The first day of my South Carolina trip was pretty much unplanned (and unphotographed – so sue me). We started by driving into the town of Pawleys Island. This place has a nice beach, but seemingly not much else. We spotted a “Pawleys Island Historic District” on Google Maps, but either we missed something or Google Maps is wrong. When we got there, all we saw was swamp on one side of the road, and a couple not-historic-looking buildings on the other side. Oh, yeah…and a guy fishing from a bridge. Maybe he was historic. We didn’t ask.
So we decided to drive the additional few miles to Georgetown, SC. This turned out to be a cool little town. It’s the third-oldest town in South Carolina and is amazingly intact. It has MANY buildings that date back to the 1700’s and a quaint little downtown with local art galleries, restaurants, and museums. We went for a ride around town on Swamp Fox Tours. This was a very informative and enjoyable tour. Among other things, we learned to paint our porch ceilings “haint blue” to keep wasps from building nests there. We learned much more, but I’m not a stenographer – go take the tour for yourself! Sadly, our lack of planning meant that it was already about 4:00 by the time we got done with the tour, so it was too late to visit any of the town’s museums. It was instead time for the hot tub.
The next day, following a large late breakfast / early lunch, I headed to Brookgreen Gardens in the town of Murrells Inlet. Brookgreen Gardens occupies the land of multiple historic plantations, so this place is huge! As I drove in, I was already reflecting on the size of the place before I even got to the ticket booth – and the parking lot was another mile beyond that! Looking at the map they give you upon arrival, I saw that the exhibits I was most interested in were the ones that were farthest from the parking lot. So I immediately knew I had a lot of walking ahead of me. Fortunately, there was a nice breeze, and a large portion of the grounds are shaded by huge old “live oak” trees, which are covered with Spanish moss. Some examples…
One place that’s not shaded is the Butterfly House. I chose to start there, since it closes at 2:00, and noon had arrived right as I got outta my car. This Butterfly House is basically just a greenhouse equipped to handle butterflies. An unshaded greenhouse on a hot day is not a comfy place to be, and butterflies don’t tend to have the patience to pose for photographers. So, I only have one pic worth sharing from the Butterfly House…
From the Butterfly House, I walked over to the Lowcountry Zoo, which showcases animals native to coastal South Carolina. This area was much cooler than the Butterfly House, but I was still getting quite thirsty as I photographed the critters.
After the zoo, I saw some “heritage breeds” of farm animals at the Floyd Family Heritage Farm, before heading to the Lowcountry Trail, where I learned about rice plantations of the 18th Century. By then it was about 4:00. I still hadn’t acquired a beverage, and the Parkinson’s fatigue was kicking in. I made my way to the nearest drinking fountain to rehydrate and take my afternoon meds. I spent the last hour of the business day slowly meandering through the sculpture gardens. The gardens are pretty and peaceful. They feature a variety of sculptures in a variety of styles and ages, and ranging from small standalone pieces to huge standalone pieces made from multiple huge stones, to large installations consisting of several sculptures. Like this one…
I don’t know if it’s the beginning of Parkinson’s dementia or just an effect of the exhaustion I was feeling by this time, but this was the second time recently where I was having trouble using a perfectly accurate map. For a while there, I really wasn’t certain that I’d find my way back to the parking lot without asking someone for help. I ended up getting out on my own, but not via anything close to an optimal route.
In the end, I spent about five hours at Brookgreen Gardens, and I guesstimate that I saw about half of what there is to see. I definitely recommend this place, but I also recommend bringing a supply of water with you.
Another day, another garden. Having made my way south to Charleston, Day 3 of my South Carolina trip was to be spent at Middleton Place, 18th Century rice plantation and home of the oldest landscaped gardens in the USA (laid out in 1741). These gardens were designed by the same French dude who designed the famous gardens at Versailles! After the previous day’s experience at Brookgreen Gardens, I brought my backpack with me today, fully loaded with 100 ounces of water. As luck would have it, the weather was even hotter today.
I started out on the self-guided walking tour of the property known as Middleton Place around 11 AM. While some areas are shaded by live oaks or tall shrubberies (Ni!), significant portions of the route are exposed to the sun. I quickly began to overheat. At nearly the mid-point of the tour, I was near the onsite restaurant, so I took the opportunity to stop for a refreshing light lunch. Or so I thought. Instead of the light lunch I’d had in mind, I decided to go for the full classical southern dining experience. It was expensive by lunch standards ($25), but it was delicious, and was definitely all I could eat! It included (among other things) collard greens, mixed veggies from the onsite garden, a rice dish called Hoppin John, fried catfish, pecan-smoked pulled pork, pecan pie, and sweet tea. Seriously southern; seriously good.
After lunch, I attended a presentation addressing the contributions of the plantation’s slaves (they contributed much more than field labor) before resuming the self-guided tour. But despite staying hydrated, I didn’t last much longer. With the temperature at 98 degrees and the humidity set to Ludicrous, I was drenched with sweat and was overheating. I went back to the parking lot (a much easier task here than at Brookgreen), turned on the AC full blast, and felt much better after just a few minutes. Despite feeling good, I decided I didn’t want to try to do any more walking in this heat, and headed back to the hotel for a much needed shower. In closing, here are a few pics I took at Middleton Place…
Voyages with Parkinson's 