Day 9, Tues. Jan. 29, 2013, Magnolia Gardens

 

I left the Holiday Inn Riverview before 9 a.m. Odometer read 14436.2, the temperature was 55 degrees and the fog had lessened. I wiped the moisture off the sides and back window after putting the luggage in the truck. No matter which way you go leaving the hotel, you are pulling onto the left lane of a three lane highway. The route I needed to take to go towards the plantations was almost an immediate right across from the hotel. I had to go to the far end of the parking lot to gain access. It was a little scary to try to find an opening in heavy oncoming traffic especially having to cross three lanes. The lady behind the desk had told me to just be patient and I finally had an opening and scooted across.

The major route to the plantations is 61N. This was still a three lane divided highway with periodic stoplights for those needing to exit or enter. At one point, Rte. 61 went to the left and I stopped at a Rite Aid to get a couple bottles of water. My little discount tag I use back home worked down here.

There are three plantation areas along this route; Drayton Hall, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, and Middleton Place. I wanted to start with Magnolia because I planned on spending the most time there. The driveways to these places are long. I put my sweater on with its big pockets so pens, pad of paper, and reading glasses fit along with the keys. At the ticket booth, I said I wanted to do everything. There are nature and bike paths, petting zoos, Nature Train, House Tour, freedom to Slavery Tour, and a Nature Boat. Unfortunately, the boat doesn’t run in the winter. The lady said that I could park at the swamp and walk the boardwalks on the way out.

I had about half an hour before the Nature Train, so I walked around a bit. There are quite a few people working the grounds. It must take a lot to maintain 500 acres, though I don’t know how much is water. I asked one of the guys about the trees with the moss. Come to find out, they ARE oak trees! No one knows if they are related to our oaks in the north, but the leaves are so different.

First up was the Nature Train. It’s not a real train, but a couple of cars pulled by a Clark (almost reminded me of the old Clark fork trucks we had at work years ago minus the forks.) This was a tour around the perimeter of the property. The road was bumpy so I couldn’t take notes as the driver pointed out blue winged teal, coots, rails, green winged teals, egrets, great blue herons, and a bald eagle. He also talked about the oak trees calling them Virginia Live Oak. This is not an evergreen tree. Leaves drop from January to March, but before they do, the new leaves come in so the tree always has leaves. Some of these trees are over 400 years old and they are massive!

Magnolia Gardens was the oldest public garden in the U.S. It was the first plantation to open itself to tourists. (The family had fallen on harder times and needed money.) The guide pointed out other plants.   There are over 200 species of azaleas alone on the property. Where ever the name of the plant is mentioned, it is given its Latin name because of the number of varieties of each. Some plants were imported. There were lots of knobby trunk growths along the waterways. He called them cypress knees and they grow up from the roots of trees. They reminded me of gnomes, a bunch of gnomes at a party.  

Unfortunately, we were going too fast to get a lot of photos. Although there were a couple stops, we weren’t allowed to get off the car. The ponds and ditches are full of duck weed which looks like thick green algae. It almost looks like you could walk on it until you get a closer view. Lots of birds and other creatures feed on this weed. He said this was a slow season, that often these waters are full of fowl. There were turtles and I saw my first alligator.

All the ditches were dug by slaves for irrigation. The original owners of this plantation made their fortune on rice. Rice was one of the major staples of South Carolina along with cotton and tobacco. I was totally surprised by that. I never realized that rice was such a big production in the states. Growing rice is very labor intensive which is why there is not much of an industry in it now. Rice needs to be planted and harvested by hand. Because of the need for so much water, heavy equipment cannot be used due to the softness of the land.

The train dropped us at the house where there was a tour. This was the third building on the site. The original burned down from a lightning strike. The other destroyed by union soldiers. This house was built using phosphate mixed with lime and water. It was a little more stable than wood. The texture is very rough. I kind of liked it, but others thought it ugly.

The Charleston area is considered low country. There are no basements because the terrain is wet. Humidity is tremendously high and mosquitoes cause malaria. (The other day I was giving the impression that the mosquitoes here in S.C. are like small aircraft carriers.) The wealthy of years past often had other homes to go to during the summer.

After the house tour, I had about an hour before the slave tour. I had a cheeseburger and bought a bottle of water then took a walk along the Ashley River which was the major mode of transportation to Charleston back in the day. By buggy, it was a six hour drive, but by boat, only two hours.

It was hot! I went back to the truck, took off that heavy sweater, squeezed a smaller notebook, pens, and reading glasses into my pants pockets. Then found a bench to await the next tour. I wanted to take some notes from what I’d seen and learned so far, but my poor brain just would not recall anything.

Instead, I got into a conversation with a woman from N.Y. We talked about the oak trees and she agreed with me. She was traveling alone, too, so we sat together on the train as it took us to a set of slave cabins.

Our guide was a young woman who took us over to a set of picnic tables to explain slavery in the U.S. and how it came to be. At first I was in the beginning of the group, but then stepped back saying that I would let all the younger people go first as I was so slow.

“What younger people?” one of the others exclaimed and when I looked around, it seemed we were all up there in years. I wasn’t the only one having to use a walking stick. That gave us a chuckle.

She said that in the beginning, they were not kidnap victims from Africa. The abductions and selling didn’t start until greed set in. As she told her stories, her voice would choke and her eyes would fill with tears. Here was a young white woman who really felt for these people and the horrid conditions they were subjected to. Oftentimes, on the trip across the Atlantic, they were chained and packed in like sardines only being allowed up once a day. They slept, urinated, and defecated in that same spot. Many died. Some jumped overboard the minute they had a chance figuring that at least in suicide, they’d be free and their souls could return home.

Once the ship reached Charleston, it was quarantined sometimes for up to three months to make sure the slaves were free of disease. At this point, they were given good food to fatten them up for sale. Any with gray hair had charcoal put on it so the gray wouldn’t show to the buyers. The bodies would often be oiled to better define muscles. Planters wanted strong bodies to work their fields.

The homes that the slaves were given were often one small room for an entire family and there wasn’t any insulation. All cooking was down outside because of fire hazards. It was against the law for them to sleep outside, so even in the high humidity they had to sleep in those cramped little rooms.

But in spite of all that, they brought their culture and expertise to this new land. It was their knowledge that made plantations successful. They knew land, knew how to cultivate and care for it and its crops. These people may have been uneducated by our standards (or at least that’s what those in power wanted everyone to believe) but they were by far from ignorant. They had their community and continued their heritage through story and song.

The buildings here were close to the swamp which was at one time the rice fields. Alligators and snakes were a danger and all the weapons the slaves had to defend themselves were sharpened sticks. I couldn’t imagine living that close where something could crawl out of the bushes and kill me. Plus there were mosquitoes, gnats, and lots of other nasty crawly things that could cause sickness or death.

At the end of that tour, I got off the train at the house. I wanted to check out an area that I noticed along the way. I ended down by the river along a section I’d not walked earlier. I crossed bridges and kept telling myself that I’d go just a little further. I wanted to see an eagle, but didn’t. I did see a couple little alligators and lots of coots and teal. Finally, I had to head back. There was still so much to see, but I was dragging.

I learned so much and wish I could have taken notes. My memory is not what it used to be and I cannot remember all I heard. It’s so fascinating, these stories and the differences in the lives down here just because of the landscape and weather.