’s that time of year again. The kids are home from college the home schooled is out for a few days and everyone wants to Go-Go-Go!
What’s a mom to do? I say PULL BACK! I have wanted to go to Gullah Island for such a long time and now is the perfect time to go. Most of the children are old enough to enjoy a understand the value of going.
If you have ever heard someone from that area of Charleston, Hilton Head, Georgetown and even Fripp Island speak, you hear a accent. It’s what I expect to hear when we visit – the Gullahs/Geehees……
The Gullah are the descendants of slaves who live in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina and Georgia, which includes both the coastal plain and the Sea Islands.
Historically, the Gullah region extended from the Cape Fear area on the coast of North Carolina south to the vicinity of Jacksonville on the coast ofFlorida; but today the Gullah area is confined to the South Carolina and Georgia Lowcountry. The Gullah people and their language are also called Geechee, which some scholars speculate is related to the Ogeechee River near Savannah, Georgia. The term “Geechee” is an emic term used by speakers “Gullah” is a term that was originally used to designate the language spoken by Gullah and Geechee people, but over time it has become a way for speakers to formally identify both their language and themselves as a distinctive group of people. The Georgia communities further identify themselves as either “Saltwater Geechee” or “Freshwater Geechee” depending on their proximity to the coast.
The Gullah have preserved much of their African linguistic and cultural heritage. They speak an English-based creole language containing many African loanwords and significant influences from African languages in grammar and sentence structure. Properly referred to as “Sea Island Creole,” the Gullah language is related to Jamaican Patois, Barbadian Dialect, Bahamian Dialect, Belizean Creole and the Krio language of Sierra Leone inWest Africa. Gullah storytelling, cuisine, music, folk beliefs, crafts, farming and fishing traditions all exhibit strong influences from West and Central African cultures.
I maybe dating myself when I talk about the Gullah Gullah Island show-But i LOVED it!
The show stars Ron Daise and Natalie Daise as “Ron” and “Natalie,” along with their fictional children Shaina and James, niece (Vanessa), non-fictional children Simeon and Sara and fictional tadpole, Binyah Binyah Polliwog. The family lived on an island off the coast of South Carolina. (with outdoor shots featuring Beaufort, South Carolina and Fripp Island.) The show was taped and recorded at Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando. Episodes featured singing, dancing, learning and encouraging children in the audience to think about things like healthy eating, telling the truth, and problem solving.
Just think, I grew up in South Carolina, but have never been there. I have even attended college in Charleston, SC (Johnson and Wales University) but never made it there. Gullah Island is known for This year, we’ll share this culture with our children. 
By the time we are done touring the island, the kids are gonna think they were born and raised there. Why? Because it’s their past and it’s very true that one should know there past in our to navigate into the future well.
So what are we doing this summer? Culture & education- 
I was given, a web page to use. Actually two. I hope they give us the real life times and experiences of Gullah Island.
Till the next lesson,
QC Supermom 
QC Supermom 