Adventure date: Tuesday, May 21, 2019.
Today we visited two plantations. First stop, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.
But first, again, 32+ ounces of water, plus a very tasty iced chai latte from Superior Coffee & Carolina Cider, after a two-hour drive. Right. The ladies room. Check. And oh look who else drank too much water?
Bypassed the men's room and stopped just shy of the ladies' entrance. I'm guessing she was looking for privacy.
And the adventure begins!
Magnolia Gardens are just lovely. It is a romantic-style garden, which seeks to cooperate with nature to create tranquility where humanity and nature are in harmony. Achieved. Pretty sure we could have wandered for most of the daylight hours and still found beautiful scenes to enjoy.
Magnolia Plantation was established by the Drayton Family in 1676. It was a working rice plantation during antebellum years. It became a garden open to the public in 1870. The Reverend John G Drayton was owner of the plantation during Civil War times. As a younger brother in the family, his first calling was as a minister. After his older brother died in an unfortunate accident, he was called home to run the plantation. He suffered from an illness and was advised to get outdoors as a cure. He took up gardening and partnered with the head gardener to grow the original, formal French-style garden into what it is today.
Magnolia Plantation has an interesting history on both sides of the Civil War, and did not escape the devastation that ensued during the war. The current house is an expansion of a house constructed after the Civil War. The grand facade you see today was added in the 1990s.
The Drayton's are of the founding members of Charleston society, and thus enjoyed status and with some post-Civil War creativity managed to keep the property within the family. It is still owned and run by the Drayton family.
A few sights as we wandered further into the gardens:
Yes, it was hot and humid. Don't judge the handheld fan. You're missing the grand, moss-draped oak and delightful azaleas.
This is part of the original, formal garden planted by the first Lady Drayton.
Peacocks!
Yes, the gardens are just lovely. But you know what was most impactful? The From Slavery to Freedom Tour. And you know what's sad? The tour guide mentioned that this tour is the least purchased tour on the plantation. We tend to shy away from the hard truths. And this tour was full of hard truths.
We walked through four cabins that had been restored to represent various periods of the plantation's history. The first represented slave quarters from the 1850s, when a whole family occupied one-half of the house. A whole family. Inside each was a rough hearth. Some of them showed a bed made of rough-hewn logs and rope. The last displayed period crockery and household goods.
It was awful, especially imagining the heat, humidity, mosquitoes and pests. Not to mention the hopelessness and cruelty. The rich Charlestonians retreated to their other homes on the bay or up in the mountains to escape the heat and mosquitoes, while slave labor mucked out wealth on their behalf.
Each of the homes had been lived in up through the 1990s! What!?! Electricity was added in the 1960s, and running water in the 1970s. What!?!
Why would we have anyone living in these conditions in the twentieth century?
Preposterous.
Our tour guide, Joe, is an interesting fellow with a passion for reminding us of the truth of slavery and it's predominance across the country before the Civil War. It's so easy to gloss over the suffering and inhumanity. He started The Slave Dwelling Project to tell the full story. Truly, it's preposterous that tourists come to a plantation and avoid seeing the full story. They do realize what a plantation was all about here in the States, right? Plantations wouldn't have been plantations without the slaves to muck through the marsh, constructing and farming rice paddies, in this case. Joe, thank you for telling the full story.
It's about 2:30pm once we get a bite to eat and finish up garden wanderings. We figure we have just enough time for a very quick visit to the Charleston Tea Plantation, home of American Classic Tea and the only large-scale production tea farm in the US.
It's a whole farm of glorious tea. And it's pretty tasty, too!
We made it just in time for the last tour of the tea factory and the trolley tour of the plantation grounds.
But first, a kiss for Sir Waddy, the tea plantation's mascot.
I was relieved to learn that Charleston Tea Plantation is a recent investment. The tea plants they cultivate were growing wild on Pinehurst Plantation, owned by a one Dr. Charles Shepard who propagated tea plants from China from 1888 to 1915. The Lipton Company purchased the land the plantation is currently on in 1967 and then William Barclay Hall, a tea connoisseur, purchased the farm in 1987. Mr. Hall still runs the farm, but it's now owned by The Bigelow Family.
Shown above is the custom-designed tea cropper created just for this plantation. It give the tea plants a nice thin trim off the top and collects the cuttings. They have just the one, and hopefully a very engaged person who keeps it in working order.
The trolley ride through the plantation was delightful and informative. A great stop to top-off the day.
As were these fun pics:
Because who doesn't want their picture next to the world's largest cup of sweet tea. #onlyintheusa
We picked up dinner on the way home to enjoy on the deck, then had time to walk the beach one last time before we had to call it a day. Truth: "Every Lowcountry sky is a gift."
