Charleson, South Carolina

This week we are in Charleston, SC for the WHOLE WEEK! It's nice to have a break from all the driving and stay put for a bit. It feels like we've been on the road forever, but our road trip is, in fact, just a little over two weeks old!

Since April 30th, we've been to San Antonio, Texas; New Orleans, LA; Gulf Breeze, FL; Savannah, GA and now Charleston, SC. Not to mention a few stopovers along the way that actually aren't worth mentioning!

Charleston is a beautiful small city, old, gracious, charming, elegant and easy to navigate. So far, we've enjoyed the downtown area twice, gone out to the beach at Kaiwah Island, and visited Magnolia House - a former plantation with beautiful gardens and grounds. Today I'll post the pictures from Magnolia House, and I'll put together a Charleston montage later in the week.

So here we go:

This is actually the 3rd home on the site. The original plantation was struck by lightening and burned down. The second home was burned to the ground by the Yankees as the Civil War ended. This house is a combination of the family's hunting cottage that was picked up and moved down the river, (that's the part to the left of the tower); and an addition to the home by the daughter who inherited the house (the larger part starting with the tower and to the right).

The Drayton family built the plantation in 1676, when they arrived from Barbados with slaves in tow. The eldest son inherited the house, but one day, when riding his horse back from a hunt, his rifle accidently went off, mortally wounding him. He rode down the oak-lined avenue until he reached the house, where he dismounted and died on the front steps.

These giant oaks with the Spanish moss hanging from them are typical of plantation homes and this part of the south. The moss does not steal nutrients from the tree. It's very beautiful, but on a dark night, it would be spooky!

The youngest son, a minister, never expected to inherit. But upon his brother's death, he came back. He was inspired by one of the slaves, who created and tended lovely gardens there. Together, they worked with the natural environment to create a variety of garden spaces, including walkways that meander past lagoons and under the giant oaks, bridges, a maze and secret spaces for walking and contemplation.

The minister-owner defied the laws of the day by teaching his slaves to read and write. This of course, was not compensation for their enslavement, but he viewed it as such. Always interesting to see how people were able to justify their actions - especially in this case,  a "man of God" as the preacher was. It's hard to understand how someone like that wouldn't be able to take a higher stand for humanity - how he could overlook the obvious.

Peacocks roam the plantation gardens

Magnolia Plantation is known for the beautiful gardens throughout.
There are many "secret gardens" and special spots like this.

Donkeys roam the open field

RVPainter in front of the plantation. It was his birthday Tuesday - he turned 72 - doesn't he look great?

Pink hydrangeas

Hangin' out on the porch, waiting for the house tour and for someone to bring him a Mint Julep ;)

The Magnolia House grounds and house were lovely and the history was interesting. It's not though, what we typically think of when we think "plantation." I think of something like Tara from Gone with the Wind. Magnolia House is relatively modest in size and grandeur, and of course none of the original home or outbuildings remain (except the front and back steps - which are original to the first house).

We also thought it was quite over-priced at $15 general admission (just to walk around) PLUS $8 if you wanted the house tour, PLUS $8 more if you wanted to take the tour where they ride you around on little carts. Still, we enjoyed the peace and beauty of the grounds and learning about another piece of the past.

If you missed my New Orleans pictures, they are in the previous post. I tried making a slideshow, and thought I'd succeeded, but for some reason, Blogger isn't loading it to my page even though it looks like the gadget is there. Ah, the mysteries of Blogger :)

Will get more Charleston pictures up before we head out on the road again on Sunday. The word that comes to mind to describe Charleston is "gracious." You could also say "genteel."