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!

Patriot's Cove, City Market and a BBQ

After we left The Magnolia Plantation and Gardens I would have been perfectly content to just return to the hotel mid-afternoon and do some relaxing and writing.  Not the hubster.

He had already devised a plan to go to Patriot's Cove to browse through the Destroyers and Aircraft Carrier there.  He loves touring old ships and Patriot's Cove is a must see for someone who enjoys that sort of thing.  We had driven out to the harbor the afternoon before to check it out.

 

The USS Yorktown

He did go out that afternoon.  What impressed him the most was the reminder of the amount of courage and bravery it took to do all the military forces did to win WWII.  He said the photos reminded him once again how very young so many of the service men and women were.   It was sobering to remember how many of them were lost in the various battles.  Never has this been more poignant that after just having Robert return after his tour in Afghanistan unharmed.  That blessing remains fresh, very fresh.  We are so grateful.

I did go back to the hotel and write my one and only post about Charleston other than a Daybook entry for the entire month.  I think I could enjoy the ships, perhaps for a short time, had I not already been hammered with so much walking. After the City Tour of Charleston the day before, we had pretty much exhausted ourselves walking around the city and then ventured over to the Market that is one of Charleston's claim to fame places. If you have been to the French Market in New Orleans then you have the idea. On top of that first day plus adding the Plantation from the morning hours...I was needing some down time.  I once wrote a blog post about how Jim is a dash and I am a dot.  It is short!

http://tinyurl.com/l4guzat
If you  want to read this just click on the link
When finished click on the header picture up on top 
of our street and it will take you right back here. 

Somethings remain the same. 

 We are good at compromising after nearly 45 years!

This is an overhead rooftop view of the Charleston City Market.  It is open on the sides as they roll up the big  metal doors each day.  The wares are a lot of touristy stuff (mugs with Charleston written on them, t-shirts...just junk...you know) and some other nicer things too.   But to tell you the truth I did not want to shop.  I know...shocking isn't it?

I have learned over many years that just about anything you can buy on a vacation that would be something you would actually want, you can get at home or on the Internet.  Then you don't have to lug it home either.  My favorite thing to do is buy small things that pertain specifically to the learning experience like books and/or videos of the places we have visited.  Travel is the best educator in many ways.  We learned a ton about American history on this trip.  Love that.

While in Charleston I did buy a book about Christmas in Charleston though because it was something that I kept thinking about as we saw all the beautiful homes there.  The book did not disappoint.  I would love to spend a Christmas in Charleston sometime.  Maybe some of our kids will move there one day??  Fingers crossed since I know they are never moving home again.

The Market goes on for blocks and blocks and blocks!  

Something for everyone no doubt!

When James returned from Patriot's Cove we decided to go to dinner at a place known as the best Bar-B-Q in Charleston!  It is called Bessinger's.  It was pretty yummy that is for sure.

Not a fancy place at all, just down home cookin'.  Their answer to endlessly supplying their patrons with napkins?  A roll of paper towels on each table.  Practical and handy!  It was good enough for Mitt so it was better than good enough for us!

 It was shortly after this that we decided 

we could not eat like this every day! 

 Holy Cow, I mean Pig!  

Moaning and groaning we vowed for more reasonable meals as we fell asleep immediately upon our late return to the hotel.  What a jammed pack day of adventures!  (See how he runs me for hours on end!)  Good thing or I'd spend all my time writing.  Thanks, Honey!  The next day was a very special day.  I'll try to get it out in a day or two.  Later, friends!

This post contains some Google images

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?