Monday, April 13, 2015

April 13, 2015 - Charleston


Today we took a tour to Magnolia Plantation (can’t leave Charleston without visiting a plantation).  This plantation is known for its gardens.  However, as is our luck, most of the azaleas had finished blooming and the recent rain had knocked off some of the remaining flowers.  The gardens were beautiful and we spent a lot of time wandering around looking at all the flowers, shrubs and large oak trees.   We took a tram ride around some of the 500 acres that had contained rice fields before the Civil War.  Rice had been the main crop of the area before the war.  Today the area has gone back to nature and is known as the Audubon Swamp where we saw several alligators, turtles, blue heron, white egrets.  There was a small zoo area where rescued animals are protected.  There were beautiful peacocks all over the place.   We also took a tour of the plantation home, which was the third home built there.  The other two had been destroyed by fire.  The approach to the home was, of course, through a tree lined lane.  After the tour, we walked around downtown Charleston to get a final look at the city before leaving in the morning.
The gardens


Orchids

One of the beautiful azalea bushes

One of the many peacocks


He's performing

Large turtle in the zoo area

The zoo area where a lot of the animals just run free

Azalea lane



Alligators sunning themselves in the swamp area

The back of the plantation house

Front of the plantation home

One of the classic homes in downtown Charleston

Most Charleston homes have an entry at the side to afford privacy when you walk in

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