Day 12, Friday, February 01, 2013, Drayton Hall

Day 12, Friday, February 01, 2013, Drayton Hall

I had plugged the SD card from the camera into the laptop then went on to do my work for the InterTown Record. I wrote my weekly column, put together the community calendar, and edited pieces that were in the To Edit folder.

Then I remembered the SD card. Hours had gone by, so I pulled it out, plugged it back into the camera and erased the images. Back to the laptop, I opened the Camera Upload folder in Dropbox. No new photos. Oh, no! Where did my photos go? I clicked on the dropbox icon in the lower right corner and it said something about downloading 266 files and there were 19 hours left. What’s with that?

I grabbed the SD card back out of the camera, hoping against hope. No hope. The computer said the card was empty. I was crushed. All those photos I had taken at Middleton Place were gone. I was devastated. I tried looking up help in dropbox, but that just brought up simple FAQs.

By then, I had wasted another hour or so and it was 12:30. I needed to get out of the hotel room for awhile. The day was beautiful and sunny. The temperature was only 58 degrees, but still a pretty day. I hadn’t done Drayton Hall or Cypress Gardens. Drayton Hall was closer and I would think Cypress Gardens would be an all day-er and as it was already afternoon, I figured on doing the nearer one.

Drayton Hall, Magnolia Gardens, and Middleton Place are all within six miles of each other. I had done the middle one, Magnolia, first because it would take the longest. I spent two days there. Middleton was the second longest (I’m saying longest because of the amount to see and the immensity of the grounds.) These are, after all, plantations (or were) consisting of thousands of acres in their heyday. Drayton Hall appeared to be the smallest so I saved that for last.

As I returned to that area, I considered running up to Middleton Place to see if they’d just let me grab a couple photos to replace the ones I lost, but it was getting late in the day. I turned in the gate at Drayton Hall, a long fairly straight driveway. At the ticket gate, the guy told me that the man who started this place was the third son of the Drayton’s who owned Magnolia. Knowing that he’d never inherit that estate, he bought this place consisting of 350 acres. (By the time of his death, he had acquired 70,000 acres throughout South Carolina.)

I was also told that the white people often giving these tours downplay the treatment of the slaves. Slaves were treated poorly and often beaten. I realized he was probably right. The last two places, although they mentioned some hardship and inequality, really didn’t go into the actual treatment of the slaves. They focused more on the good that the slaves did, how they preserved their cultures, and all the knowledge they brought with them. I suppose it would be hard to maintain these historical places and keep people visiting if they focused on how poorly the super rich planters treated their slaves.

I continued on to the parking lot and went into the museum to get a map. The lady told me where to wait for the tour that would be starting in 40 minutes. She smiled, she was polite, but she certainly didn’t make me feel welcome. This was a gift shop shouldn’t I be allowed to look around? The tour wasn’t starting for awhile. I walked out thinking there wasn’t any way I was going back to buy any souvenirs.

It’s also made me think about “southern hospitality.” For the most part, people are polite, friendly, full of ma’ams and thank-yous, but there can be a coolness to that warmth. It’s almost like they’re playing a role and if they’re asked to step out of that role, they go all, “Whelll, Ah don’t knos abou dat.” Like when I asked the lady at the South Carolina Visitor Center a question about North Carolina, just up the road and when I asked the girl behind the desk if she knew where there was a camera shop.

Maybe it was my mood. I was still upset over my stupidity with the photos taken the yesterday. I wandered over to the Big House (what the main houses were called on plantations.) This place also at one time had two flankers (I couldn’t remember that term yesterday.) Flankers were two building adjacent to the big house, but not attached.

I went over to the benches where I was told to wait and wrote in my little book. I took some pictures of a few of the huge oak trees. The air was quite chilly and I kept getting up to move into the sun. My first thoughts of this place were disappointing after seeing the gorgeous landscapes of the last two places. There weren’t any fancy gardens here, just huge lawns.

Two couples and the tour guide showed up. The draw to this house is that it has been preserved as it was back in the mid 1700s. That means no plumbing, no electricity, etc. The only updates were roof and window replacements and whatever else is needed to keep the building standing. Hurricanes have been the most damaging and the giant earthquake in 1869 took down the two flankers.

The house, Palladian Georgian in design, is amazing with its limestone steps leading up to a portico. Inside, most of the walls have only ever received one coat of paint. Every window has a window seat. The walls were made out of cypress and were absolutely gorgeous. Porcelain knows on the walls once held paintings. The wood carvings of the trim and the hand plastered ceilings were beautiful.

The major crop on the property had been corn and cattle although rice was the major staple on the other properties. Hurricane Hugo wiped out much of the remaining rice fields.

After the tour, I headed out on the marsh walk. It was quiet and peaceful, some views, but not much. I hurried because it was getting late.

Here are a couple other tidbits I picked up over the past few days:

Tabby is oyster shells, limestone, and water mixed used for making walkways and outside walls.

Massachusetts was the biggest builder of slave ships.

Phosphate was mined and ground for fertilizer.