Day 10, Jan. 30, Magnolia Revisited

 This morning the skies were overcast, it was windy and 72 degrees. The odometer read 14458. After buying two bottles of water, I was directed to exit the hotel onto Rte. 17S, then immediately take a right at the set of lights bringing me around the hotel onto Sam somebody road and to follow that to Rte. 61N which would bring to the plantations. I stopped for gas at a Sunoco station; $3.27/gal coming to $27.38.

At Magnolia Plantation, I was given a new sticker. I explored the petting zoo taking photos of turkeys, peacocks, and other birds. They had an albino raccoon. I debated what else to do and figured I’d seen most of everything here, so I got in the truck and drove to the Audubon Swamp Garden. My legs were stiff and I was moving very slow. Not a big deal. There wasn’t anyone else around.

This was a beautiful boardwalk out over the swamp. The water was thick with duck weed which is one of the world’s smallest flowering plants. It’s free floating, seed bearing and each frond is approximately 1/16^th of an inch. Duck weed filters water to keep it clean. There were lots of water fowl; different types of teal, coots, ducks along with ibis, snowy egrets, great egrets, green herons, and great blue herons. I took many pictures, of course. Matter of fact, I filled my SD card. Good thing I had another.

This was supposed to be a 45 minute walk, but it took me two hours. The wind whipped my jacket and blew my hair. For the longest time, I was the only human around. It was so peaceful. I was being quiet so as not to scare the wild life. Then another person came by. It was the young woman who had given the talk on slavery the day before.

Great blue herons were nesting in a tree. It’s amazing how anything that big can build nests in the branches so high. There had to be eight to ten nests in that one tree and almost all the nests had a heron in it.  

In the swamps, two major trees grow; tupelo and cypress. It was funny to see an occasional narcissus in bloom on patches of dry land. There’d be that one bright spot of yellow in a dull winter landscape. I tried to envision what summers would look like when leaves were full and more flowers in bloom, but I’m sure I wouldn’t like the heat and humidity.

There were quite a few turtles, yellow sliders (can’t remember if the sign said “yellow bellied sliders) and I got a glimpse of one alligator. The walk was so peaceful even though I was aching. There were only the sounds of the wind whooshing through trees and swamp grass and the various calls of birds. Magnolia Plantation is near the Charleston Airport and an air force base, so occasionally a big plane flew overhead. The swamp grass that I recognized were cat ‘n nine tails and cane/bamboo. I’m sure there are other names.

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens is a must see destination for anyone visiting South Carolina. I could easily spend days wandering the trails and most are handicapped accessible. This place must be amazing in full color. I’d love to see the wisteria in bloom. The camellia was in bloom, but most were going by and many blossoms lay on the ground. Visitors can purchase one. If I was going home now, I’d buy one (after making sure it would grow in the north.)

After over two hours (the swamp walk took two hours on its own) I’d had enough for one day. I wanted to also do Drayton Hall, but my legs and feet wouldn’t take it. I headed back to the city.