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These 3 cities are often compared to each other and referred to as the jewels of the south, etc. I live in one and have never been to the other 3 so I would like to know how do they really compare? Can they really be all that similar since they were settled by different people, with different backgrounds and beliefs?
How do people compare the Gullah with the Creoles/Crillo? I can see the Haitian immigrants, but the creole?
Savannah is much more similar to New Orleans...right down to the architecture, strange residents, and drunken partying. Watch Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil sometime...it will give you a taste of what Savannah is all about.
Charleston is a beautiful city, but it isn't as much of a party city as Savannah and definitely not like New Orleans.
The thread isn't about which one you prefer, but how each city compares to the others. Reading is fundamental.
It's pretty subjective, but I think Charleston is a bit more like New Orleans culturally than Savannah. I posted this in another thread (keep that in mind, since a few things here can be applied to Savannah as well) and I think it bears repeating here:
One of the things that helps define New Orleans is the cuisine. Charleston and New Orleans are very similar in that regard. The accents that the native Black populations of both cities are known for sound almost identical. I actually had no idea that Black New Orleanians spoke with such an accent until the time after Katrina hit. Historically, the slaves and their descendants of both cities helped to significantly shape the culture of those cities, New Orleans with the Creole and Charleston with the Gullah. The languages/dialects of both are influenced by Spanish and French. Of course, the geography is similar as well, as well as the layout of both downtowns. It's not anywhere as big and notable as New Orleans's, but Charleston also has a French Quarter downtown which is home to the only surviving French Huguenot church in the nation. From Wikipedia:
Quote:
"Many Huguenots also settled in the area around the current site of Charleston, South Carolina. In 1685, Rev. Elie Prioleau from the town of Pons in France settled in what was then called Charlestown. He became pastor of the first Huguenot church in North America in that city. The French Huguenot Church of Charleston, which remains independent, is the oldest continuously active Huguenot congregation in the United States today."
Now I'm not making the case that they're twins or anything, because they aren't. As you correctly stated, Charleston was shaped more by British/Anglo influences than New Orleans was. But I think you could make the case that Charleston comes about as close as you can get in terms of a "sibling" for New Orleans. And although Katrina is the most devastating hurricane to hit an American city to date, at the time Hugo hit in 1989, it held that title. And both have aquariums.
But all three share very similar traits in a few ways: the cuisine, antebellum homes, artsy influences, layout, prominent squares, coastal locations, age, etc.
Last edited by Akhenaton06; 11-08-2009 at 09:28 PM..
The thread isn't about which one you prefer, but how each city compares to the others. Reading is fundamental.
Quote:
One of the things that helps define New Orleans is the cuisine. Charleston and New Orleans are very similar in that regard. The accents that the native Black populations of both cities are known for sound almost identical. I actually had no idea that Black New Orleanians spoke with such an accent until the time after Katrina hit. Historically, the slaves and their descendants of both cities helped to significantly shape the culture of those cities, New Orleans with the Creole and Charleston with the Gullah. The languages/dialects of both are influenced by Spanish and French. Of course, the geography is similar as well, as well as the layout of both downtowns. It's not anywhere as big and notable as New Orleans's, but Charleston also has a French Quarter downtown which is home to the only surviving French Huguenot church in the nation. From
What are some dishes that make up Charleston's cuisine?
I didn't know that about the accents either. I always thought the blacks in Charleston's accent would have more of a West African influence.
I think you meant Haitian instead of Creole. The Creoles ranged from fully European to interracial backgrounds and held a rather high place in society and the free Haitians that migrated after the Haitian Revolution/Revolts. The slaves were mostly of Haitian/Caribbean/ and some West African descent. It get's to the point where the creole culture and the black New Orleanian culture are two seperate things.
Quote:
But all three share very similar traits in a few ways: the cuisine, antebellum homes, artsy influences, layout, prominent squares, coastal locations, age, etc.
What are some dishes that make up Charleston's cuisine?
Gumbo, hoppin' John, she crab soup (Charleston's signature dish), shrimp and grits, etc.
Quote:
I didn't know that about the accents either. I always thought the blacks in Charleston's accent would have more of a West African influence.
It does; the Gullah dialect has its roots in West African languages.
Quote:
I think you meant Haitian instead of Creole. The Creoles ranged from fully European to interracial backgrounds and held a rather high place in society and the free Haitians that migrated after the Haitian Revolution/Revolts. The slaves were mostly of Haitian/Caribbean/ and some West African descent. It get's to the point where the creole culture and the black New Orleanian culture are two seperate things.
Around the 3:00 mark, the woman being interviewed has a classic Gullah accent although it's obvious (to me) that she tones it down a bit so as to be more understood by the interviewer. She's actually from the Hilton Head area. The Lowcountry, where the Gullah/Geechee accent and culture is present, actually stretches from the lower NC coast to the upper FL coast, but it's more concentrated in the stretch from Georgetown, SC to the Georgia Sea Islands. Some very rich culture there. I don't speak Gullah myself, but I can understand a lot of it if I listen carefully, as my paternal grandmother uses elements of it in her speech.
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