May 2, 2018 Charleston, SC to Georgetown, SC

We arrived in Charleston, SC on April 26th.  Ken and I have both been here before so we decided to just walk around with no particular destination in mind but rather to just soak up the ambience of this beautiful historic city.  No trip is complete without a walk along the Battery and a visit to White Point Gardens at the southern end of the Battery.  The skies were clear and so blue.

Fountain in White Point Gardens

View of White Point Gardens from gazebo

The Battery - Pickney Island on left and Fort Sumter on right.

 One interesting visit was to Market Hall, built in 1841.  It was originally the front entrance to the six blocks of roofed market space that were attached to Market Hall and ran under the building all the way to Cooper River.  In 1861 with the start of the Civil War thousands of young men joined the cause and Market Hall was where they got their orders, supplies and weapons.  1899 it became the Confederate Museum where relics of the war have been donated over the years and are preserved here under the care of United Daughters of the Confederacy.  Letters, pictures, uniforms, weapons, flags and hundreds of other personal items are on display.  It really gave a personal feeling to the conflict and the impact it had on all it touched.

Charleston, SC - Market Hall 

Walking the historic district was a treat.  Even though homes are very close together, all had either small topiary gardens or colorful window boxes.  Many of the row houses themselves were painted in lively colors which gave even more charm and character to the neighborhoods.

Even though we had been here before, we found there were so many places to go and things to see that we quickly decided that Charleston would have to be a return trip but one place we did opt to see was the Calhoun Mansion, circa 1876.  Today it is a private home, housing the owners impressive collection but it was the beauty of this gilded age Italianate Renaissance revival style house itself and the gardens that brought us in.  It took 5 years to build and at 24000sf is still the largest single family residence in Charleston.  It has 35 rooms with the more opulent ones show casing paneled walls with oak and walnut, ornate plaster, 14' ceilings and gorgeous chandeliers.  So much to see and admire.

Side view of Calhoun Mansion.  Below the koi pond with turtles and one of several fountains on the grounds.

After a couple of days, we left Charleston and crossed the Cooper River to Mt. Pleasant, where we docked next to Patriots Point.  The USS Yorktown aircraft carrier along with the destroyer USS Laffey and submarine USS Clamagore became our neighbors.  The trip across the river gave us great views of the Battery from a different perspective.

The Battery as we crossed the Cooper River to Mt. Pleasant.

Another beautiful clear day with the Battery in the background.

Patriots Point, Mt. Pleasant - USS Yorktown from our fly bridge.

Our main intent for docking in Mt. Pleasant was to visit with a dear friend of ours, that we worked with back in our younger days.  Donald was just as I remembered him, a perfect Southern gentleman with a bit of hot foot when driving.  We caught up on life, ate some great southern food and got a tour of Charleston from a native's perspective.  Great times!!

Sunset over Charleston and Cooper River from Patriots Point, Mt. Pleasant

We have always heard about the beautiful planation homes and gardens in the Charleston area and though we had visited a few of the antebellum homes, we had never gone to see any of the gardens.  WHAT A MISSED OPPORTUNTIY!  We went to Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.  Magnolia Planation has been the ancestral home of the Drayton family since 1676 and is the oldest planation on the Ashley River.  There are over 70 acres of gardens and it's considered the oldest major public garden in America but "unlike most of America's gardens, which are formal and seek to control nature, Magnolia cooperates with nature to create a tranquil landscape, like Eden, where humanity and nature are in harmony".

Our first surprise as we got on the grounds were the peacocks.  So beautiful and noisy.  It must have been making season....

So beautiful and not afraid of all the tourists.  We were part of the landscape for all they were concerned.  And though the female doesn't have the bright blue head and neck, she is still pretty with her elegant stance and green neck.

Our next surprise were the number of tours to choose from.  There was a nature train, a house tour, the 'From slavery to freedom' tour and the nature boat, in addition to walking the gardens.  We opted for nature boat tour as we would get a guided tour through the canals of a 150-acre former rice field.  Rice was the dominate commodity until the end of the Civil War.  We also got to see wildlife.

Magnolia Plantation rice field.  It's all growth over but fascinating to learn how they would plant, flood and harvest the rice.

The wildlife was abundant.  To the right, one of several alligators we saw.  To the left is an anhinga bird.  Interesting thing is that due to poorly developed oil glands, its feathers aren't as waterproof as the feathers of other birds.  This one has its wings spread, drying off in the sun.  We also saw turtles, herons and other native birds.

Since alligators can't control their body temperate they sunbathe when they are cold or go for a swim when they are hot.  Not sure what this one was doing as he was on the move.

Back on dry land we headed for the gardens and came upon the Drayton family tomb.  It was constructed prior to 1700 by its first occupant, Magnolia Plantation's first Drayton owner, Thomas Drayton, Jr.  It is the resting place of subsequent owners and their families until 1891 when Rev. John G. Drayton chose to be buried at his parish church.  Only one other family member has been buried in the tomb since then.  In the second pic below, there is a large crack in the face, which was caused by the earthquake of 1886, which leveled Charleston.

The turtles were abundant and we found them sunning everywhere.

The biggest surprise and event of day was our up close and personal encounter with a 10' to 12' alligator.  We hadn't gotten to flower gardens yet and were on a path that had ponds on both sides of it.  As I turned in the path I saw a big gator to my right and started snapping pictures.  He was the closest I had been to one up until this point.  Much to my surprise he continued to swim toward shore and then walked up on to the path, where we had just crossed.  In a very leisurely manner, he crossed the path and entered the water of the other pond, and swam away.  I was rooted to the ground, about 10' to 15' away, just snapping away, like an idiot but got these awesome pics of his trip.  It wasn't till after it was all over that I got scared but obviously he was more interested in getting to the other pond than to me and Ken.  Thank God!  The following 11 pictures show the event....

With our eyes back in our heads and our breathe back to normal we entered the gardens.  We had just missed the azaleas in full bloom but found some beauties along the way.

Every turn presented another beautiful view.  Though not in its green of summer, the bamboo grove above was still impressive.  Ken took a pic with me (left) among a white flowering vines.  And the blue hydrangea (right) were perfect.  My favorite were the snapdragons (below) as they were in all different colors and in full bloom.

There were several bridges over the waters that we crossed and found purple irises and white calla lilies growing on the banks.

Other sights we saw was a hedge grove maze, formal gardens with cherub statues, beds full of daises, as well as cypress and live oak trees.  It was just magical.

This bench was neat as it had been set so as to allow the trees to grow around it.

After spending this idyllic day exploring Magnolia we were back on the boat for one more night, then off to Georgetown, SC.

PS from Roofus:

While my humans were out exploring, visiting and getting all misty eyed over flowers, I was snugged in for some great afternoon naps.  I even got to sleep all by myself in their bed (pic).  And I am certainly glad that I was no where near the alligator adventure.  Too close for comfort for me, especially, as I am sure I would have been a tasty treat for that gator.