Our Parents Wedding Day~28 September 1941

Ross Colberg and Josephine R

September 28 1941

St. Paul, Minnesota

Just this past week I found this in an old envelope as I have been going through some things from the past.  It took my breath away when I saw it.  This is a rose from the wedding bouquet of my mother.  The rose is over 72 years old.  I don't remember ever seeing it before.

I have not retouched this or altered the photo in any way.  I was astonished at the color and the green fern.  I just removed it from the envelope and placed it carefully on the back of my iPad for a dark background and snapped the shot.  I put it right back into the envelope and am now trying to decided how to preserve it and display it.  What a treasure, I am thrilled to have discovered it!

The following is an excerpt from the biographical sketch I wrote and complied for our family after my father died in 1979. I wrote the introduction and my piece and then I asked my Mom, two brothers, my husband,  and a close friend of Dad's to add something.  The compilation was a very exciting project portraying a unique perspective of my multi-faceted father from the people closest to him.  It was also excellent grief therapy for me.

The following is a portion of what my mother wrote about their meeting and marriage:

"To My Darling Children,

I was born in Pierre, South Dakota on May 17, 1919.  There was another big event that day as I have a twin brother named Joseph.  At that point in my life I had four sisters and three brothers; Letha, Lena, Harold, Margaret, William and Wilma who were also twins.  We lived on a farm about twenty miles from Ft. Pierre, South Dakota.

When I was five years old we lost our mother from an infection after giving birth to another baby girl, Ruby.  I am so sorry I never got a chance to know my mother as I know I would have loved her very much.

After I graduated from high school in Pierre in 1938 I moved to Bismarck, North Dakota in January of 1940.  I went to Bismarck to attend Beauty School.  During that six months I lived with a couple I met and who became dear friends, Rose and Fred Gerberding.

That move to Bismarck really changed my life. It was the best move I ever made because this is where I met Ross.  Yes, he definitely was the best thing that ever happened to me.  Through friends we met on a blind date.  He looked so handsome that night.  He had on dark pants, a white sports coat and tie.  We double dated with our friends and had such a wonderful time.  After that we saw each other all the time.  He was such a gentleman and always so nice.  Yes, it definitely was love at first sight!  We met on May 4, 1940 and we always had such a good time when we were together.

About Dec 1st of that year Ross was transferred to Fargo, North Dakota.  He worked for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.  It was a sad day for us both because we knew it would mean many months of separation.  Not having a car he didn't get home very often--I really missed him.  In the spring of 1941 I moved to Ellsworth, Wisconsin to stay with my friends, Rose and Fred, that had been transferred there earlier in the year.  Ross came there to see me a few times.

I August of 1941 I decided to go to work in St Paul, Minnesota.  At about that same time I learned that Ross had been transferred there too.  We were both so happy to know we would both be there.

On September 28, 1941 we were married  in a Lutheran Church in St. Paul at 8:30 in the morning. yes it was a very strange time to be married but Rose and Fred were our attendants and being a Greyhound bus driver, Fred had a run to make in the afternoon.  The main thing was that we were married!

It was a very small and simple wedding.  Ross' mother was the only relative there, but we were just thankful to have her with us.  We were just new in St. Paul so didn't know anyone to invite.  We were both working fortunately but worked opposite hours unfortunately.  So I'd get up in the morning and fix his breakfast and get him off to work and at night he'd wait up for me until midnight and then come down to the Ice Cream Parlor and walk me home.  We always stopped at a little hamburger place and had a nickel hamburger and a ten cent piece of cherry pie.  We were so happy and loved being married.   I really enjoyed being a housewife and always have.

Oh yes, I almost forgot our honeymoon.  It was a trip---from Minneapolis to St. Paul. After the wedding we went to get our pictures taken.  Then we went to breakfast with Ross' mom, Rose and Fred, and a couple of Fred's aunts that must have come along just to increase our numbers. Neither Ross nor I knew them.