💛 T's fave today = tour and perspective of the slave homes
💛 B's fave today = Charleston Tea Plantation + one last visit to the beach
It was a great trip. It was awesome both spending quality time with Tara and exploring a part of the country I'd not experienced.
Friends, importantly: "Don't let the sugar settle into the bottom of the glass."
A few references are from Good Morning, Lowcountry! Local knowledge, odd facts, recipes, survival tips for...Living in the South Carolina Swamp by Harriet McLeod.
Today we visited two plantations. First stop, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
But first, again, 32+ ounces of water, plus a very tasty iced chai latte from Superior Coffee & Carolina Cider, after a two-hour drive. Right. The ladies room. Check. And oh look who else drank too much water?
And the adventure begins!
Magnolia Plantation was established by the Drayton Family in 1676. It was a working rice plantation during antebellum years. It became a garden open to the public in 1870. The Reverend John G Drayton was owner of the plantation during Civil War times. As a younger brother in the family, his first calling was as a minister. After his older brother died in an unfortunate accident, he was called home to run the plantation. He suffered from an illness and was advised to get outdoors as a cure. He took up gardening and partnered with the head gardener to grow the original, formal French-style garden into what it is today.
Magnolia Plantation has an interesting history on both sides of the Civil War, and did not escape the devastation that ensued during the war. The current house is an expansion of a house constructed after the Civil War. The grand facade you see today was added in the 1990s.
The Drayton's are of the founding members of Charleston society, and thus enjoyed status and with some post-Civil War creativity managed to keep the property within the family. It is still owned and run by the Drayton family.
A few sights as we wandered further into the gardens:
Yes, it was hot and humid. Don't judge the handheld fan. You're missing the grand, moss-draped oak and delightful azaleas.
This is part of the original, formal garden planted by the first Lady Drayton.
Yes, the gardens are just lovely. But you know what was most impactful? The From Slavery to Freedom Tour. And you know what's sad? The tour guide mentioned that this tour is the least purchased tour on the plantation. We tend to shy away from the hard truths. And this tour was full of hard truths.
We walked through four cabins that had been restored to represent various periods of the plantation's history. The first represented slave quarters from the 1850s, when a whole family occupied one-half of the house. A whole family. Inside each was a rough hearth. Some of them showed a bed made of rough-hewn logs and rope. The last displayed period crockery and household goods.
It was awful, especially imagining the heat, humidity, mosquitoes and pests. Not to mention the hopelessness and cruelty. The rich Charlestonians retreated to their other homes on the bay or up in the mountains to escape the heat and mosquitoes, while slave labor mucked out wealth on their behalf.Each of the homes had been lived in up through the 1990s! What!?! Electricity was added in the 1960s, and running water in the 1970s. What!?!
Why would we have anyone living in these conditions in the twentieth century?
Preposterous.
Our tour guide, Joe, is an interesting fellow with a passion for reminding us of the truth of slavery and it's predominance across the country before the Civil War. It's so easy to gloss over the suffering and inhumanity. He started The Slave Dwelling Project to tell the full story. Truly, it's preposterous that tourists come to a plantation and avoid seeing the full story. They do realize what a plantation was all about here in the States, right? Plantations wouldn't have been plantations without the slaves to muck through the marsh, constructing and farming rice paddies, in this case. Joe, thank you for telling the full story.
Charleston Tea Plantation
It's a whole farm of glorious tea. And it's pretty tasty, too!We made it just in time for the last tour of the tea factory and the trolley tour of the plantation grounds.
But first, a kiss for Sir Waddy, the tea plantation's mascot.
I was relieved to learn that Charleston Tea Plantation is a recent investment. The tea plants they cultivate were growing wild on Pinehurst Plantation, owned by a one Dr. Charles Shepard who propagated tea plants from China from 1888 to 1915. The Lipton Company purchased the land the plantation is currently on in 1967 and then William Barclay Hall, a tea connoisseur, purchased the farm in 1987. Mr. Hall still runs the farm, but it's now owned by The Bigelow Family.
Shown above is the custom-designed tea cropper created just for this plantation. It give the tea plants a nice thin trim off the top and collects the cuttings. They have just the one, and hopefully a very engaged person who keeps it in working order.
The trolley ride through the plantation was delightful and informative. A great stop to top-off the day.
As were these fun pics:
We picked up dinner on the way home to enjoy on the deck, then had time to walk the beach one last time before we had to call it a day. Truth: "Every Lowcountry sky is a gift."
💛 T's fave today = tour and perspective of the slave homes
💛 B's fave today = Charleston Tea Plantation + one last visit to the beach
It was a great trip. It was awesome both spending quality time with Tara and exploring a part of the country I'd not experienced.
Friends, importantly: "Don't let the sugar settle into the bottom of the glass."
A few references are from Good Morning, Lowcountry! Local knowledge, odd facts, recipes, survival tips for...Living in the South Carolina Swamp by Harriet McLeod.
