South Carolina

24^th Mar – Travel to Charleston

Another 120 miles north up the I-95 – over the Savannah River and into South Carolina.  Similar to the Georgia coast this is another low-lying area, a few feet above sea level, with many winding tributaries feeding into the rivers.

25^th Mar – Magnolia Plantation

The Magnolia Plantation is the oldest one on the Ashley River and has been in the ownership of one family since 1676 (11 generations).  With nearly 500 acres of land it is primarily known for its gardens but we also joined the guided tour of the house.  It was not the original house as that had been demolished twice; the first by fire and the second during the American Civil War. 

We also had a tour of the slave cabins where 148 slaves had once  lived in just 13 houses (single-roomed with loft space).

Whilst Georgia had Cotton, South Carolina had Rice. Originally Magnolia Plantation grew the rice, known as Carolina Gold.  The cypress swamps were cleared and turned into rice fields by the slave work force over the decades.  During the rice season as much as 30% of a crop would be lost to birds, despite the birds being caught and eaten in there hundreds.  The rice fields no longer exist and most of the area has been allowed to grow wild and act as a refuge for wildlife.

In the gardens there were many flowering plants including Azaleas, Camellias and Orchids in the conservatory. Many of the Live Oak trees covered in Spanish moss were older than the Plantation.  During Hurricane Hugo, in 1989, the Spanish moss was ripped from the trees –

 this place would not have had the same atmosphere without the moss.
 

At one of the many bridges over the ponds, lakes and rivers we heard a strange cry.  By the waterside a garter snake had hold of the leg of a frog.  I   So human intervention
know we shouldn’t interfere with nature but the frog’s cry for help was heart rendering (frogs know fear) and could not be ignored.
meant the snake went hungry.

By the time we got back to the car it was totally covered in a yellow-green file of pollen.  (Keep taking the allergy tablets).

26^th Mar – Charleston and Tea Plantation

We visited the Charleston Tea Plantation on Wadmalaw Island, which is used to make Bigelow tea.  We had a tour of the tea-bush fields and the green house where they grow bush cuttings to avoid any cross pollination of plants grown from seed.

 

 

The climate here is ideal for the tea-bushes as they like rain, humidity and temperatures over 35C.  The growing season is between May to Sep so harvesting will begin in about 6 weeks with cuttings taken every 2-3 weeks. The harvesting machine is a special one off, made only to harvest the leaves at a certain height.

The tour of the tea factory explained the process for turning the same tea leaves into either black, Oolong or green tea. The type of tea depended on how long the leaves were left to oxidize. We don’t recall there being any mention of washing the leaves harvested from the bushes.  (There are some big birds flying overhead).

The city of Charleston was named after Charles II and is known for the first shots of the Civil War being fired at Fort Sumter, a fort at the mouth of the harbour (where 3 rivers converge).  At the height of the rice-growing period almost 30% of the world’s rice was exported from this port.

 

We stopped in at the Slave Market Museum.  Originally just a street between buildings, this location became the centralised point for the buying/ selling of slaves.  The street is now covered to create a  small and informative museum.

We wandered around the streets and along the waterfront.  The town houses here were perhaps a little grander than those found in Savannah – many were of a Georgian style with balconies and grand columns.