Afterwards we jumped into the car, Rose and Fred in the front seat and Ross and me in the backseat. Sandwiched right in between us was none other than "Mama!"  This was so embarrassing to us at the time because we happened to run into some friends of ours on the street corner as we stopped at a light and it was obvious we had just been married.  Why?  Because I wore my wedding dress all day long and there she sat in the middle of us.

The next event of the day was a tour of the Capitol Building.  Over the years we laughed so many times about that, especially going there in my wedding dress.  Of course everywhere we went people stared.

Finally in the afternoon we put his mother on a train to send her home.  After that we stopped in a little place to have a drink and celebrated our wedding day.  After paying for the drinks we discovered we barely had enough money left to catch the streetcar home to St Paul which was just across the river. We had also been able to see Horace Heights put on big band show so we were pretty exhausted so we were happy to come home to our little apartment that we had just rented the week prior to our wedding.  I stayed there and got things ready and Ross lived at the YMCA until the day we were married.  The night before the wedding Rose and Ross' mom stayed with me in our apartment.  Everyone was a little frazzled and cramming three women in the bed was a bit much.  Just as we were about to go to sleep I said, "This is the first time I have ever slept with a Colberg!"  This sent my future mother-in-law into fits of laughter!"  She told that story repeatedly over the next many years.

Our apartment was tiny and our first home was so much fun.  In our home our living room was also our bedroom.  We had a Murphy bed that pulled out and down from the wall   So every day and every night we had to rearrange our furniture.  When the bed was up it had a nice mirror on the back of it so it looked just like a real living room.  Those were wonderful times.

I can remember how proud I was to be his wife, and how through our marriage I'd look at him and find it hard to comprehend that he was mine, all mine!  We didn't have much in the way of material things then, we went into our marriage with a few dish towels without hems and a few cents in our pockets but we were very much in love and we had each other, so what else really mattered?"

The End of Part I

A Simple Woman's Daybook~October 25, 2013

Our lives pass swiftly by! I want to do something to remember

the everyday moments and my thoughts about them.  

That is what this Daybook is all about.

Focusing on the little things that become my life.

One entry at a time.

Just for today~Friday, October 25, 2013

 

Outside my window...it is beautiful and clear and still and 2:10 pm.  I can hear the nails pounding outside and Jim and Dave and Ron are putting up the 22 tresses that will support the roof of Jim's workshop.  It is a little bit overkill but you know what?  He can build any kind of a palace out there he wants.  He has dreamed of a wood working shop since he was 17.  So outside my other window I see them, it looks like they are building an arc.  When it gets painted forest green it will be practically camouflaged.  I cannot see the barn at all from the house and this will have the same roof and finish.  So outside my windows all is well.
 

I am thankful for....the peace and quiet that will return to our home one of these days.  The project has had three phases and we are getting near the end of the third phases and three years.  He does a little here and a little there and always beside him, his best buddy David.  Who could ask for anything more?  I love their friendship.  When they are not working here they are helping someone else.  Never a dull moment for or with them.

From the learning room....I am learning how to do Swedish genealogy right now.  I am barely beginning!  It is so much harder in another language as you might imagine.  But once you get familiar with the cadre of vocabulary words specific to genealogy it gets easier.  I could never pronounce these words but they are beginning to share their secrets with me.  I didn't ever think I could find our family in Sweden and we have plenty but with the help of some highly qualified people I have picked up bits and pieces of four new generations.  All the people are there I just have to decipher the records, transcribe them and put them in our tree.  I say "just" like it is no big deal but it is hard.  The last man I put in was born in 1766.  He is a several greats grandfather of mine.  I am also attempting some work on two of Jim's lines.

I am reading...Swedish Records!  And genealogy blogs.  I need to get to my sweet friends on regular blogs soon.  Nellie, Susan and Marie, God Bless You!  You are always in my heart if not on my finger tips.
 

