A place like that

Magnet #565 - Boone Hall Plantation

One of the oddest things being Asian and growing up in the South is sitting through US History studying the Civil War period. My ancestors came through LAX, so our people had nothing to do with either side. But it was always interesting to me how a war that happened almost 150 years ago still sparks lively and usually pointed conversation.

But, book learning and lively discussion can only teach so much, leaving television - particularly historically-based, million-dollar miniseries featuring fictional dynasties from the North and the South, starring (you guessed it) not one, but several cute boys (Patrick Swazye, Parker Stevenson and James Read, all in uniform, natch) - to fill in the blanks.

Which is what John Jakes' North and South did. Yes, that North and South. (As opposed to the Richard Armitage BBC version.)

It's one of the best memories growing up - my family all sitting around the tv gathered to watch this miniseries. Yep. Even my dad! And for every 2-hour installment (and man, were there a lot of them), we'd sit learning more about American history than I did sitting in the classroom - decisive battles, West Point, secession, the slavery/abolitionist debate, major turning points.

But more, it taught us about American cultural history - how people sometimes picnic'd on the battlefield sidelines, how the War affected friends and family, soldier life, plantation life, the pretty dresses that women wore, and how dashing soldiers looked on horseback. Ok, ok. That last one's a stretch.

But above all that, two things I loved best about North and South were:

1) The music. The grand and sweeping opening theme song is one of the most memorable of the old-school miniseries. It gets into your head - and I remember humming it incessantly, and trying to sound it out on the piano all the time.

2) Mont Royal, the Southern plantation owned by the Mains. I freakin' loved Mont Royal, and loved the idea of having that long boulevard of oaks approaching the grand house with grand columns and a giant front porch, and acres of land surrounding the house.

Mont Royal was actually staged at and based on Boone Hall Plantation, where I picked up this magnet. It was the main highlight on a roadtrip from Charleston to Myrtle Beach. How could we not stop?

You think television gives you a good idea of what it was like? This living history museum and working plantation rounds out the experience with costumed tour guides giving house and grounds tours.

Soooo interesting - I mean, setting aside the fact that it has a somewhat checkered past as a plantation. It can't help that it saw some of the worst days in American history during Civil War. By the same token, it must have seen some of the best our history, too, given that the rows of oak trees were actually planted in 1743, before the American Revolution. Very cool to see firsthand!

It's funny that this N&S fansite actually says: "It is places like Mont Royal which [sic] make you say 'I want to live at a place like that.'"

My parents apparently took this series and Mont Royal to heart. The house they eventually built?

A pretty good match for Mont Royal.

North & South

Magnet #271 - Gettysburg

So, 145 years ago, Lincoln gave his infamous Gettysburg address, which I talked about with somewhat grave seriousness a few months ago. (If you haven't been to Gettysburg, and driven around the battlefields and the little town, I highly recommend it. It's quite moving, and a little frightening to think of all the valor and violence that happened there.)

Which leaves me free to talk about a couple of my favorite miniseries of. all. time. North and South. Or North & South.

First up - John Jakes' North and South. Tell me ya'll have seen this miniseries. C'mon. It was amazing - it took something like 2 years to make and I heard was one of the most expensive (and most watched) miniseries - ever.

It tells the story of families - the Mains from South Carolina (headed by Orry, played by Patrick Swayze) and the Hazards from Pennsylvania (headed by George, played by James Read). The two men meet at West Point, and form a lasting friendship, and see each other through love and loss, trials and tribulations, nutty families, blahblahhotboysblah. Fantastic saga.

Of course, this version of North and South is not to be confused with the other North & South by Elizabeth Gaskill, brought to you by the BBC. I know. Confusing. It's not a remake, I swear.

Girl in reduced circumstances from the South (Margaret Hale, played by Daniela Denby-Ashe) meets diamond in the rough industrialist in the North (John Thornton, played by Richard Armitage), and form a lasting bond, through love and loss, trials and tribulations, nutty families, blahblahhotboyblah. Fantastic love story.

I could go on about both, and don't worry, eventually I will.

But for now, seriously. Netflix them both. You won't be sorry.

Just don't do it all at once. You'll get confused.

Particularly by the accents.