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We had a wonderful two days this week, visiting the Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, located in Charleston, SC. The plantation was established in 1676; the family opened its doors to the public for their spectacular gardens in 1870. These are the oldest public gardens in America!
Our tickets allowed us to come back a second day within the same week; so that is what we did! On the first day, we enjoyed the petting zoo---we actually saw an albino racoon there, along with goats, ducks, bunnies, a pig, reptiles, deer, an owl, and many varieties of birds and exotic birds. After, we headed over to the gorgeous area with the red bridge, saw the gazebo, statues, and lots of marsh wonderment and beauty. They lock the gates at 5:00, but people are welcome to walk the grounds until sunset--but my girls got hungry so we had to leave (this was a spontaneous trip, so we didn't arrive very early:) We headed out of the beautiful grounds and found a wonderful local Charleston Cafe called the Bear E Cafe--mmmmmmmm (we won't talk about the Italian Berry Creme Cake I consumed--why oh why do I do stuff like that:O)
And that is why we opted to come back the next day again! This time I packed a picnic lunch (though we still didn't get an early start--my girls like to stay up late and sleep in the mornings--that WILL change:) We arrived to take the one hour train ride, immediately followed by the boat ride. We had such a wonderful time, and got to see areas of the planation that would not be easy to cover by foot (maybe with a bike)--but definitely not with children:) While on the train, we saw a man mowing the lawn--exciting, eh:) He's been working the grounds since 1946!!! He LOVES his job, which is why he still chooses to work:) We saw the swamps, and wildlife of the swamps, a very LARGE ancient Indian burial ground (1000's of years old), a few alligators, the slave houses, and some ancient live oaks. The one pictured above is over 400 years old! It's HOT down here in the summer (pretty hot everywhere I've heard)---but it really cools down to very comfortable temps in all the shaded areas--the tram was a very relaxing way to see some of the grounds!
Following the tram ride, we hopped off a bit early at the plantation house, where we were to catch our boat! Finally found the path to the boat (just behind the house), where we were greeted by exquisite beauty: flowers, water, trees, and dragonflies!! It's interesting to note, the first day there, I saw mostly green dragonflies, and the second day, mostly blue. I caught some really good photos of the dragonflies, which I will post another time. The boat was a pantoon. It took us through the swamps---the girls and I LOVED the boat ride. It was so peaceful and relaxing (and made me VERY excited for J to quit working 7 days a week, so we can get ours out. I already hit him up for maybe replacing ours with a pantoon--his response--no way, he wants to ski (with the alligators?) --but with the brackish waters here, we'll probably have to replace ours anyway, so he said we'll look at a deck boat:) I'm just looking for the tranquility of kayaking, but out of alligators' reach:) We saw many birds and a few alligators on the guided boat tour---the girls love the cattails of the very peaceful marshes.
After the wonderful guided boat tour, we headed back to the plantation house to their gift shop--my children were STARVING and didn't feel they could make it back the two blocks to the parking lot where our picnic lunch awaited:D (ok ok, I wanted to go into the gift shop too, what woman doesn't)--And the gift shop was really neat--very elegant and regal--like the plantation---I fell in love with a picnic basket, with pink or purple gingham fabrics and minature ceramic tea sets (I see some sweet little girls' birthday ideas here.....). We made it through the multi room gift shop without doing too much damage, and headed back to the car to gather our picnic. Picnic in hand (or over shoulder:) we ventured back to the area by the snackbar and petting zoo, under a large wooden and shaded picnic area, which was nicely cooled by ceiling fans and cool misting waters---great idea! We dined with two rather chatty peacocks (btw, if you've never heard peacocks before, they are loud! The sound like a cross between a hawk and a cat:) They are beautiful though! Following a wonderful relaxing picnic, we headed back to stroll through some of the gardens again, over by the marshes, where Little Angel disovered Miss Julianna, a very old wooden boat which was used to transport cotton and rice (they had some of the bailed cotton on the boat). There was an ancient looking canoe onboard as well!
We ended our wonderful day together by driving out of the grounds and back into the entry way to the cute children's park (which I used for leverage to keep the girls on their best today:) The train was what originally drew them, but we had no idea how much fun they were going to have climbing trees (trees, with large roots and trunks, partly parallel to the ground, making it "safe" in my eyes:)
The girls cannot wait to return to the Plantation, and we cannot wait to bring visitors here. But, there is almost too much to do and explore here, and we cannot wait to share in our new adventures with each other and you!!!
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