 From the kitchen...Date night so it means some healthy snacks and then later tonight popcorn with our movie.  No idea what I'll come up with for a movie but I always find something.

Some spiritual thoughts I have been having...just how much I love being a Christian.  How much I love being a Latter-day Saint, how much our church culture has enhanced and filled our lives with wonderful friends, wholesome fun and good and worthy service activities.  But best of all the love of our Savior who helps us daily...no, hourly in all we do.

I am hearing...The sound track from Call the Midwife. "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?"  A moldy Oldie.  The other question would be...why do we not think "we" are fools when we fall in love?  It is only "them!"

One of my guilty pleasures...afternoon riposo, just like the Italians.  They have good living down pat.  Two work periods in every day separated by a decent length of free time and rest to recapture your energy, spend time with your whole family when you are not exhausted from a ten hour day.  And then you begin in earnest again to finish the work of your day.  It is brilliant.  It is like 14 more productive and more meaningful days in your week.

Pet Peeves...I don't know why I have a hard time thinking of these when I do the Daybook.  I seem to run in them repeatedly through out the week.  Rude people is always a good standby.  We have run in a few this week.  Carol, you can relate!  The only thing that makes me madder than when people are rude to me is when they are rude to my family or friends.

I am quoting...Pinterest... 

Autumn just envelopes me with happiness.

If I could change one thing it would be...that special needs children could get a break from the so-called teachers and administrators that are supposed to be teaching them something good and worthwhile and administrating the programs for them.  There is no excuse for what Hazel is dealing with or her parents and grandparents for that matter.  Federals laws are being broken in a very cavalier way and it is not going unattended to by our great kids.  They will take this all the way and then hopefully help other parents of future kindergartners do the same.  Too many parents have rolled over and played dead for too long.  The buck stops here.  They be messin' with the wrong Mama Bear this time.
 

An enjoyable movie/ TV show we have watched lately...We watched Moonstruck last week.  Ya know, Cher is a good actress.  She is also magnificent in Tea With Mussolini, I think we'll watch it tonight.  Beautiful if you haven't seen it. Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright...need I say more?

I am curious about...the fact that in exactly two months it will be Christmas Day!  Really?

Plans for the rest of the week...I have some projects to do including rotating out summer clothes and bringing in more fall items.  I always sort through and purge out things.  Then I want to do the same thing in my office.  I will be working, getting my hair done, visiting teaching, meeting with friends and doing family history. Stake Conference over the weekend the first November week.  But first  Halloween and the next day my mother-in-law's birthday!  She and I will be lunching out while Jim is away that day.  We should all be so spry when turning 87.  Hey the fun never ends over here.

 

One of my favorite things...Pinterest, always Pinterest.   It is where I go to think, rejuvenate, feel loveliness and count my blessings.  I need it every day.  It reminds me of the worthy things in life that overshadow everyday hassles and struggles.  Pinterest is packed with hope and good cheer.  It is my favorite social media since you can enjoy solitude while engaging in it. 

One thing that made me so happy this past week...Having one whole day to do absolutely anything I wanted to do.  I loved that.

The most surprising thing this past week...that it went by so quickly.  Being preoccupied with work that I love seems to do that to me.  There is never enough time.  Another reason why I love riposo.  It slows down your day.  It is not just for eating and sleeping but to reconnect with yourself, others and things that interest you.  Life must be three dimensional and colorful.  We must strive to attain it in the way that works best for us.  I like to work hard, play moderately and rest easy.  That requires planning and saying no to something that wants to relentlessly eat up all of your time.

Balance requires a proactive life of making choices that work best for you your spouse and the people you care about.  Balance puts in the color of your life.  Spinning out of control all the time robs us of our joy.  Been there, done that.  Never again.  I saw my former  boss the other day.  Reminded me of all these things and the happiness I feel in being free from all of that.

A photo in two versions I am sharing this week...this morning while walking by a bank I saw this beautiful leaf covered in the morning dew on the ground.  I kept walking, then stopped and went back to photograph it.  I am glad I did. 

