A Sweet 'Welcome Home'

In the grand, antebellum Charleston, friends, family, travelers home,or other lucky guests would congregate for special occasions. The venue would be one of the gorgeous plantation manors found any where from now Mount Pleasant to John's Island, or perhaps one of the Georgia Row Homes or glamorous mansions found in the heard of the Charleston Peninsula. The doors would open and the priveleged guestswould stand in awe of the captivating food display.

The proud hostess would create mountains, pyramids, gardens out of the cuisine; intricate, mouth watering works of art dotted with porcelain figurines and interwoven flower displays—a true celebration of elegance and sapidity. More often than not, this display would betopped with a pineapple, a native-western fruit of true beauty.

Over time and because of these feasts, the pineapple became known as a symbol of friendship, hospitality, and welcoming.

As I strolled down the the Battery today, I stopped to admire the iconic pineapple fountain built only recently in 1990. Elderly Charlestonians walk hand in handenjoying the day. Children splash in the water and other good moms glare threateningly toward their Sunday-dressed children looking on longingly. I think of the shape of the fountain—a pineapple—and all I know it to symbolize.

Charleston Battery" src="https://kunversion-frontend-blog.s3.amazonaws.com/images/b6134d45a6c6416ebdef14eb77c88d9c1dd04011.jpg" width="300" title="Pineapple fountain, Charleston Battery">

Welcome all, welcome home... all Charlestonians.