A couple of entries ago I mentioned being a Tourist in Your Own Town. Our Ft. Sumter field trip got postponed...indefinitely. Then the weather got better, and we finally had a day out! We went with our good friends to Middleton Place Plantation, in Charleston, SC. The weather was gorgeous!
Middleton Place was a rice plantation settled in the late 17th centruy. It has quite a history, considering Charleston was a major battleground during the American Revolution, as well as the Civil War.
During the Civil War, Union troops from New York occupied the estate, ransacking and burning the main house and flanking buildings, leaving family treasures strewn all over the ground. After the war, William Middleton restored the south end of the home, which had the least severe damage, and his family occupied that as their home. The remaining shell of the old home was toppled by the great earthquake of 1886. The 18th and 19th centuries were rough on Charleston! (Although an argument could be made that she had it coming to her for the enrichment the city enjoyed at the expense of the sin of slavery!)
Some of the ruins remain for visitors to observe:
Is the history lesson boring you? I hope not! I found it fascinating!
Middleton Place boasts the country's oldest landscaped garden, laid out in 1741. After the Civil War and earthquake of 1886, the gardens were understandably overgrown and neglected. In the early 20th century the gardens were restored by a direct descendant of the Middleton family. Some of our favorite areas included the Camellia Allees, planted with rows and rows of every variety of camellia you could imagine! This was one of my favorites:
It's colored like a candy cane! Here's Horsegirl after getting her nose too close to the pollen:
Luckily she doesn't suffer from allergies! Of course the disadvantage of visiting the gardens in January is that pretty-much only the camellias are blooming...so we'll have to go back in the spring to get a view like this:
Here's Horsegirl posing by the statue of the "Wood Nymph," one of the few statues to survive the war:
And of course, you can't beat a field trip that offers a chance to climb a huge stump:
That stump was on a little hill, which Gameboy decided to run down, which resulted in a shoe full of grass:
I've washed those pants twice since then, and I'm still working on those grass stains!
Here are the kids exploring the base of a 1000 year old oak tree. (Usually my kids roll their eyes at any large numbers associated with how old things are...but I informed them that 1000 years is possible...it's the millions of years that deserve the scepticism).
The flooded rice fields are behind the tree at the edge of the gardens. Here is an overview photograph found online of just PART of the estate. You can see the current house, which is now a museum, toward the center left of the photograph, as well as the terraced lawns leading to the "butterfly lakes." Can you tell why they're called "butterfly lakes?"
Our field trippers couldn't resist a run down those lawns!
I have WAY too many pictures to post them all, and I fear you're yawning already...so let me cut to the chase. There are stableyards where demonstrations are available of how sheep's wool was combed, carded, spun and woven, how pottery was made, how the plantation maintained it's own food supply, etc. But I want to post the picture of my favorite demonstrator: the cooper.
He demonstrated woodworking and the necessity of having someone to create barrels and buckets on the plantation. He was also very PRO-HOMESCHOOLING! He said that his experience has taught him that homeschoolers make the very best museum patrons, and applauded us moms for the sacrifice and dedication it takes to teach our children. YEA COOPER!
Okay, now the favorite part for our kids: milking the cow:
Okay, all you homesteaders are probably rolling your eyes, but for us city-slickers, this was cool!
I think "Rio" has about had it with the tourists, though.
Okay..wake up! One more picture, then I'm done! Thanks for sticking around!
I do have to give you fair warning, however. Our family did another field trip Sunday afternoon, so check back for more pictures of Charleston historical landmarks! ~Kim
Jan. 16, 2007 - Untitled Comment
those are GORGEOUS pictures. that looks like a place i'd like to visit.
:)
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