It was actually white and so pretty.

This is the sepia version

 Love them both!

 

UNTIL THE NEXT DAYBOOK,
 BE HAPPY AND CARRY ON!

❤♡♥♡❤♡♥♡❤♡♥s, Bon

Oh, Savannah!

One of the beautiful city block parks in Savannah

Since I read The Work and The Glory by Gerald Lund, I have wanted to visit Savannah.  There is something so enchanting about the south.  I can still remember the descriptions of the River Walk area down by the water front where Joshua had his mill.

I just have realized that so many of our ideas of where to travel have originated between the covers of best loved books.  I wish we had had more time to spend there.  But at least we were able to take the back roads to get to our hotel.  It took longer but was so much more interesting and pretty.  We have a thing about back roads.  We enjoy them.  We saw way too much freeway on this trip because we wanted to cover a lot of territory, but our favorite way is to just meander along stopping when the fancy strikes us.  The country sides of both South Carolina and Georgia were lovely.  The green was just so noteworthy there.  Everything green like only God can do it.

The rain clouds followed us to Savannah.  There is something cozy and romantic about traveling in a car in the rain.  We love it.  We had two rainy nights in Georgia.  I could hear Brook Benton's song in my head both nights.  Oh wait, I think I'll put it on as I write.  Ah. perfect.  ;-)

 
A real Magnolia!
We were just a week or two to 
early see them all in bloom.
  

We stayed just outside the city limits of Savannah and saved a ton of money on our hotel.  That night we went to a local restaurant recommended by the hotel concierge.  It was a family style type restaurant whose name escapes me but,  it was the epitome of southern fried everything. They had it all decked out in 70s decor...lots of brown and big booths that could hold a large family.  There was a lot of y'allin' going on in there.   It is where the local likes to go.

We had our first hush puppies and still don't know what they were.  The little waitress couldn't quite tell us.  Some kind of fried dough like a donut in the shape of a fish stick...no sugar.  In fact, I thought is was fish, all tucked in with the other fish on the fry plate and was dipping it in tartar sauce.  Jim thought that was hilarious.  (Jim of all people who eats the weirdest concoctions you can imagine on a weekly basis!  Ahem! ) Cole slaw was the only green thing in the room.  We were beginning to rethink the notion of eating something unique each place we visited.  Even delicious can be over done.  I could envision our blood turning pink from all the deep frying.

After writing that last paragraph I had to find out what they are. Here is Paula Deen's recipe for them  http://tinyurl.com/5uerm5.  If you click here you can see how to make hush puppies and how they got their name and some tricks for not getting your hands gooey in the process in the video.

Speaking of Paula Deen, we admired the Lady and Her Sons for begin closed on Sunday!  I am sure she is doing it for the right reasons~honoring the Sabbath Day.  There were plenty of tourists that were hoping she would have been there.  Savannah has lots of beautiful churches and we enjoyed hearing the bells ring most of the day.  We took this photo below when it cleared up in the afternoon.

In the morning as I have mentioned previously, once we got over the fact that it wasn't Saturday and we had missed church, we had our second shower of the day on the open air City Tour trolley.   It was so pretty in spite of the wetness.

Looks a lot like San Francisco right here.  
I love these fancy row houses.

 

So many pretty colors used in good taste

 in both Charleston and Savannah

The architectural features of these beautiful buildings and homes are amazing.  The one thing I think I love about the east and south so much is the noticeable difference between it and the newness  you feel in the west.  I wouldn't exactly call it antiquity, but it definitely has a more established, historical feeling.  There is a sense of pride in the maintenance of the things of the past that we don't feel here.  It has a regard for the permanence of things,  and it is accompanied by a certain special respect for preserving it.

 

One of the fun things about this tour was they picked up passengers in character from the early days  in their history.  This guy was a person that died during the civil war.  He died in his own neighborhood when he and his brother were arguing about the issues of slavery and he was accidentally shot.  This was a real historical character.

