CHARLESTON, SC 2014 Annual Meeting
Separate Picture Gallery with captions here: 35 pictures by pdf Carolina Yacht Club 9/11/14
Rose Tomlin, author of the 2013 novel Duel of the Heart addresses the Annual Meeting audience.
copyright photos by Richard N. Cote with his permission
Stuart Johnson and Diane Howie present Rose with ABA's gift.
Rose with Richard N. Cote.
Registration form pdf February 20, 2014
Announcement of ABA’s 2014 Annual Meeting in the Historic District of Charleston, South Carolina, September 7 – 12.
ABA Members and Friends:
We are pleased to further announce the details of our exciting Annual Meeting plans. By popular demand of our members, we will be visiting an area rich in the history of Aaron Burr and his daughter, Theodosia.
We previously, in December, have announced the meeting in our Yahoo group email listserv. Please print out and retain this and other announcements, to help you plan for these important venues.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
400:p.m: Check-in begins at our room-block hotel:
The King Charles Inn, 237 Meeting Street, lower historic district, Charleston, S.C. 29401.
This day is Frank Burr’s birthday, and we will take him to dinner in the evening, as our first event.
To make reservations, call the front desk at 1-843-723-7451, or, toll-free, at 1-866-546-4700. Of course, state that you are with the ABA room block. Here are the rates, before taxes (13.5%, plus destination fee of $1.08 per night): Sunday, Sept. 7: $149. Sept. 8, 9, 10 & 11: $169.
The Inn has only 91 guest rooms, so we strongly recommend that you book immediately. You can always cancel later, if your plans change. Our room block cut-off is July 25th. Stress that you want a quiet room, in the interior section, away from: the bordering streets, elevators, ice-making machines, interior stairs, and the lobby. Ask for a non-adjoining room (no door in between your room and the adjacent room).
As you requested, we selected a hotel which is in the heart of the historic district where, once you walk out the door, there are dozens of wonderful restaurants, quaint shops, and beautiful areas within walking distance.
For the past several years, Conde Nast Traveler magazine has voted Charleston as the top city in the United States to visit.
Here are the Inn’s amenities:
Free parking (Almost unheard of in the historic district.) The parking lot is directly in the back of the Inn.
All rooms have a free mini-frig and a safe.
There is no full restaurant in this quaint Inn, but it does have a Brew Café, which serves breakfast (reasonable prices), and a happy-hour type of pub food, and exciting specialty alcoholic drinks.
Outdoor swimming pool.
Several pleasant outdoor balconies for sitting, veranda-style.
We do not recommend that you pay $20 per day extra for a guest room with a balcony outside, as the in-room balconies overlook only the rear parking lots.
The Inn has an arrangement for guests to use a fitness facility, around the corner, for $5 per day. Open 5:30am to 10:00pm.
We can walk to some of our venues, plus there is a free circulator public bus which stops in front of the Inn.
The mammoth, three city block-long, City Market is only a few blocks away.
No pets; no smoking.
Two plush double beds, or a king size bed; granite bathroom vanities.
We want to stress that, if you find the above guest room rates too high, simply call or email Stuart Johnson who will help you find a less-expensive alternative hotel. (For example, Holiday Inn, located in the lower Historic District, and Marriott, a mile away).
Note: We are checking in on a Sunday this year, due to the fact that in the historic district of Charleston , the room rates go up to $250 on Friday and Saturday nights.
Monday, September 8:
We are working on obtaining special permission to have a private tour of the privately-owned (not open to the public) very important venue for us: The Miles-Brewton House, 27 King Street, historic district of Charleston (within walking distance). Colonel William (King Billy) Alston, father of SC Governor Joseph Alston (Theo’s husband), bought the house from his first wife’s family, and made great improvements. It is one of the finest examples of a double palladium house.
We hope to begin our tour at a leisurely time in the morning. Each evening we will enjoy a nearby, outstanding restaurant.
Tuesday , September 9:
In the morning, we will have an “in-depth” tour of the wonderful Edmondston-Alston House, 21 E. Battery Street, near the harbor of the historic district. Within walking distance, but we will car pool some members. Their director will show us some of Theodosia’s books, which she did not take with her on the Patriot’s fateful voyage. The view from the house is stunning.
Wednesday, September 10:
So far, half of the respondees to our email inquiries say they do want to undergo the inconveniences of an at least three-hour, round-trip, carpool to the wonderful Brookgreen Gardens, in Pawley’s Island, SC. (75 miles north of Charleston). The Oaks Plantation, the southern-most of the four former rice plantations that make up Brookgreen Gardens, was the country home of Governor Joseph Alston; his wife, Theodosia; and their young son, Aaron Burr Alston (“Gampy”). Joseph and Gampy are buried there.
Tragically, Theodosia disappeared without a trace, shortly after embarking aboard The Patriot, from nearby Georgetown, SC, planning to meet Aaron in NYC. He had just returned to the U.S. from four years in Europe.
As long as you are willing to get up early, and leave our hotel by 7:45 a.m, you will have a great experience at Brookgreen. I will make all the arrangements with their Sales Director, Molly Mercer, and Curator, Robin Salmon (Ms. Salmon will present a lecture to us).
The other half of you do not want to spend 3 hours, round-trip, on the road, which is understandable. For you, we can visit the Nathaniel Russell House, or Middleton plantation, three miles from our hotel. We will accommodate both “camps”.
The Nathaniel Russell House, 51 Meeting Street, circa 1808, is near our hotel, and is Charleston’s grandest neo classical house museum.
Thursday, September 11:
In a “not to miss” event, Commodore Harry Anderson has arranged for us to hold our Annual Meeting and Luncheon from 3-8 p.m., at the spectacular Carolina Yacht Club, 50 East Bay, historic district, not far from our hotel. Our featured speaker will be Rose Tomlin, author of Duel Of The Heart, the 2012 novel about Theodosia Burr Alston. This is a dress-up event.
Friday, September 12:
11 a.m. We check-out from the King Charles Inn.
Give us your thoughts on venue choices.
DUES REMINDER
Annual membership dues of $25, for 2014, due on February 6th (Aaron’s birthday), are payable to ABA, and mailed to:
Stuart F. Johnson
1004 Butterworth Lane
Upper Marlboro, MD 20774-2205
Our Website is www.aaronburrassociation.org
See you soon, in warmer weather,
Stuart and Helena
(301) 336-8222; Cell: (301) 641-0494