 

Loved the brick sidewalks

We passed by some beautiful little inns and hotels 
and of course some spectacular homes.

 

This looked like fun!

One of the most distinctive things about Savannah is that they have many many block sized parks in the downtown area.  You can walk a few blocks and then sit and enjoy a park bench and a little rest.   I am thinking this may be very welcomed when it is very hot and humid in the summer. 

 Many of them have historical monuments and water features and it seems to be a place where people congregate to chat and be together with friend and strangers soon to be friends.  This was very reminiscent of the Italian piazzas.  You see the buskers singing and playing their instruments.
You see people picnicking in the squares like we did.  That was delightful.

We met a wonderful old black man there that was so talkative and sweet.  Jim and I thought he was just delightful.  He was preaching the gospel and singing and selling his flowers he had woven from the reeds he had cut from along the river banks and then dried.   Jim bought me one for Mother's Day in hopes that our donation would be helpful to him!

 I tried to take their picture together but the camera was on video so I got a little piece of a spontaneous song he was singing us about God. Too bad I only caught the part about the devil 'cuz he was singing a lot about Jesus most of the time.  Nice guy, he was a kick.  Jim is holding the flower he bought me in his hand.

We wanted to go to the Ole Pink House for dinner but they were full so we landed up at the Pirate Restaurant recommended by our tour guide.  Umm, it was not really that great....too Disneyland-ish. It might have been more fun with some grandkids.  The food was good though.

 

Well,  the funny thing is the place that made me want to come to Savannah actually turned out to be a bust.  It was tacky and seedy and full of unsavory characters.  It features lots of booze and nasty t-shirts and the like.  The river right in front of this was cool but not this part.  Too Bourbon Street for us.  We drove by a few times to see it and that was it.

 

 River Walk~Not Our Cup of Tea

The rest of Savannah was charming and we enjoyed our short stay here.  The next day we were heading out early for Virginia and spent most of the day driving.  Our next destination, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Charlottesville, VA. 

Boone Hall is Mont Royal!

Well I must admit it was me pushing to get us there when the gates opened on this morning.  I truly wanted us to have a chance to get unpopulated photos and we were pretty successful at that.  For us the secret to all our traveling is beat the crowd, beat the heat.

When you first enter the Plantation you see some lovey landscapes like this.  We spent quite a bit of time in this area just breathing it all in and taking some photos.  It was cold and windy which was good.  Other than the leaves rustling in the trees, there was complete serenity all around us.

We meandering around for awhile on the packed 

gravel road and then turned a corner and saw this.  

Can I just say this view pretty much stops you dead in your tracks.  This is so impossible to capture in two dimensions.  You just cannot imagine the majesty and beauty of these trees or their scale compared to a couple of humans.  It is not often I feel small...here I did.  These trees were planted along this almost mile long drive in 1743.  They are a priceless treasure.  If I were prompted to pray for the endurance of any trees in the world it would be these.  It would be beyond heartbreaking if anything were to happen to them. 


This amazing Plantation has THE MOST BEAUTIFUL life oaks on the planet.  I am convinced of that because there could not be any more magnificent than these. This is the world famous

Avenue of The Oaks

The Live Oak is native to the Southeastern United States and Northern parts of South America.  The thing that makes these unique is that they are evergreens.  Oaks have long been one of my favorite trees, but I did not know there are some that are evergreen.  That is something to love about them in itself.  They can grow up to 50 feet tall with wide spreading branches reaching up to 70 feet.  Adding to this stunning vision, they often have huge clusters of Spanish Moss hanging in exactly the right places.  It looks like someone added it like one would with tinsel on a Christmas tree. This is what heaven looks like.  It literally brought tears to my eyes.

 

The Plantation Home is drawing closer and closer. 

This is where Patrick Swayze would ride his horse 

like the wind to and from the house
The little white dot down the Avenue is the house!
Check out the Spanish Moss below!

We drove along very slowly, 

often stopping to just be there. 

 In the distance we could see the mansion now

 but we were savoring it like a yummy dessert

Not wanting it to be gone too quickly! 

Looking slightly to the right is a large fenced
 area for horses and some out buildings.

  

A pristine white barn...

And perhaps a caregiver's small home?

This is a couple of the slave houses.

  
And then the Plantation home...Mont Royal!

We really were there!  Mont Royal! 
(Pinching myself to see if it's real!)

From the Gate looking back on the Avenue of the Oaks

James standing in front of the carriage landing pad! 

 Just jump out and walk in!

We were about to go on the house tour.  No photos are allowed inside but it was very very nice.  Could recognize a lot of the rooms from the mini-series.  They only let you see the downstairs as the current owner lives here upstairs.  Poor thing.  Who gets to live in a place like this?  One lucky lady!

 A side view of the front of the Mansion
both sides of the veranda have steps leading up to the house. 
This antebellum architecture is gorgeous.

Google image

There is a river behind the house.

This view is part of the backyard.

Slave Cabins

Borrowing this photo from their website  http://boonehall.com as it was raining pretty hard when we went to the slave houses. At one time in their history there were 27 out here, today 9 remain.  They are located along The Avenue of the Oaks on the left hand side as you come in.  They are strategically placed back far enough from the road so as not to detract from the beautiful entrance.  These cabins were for the house staff and slaves with a higher than average standing.  The plantation was a cotton plantation and the field workers lived in another area of the plantation in smaller less desirable conditions.  The owner at the time built  them out here for a reason.  He was a builder and he wanted to show off his work.  He also wanted others to know how well he treated his slaves.  Sometimes several families would live in these brick cabins and there was one common one set up like a church for the slaves to meet together in small groups to worship God and sing hymns.

The interior of the meeting cabin

It is sad that their way of life had to bring such sorrowful conditions to the slaves.   It is even sadder that our history is tainted by the buying and selling and abusive behavior towards other human beings.  I am grateful to Abraham Lincoln and the Abolitionists that worked and fought so hard for their freedom.   I understand the economic reasons for slavery but find the principle of using people like that deplorable. 

Each little cabin has displays and historical information
 in them and were decorated to simulate what they
 would have been like back then. 

This was a poignant and sobering experience.

Thank Heavens for this Civil Rights Act of 1866!

Most of the slaves that worked in the South in those days were from Angola, Africa. Today there are 500,000 of their descendants living in the Carolinas and other southern states.  Their ancestors started being captured and brought over here to be auctioned and sold in the 1500s.  For nearly five centuries their lives have been politically and economically tied to the cash crops of the south; rice, cotton, tobacco, and now even tourism.  

They were captured and retained in holding cells and on the west coast of Africa.  The imprisonment brought a lot of Africans under one roof and formed the basis of what would become the Gullah Culture.  These Gullah Salves made, many of the southern plantation owners very very wealthy.  They were so knowledgeable about the farming techniques used that they were the most desired of any slaves. 

One of the descendant of these early slaves does a one woman show there at the Plantation.  Her name is Jackie. The name "Gullah" it is thought has some reference to Angola.  They have these story telling shows every day and if you ever go I hope you get Jackie.  Her story was tender and sweet and told without guile.  I always have that 'guilt by association' thing going on and the way she spoke and sang and related to all of us was just beautiful.  

boonehall.com

What she said in a nutshell without saying it was...I don't blame you for what happened to my forefathers and mothers.  She would say repeatedly... 

"This is my story (pointing to herself) 

  this is your story (gesturing in our direction)

  this is our story (encircling all us all with her arms)

  this is His story (pointing up to God.) "

I felt that from now on the word  history would be spelled like this in my heart..HisStory.

 That was just so touching to me and made me feel we all just need to have peace about the things we cannot change now and move forward making this a better place to be for all.  I just loved Jackie and so did Jim.  At the end of her presentation we went up and thanked her and hugged her and we felt a sense of communion and peace that went beyond the three of us to include those who had gone before.  It was an experience that will stay with us for a long time.

*******************

This old mill is being retrofitted and preserved

 in another area of the Plantation.

It is to be reopened as a restaurant when completed.

Today many events are hosted At Boone Hall and 

Ryan Gosling recently got married here.

He was in "The Notebook" and part 

of that was filmed here as also!

The Plantation offers four things to do:  The Gullah Cultural experience, a House Tour, a Boat Tour and the open air Train Tour.  All are included in the admission price of 20 dollars.  It was worth every penny and more just to see the Oaks.  But all of the other things I have mentioned made it a wonderful day, never to be forgotten.

As we left I felt like I was caught somewhere between the story of Mont Royal and the reality of Boone Hall.  My perspective had changed  and was made different by this day as I was made more aware of how it really was.  The Pollyanna part of me wants to just stay in the movie but the reality of slavery is more poignant than ever to me.

There were so many things to ponder about this day.   I think we may have been unusually quiet on our hour and a half trip down to Savannah.  This type of experience makes things you have always known about, take on a whole new clarity.  It adds dimension to your understanding of the Family of Man in a fresh new way.  I remember having similar feelings when we toured Anne Franks' House in Amsterdam, years ago.  There is something about being there that heightens your sense of humanity and understanding.  This is truly educational.   And that is probably what I love about traveling more than anything else.  That and being with my best friend!

The Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

Neither Jim nor I had ever been to a plantation before.  We had seen plenty of them in movies about the south and were eager for this first hand experience.  Everything we read said don't miss Magnolia Plantation, so we didn't.   What a paradise and just minutes from downtown Charleston!

This was our first view of it as we approached the Gate.  We were the first visitors for the day arriving at 8:00 AM sharp.  (Never let it be said that we sleep in on vacations!)  These photos are not photoshopped, no need.  The green is the greenest of greens!  The oxygen was tangible and delicious.  And the peace...like a gentle hug! 

Thomas Drayton and his wife Ann came here from Barbados to the new English colony of Charlestown and established Magnolia Plantation along the Ashley River in 1679.  This Plantation has been passed from generation to generation in the family for 300 years now.

During Colonial times the Plantation and its owners amassed a great deal of wealth through the cultivation of rice.  Later in the Plantation's history, 8,000 British troops would occupy the fields here during the Revolutionary War.  But they were held off and never captured the land.  It is hard to imagine that anything resembling war had ever come near this tranquil place but, it was also threatened severely during the Civil War.  Through both wars it survived although the rice crops were no longer a viable way of survival for the family after the South lost the war.

It was at that time decided that they would open the Plantation and Gardens to the public and thus it became the first public garden in the United States.  That was five years after the Civil War ended in 1870.  To this day the admission prices of this breathtaking tourist attraction have helped maintain this gorgeous plantation.  You can read more about the history of the plantation on their website.  http://www.magnoliaplantation.com    They have some nice animation on the site and even some short videos.  Y'all don't miss it, if you come this way!

The heavy, black iron gates were guarded by the 

beautifully casted bronze lions on each side of the entrance.

Peacocks roam freely in this part of the 

Plantation and this one came out to greet us.

The flowers are very plentiful and the colors were 

so vibrant here on this early overcast morning.

One of the intriguing things to me has always been the Spanish Moss that hangs from the trees.  Seriously, what is a plantation without it?  One of the things you will hear on every tour in the south...I'll just tell you now...it is neither Spanish or moss.  But it is pretty cool and indigenous to this area in the country.  Remember you should not touch it as it is a chiggers carrier. So no stuffing your DIY projects with it, ladies.

One of these trains took us out near the old rice fields, now swamps where we saw some interesting wild life.  The scenery was just magnificent.  Being early it was just us, the driver and one other couple.  Sweet!

 

Once the rice fields, now this...

Plantation Pets...Whoa, Baby!

This gator, about a 12 footer, was sunning himself (using the term loosely) on this "Gator Chase Lounge." They really call them slant boards but we thought that quite unimaginative.  Gators do not do well in the cold weather apparently.  This is something I didn't know, nor could I have cared less about until the next moment when we heard this. "Gators actually must get out of the water to warm up and digest their food or they will die."  Ah, what???  Did I mention this tiny elevated road is surrounded by water?  Yep.  They can easily just slither right up the tiny levy upon which we are now touring in a giant golf cart.  Now I wished the thing was overflowing with people increasing the items on the menu.  Yikes.  In fact, we did see one big one just up on the road not far from here.  So much for the slant boards.  I was counting heavily on the fact they were sunning to digest their food so they must have already had breakfast.  Right?

These are some little fledglings of some giant bird parents.  They are just a few weeks old and ready to fly out of the nest soon.  They are quite large for babies, that is for sure.  The nest is pretty huge if you can make it out here.  Jim took this with our telephoto lens.

There were lots of beautiful exotic looking birds and I cannot remember the name of a single one.  Hmmm.  Oh well.  I love to listen to birds but am not much of a bird watcher usually, but it was a nice distraction from the gators slithering around.  This was one of those moments you are screaming inside and trying to act normal.  Can you relate?

These are some of the slave houses that found no more use after the Emancipation Proclamation in the mid 1860s.  God bless, Abe Lincoln.  But it did shut their operation down...cold turkey.  No more rice was ever grown on this Plantation.  No one that had a choice wanted to swim with the gators.

The lawned areas around the Plantation
 are just so beautiful!

We never did get a full-on photo of the plantation house and you cannot take photos inside so I am borrowing one from their website.  The house was not overwhelming but the wrap around porch was to die for.  We sat out there for quite awhile and just enjoyed the views.

This is part of what we saw from the veranda!

We ate lunch near the house at the Peacock Cafe.  We told people we ate Gator Dogs for lunch but in reality it is a crime to eat a gator...so just plain old hot dogs.  How boring.  We did try some fried peanuts in a shell.  Mediocre...why fried??  Why the shells?  But lest you think we had no fun at lunch, the peacocks performed for us.

There is something about a fancy peacock that is just too pretty to be male.   They always remind me of an arrogant, cocky man struttin' his stuff.  These fellas did not disappoint.  They would emerge one by one from their pens and walk out to a certain point just in front of the outdoor tables and fan their tails feathers.  As though they were on a fashion runway, they'd then slowly turn and then stop for a photo and then continue on their slow-mo pirouette and hold that pose.  I kid you not, it was so hilarious!

Their navy and lime green is just so haute couture!

True words that are fitting for this garden!
You could take photos of these beautiful gardens

 all day long and never tire or lack for beauty.

  

This was so pretty I wanted to take
 it home for our backyard!

They also had a great wet marsh cruise on a pontoon type of boat that we took before lunch.  I was happy it was on one of those floating thingies and not too close to the water as the gators are all over that place.  The skipper was just thrilled to bring us very close to shore to see these little babies gators only about 24 inches long right now.  Jim was eating all this up while I was thinking about us getting eaten up by their mother!

Ewww!  Moving right along!

Along the river bank.  What a lovely stroll.
These flowers stretched for a long while
 each perfect and beautiful. 
People think this just happens...
they do not tend flowers, obviously.

My old knees are not enthusiasts 
of very long walks usually
 but this one was worth every bit of it.

They must employ many gardeners,
Everywhere you look is perfection.

 

They hold a lot of weddings and other fancy functions here at Magnolia.  This bridge seems to be featured a lot on the website so borrowed this photo from there.  We did not see it for some reason. It might have been on the garden tour which was not running that day due to inclement weather.

So hoping you enjoyed your armchair tour of South Carolina's gem, The Magnolia Plantation.  Thanks for coming with us!  Beautiful, isn't it?