April 9 10, 2008 - Charleston, SC

Arrived in Charleston and set up camp. Drove the car downtown to the visitor’s center. It was a huge complex made out of brick. We got lots of information and stood in a long line to buy our tickets for an all day tour the next day. Then we drove to the Morris Island Lighthouse (1876) and the Charleston Lighthouse (1962). The Charleston Lighthouse is unique because it has been built in a triangular shape and has an elevator for the Coast Guard personnel to use to go to the top.

April 10 - Charleston, SC

Went on a tour in a mini bus to see the historic district and some of the old houses in downtown. Charleston was founded in 1670 and grew quite prosperous. Many owners of plantations became wealthy growing rice. Some of the homes are very large, one of them being 24,000 square feet. There are several styles of homes also. A single house has one room in the front and one in the back. The front door does not face the street but instead faces south. The other style is a double house with two rooms in the front and two in the back. The large porches are called Piazzas and are trimmed in iron work. The homes are quite colorful and the gardens are beautiful. Many of the homes and building are covered with a vine called creeping fig. The vine grows very slowly so you can tell the age of a building by how much it is covered with the vine. Some of the homes had carved wooden rope around their windows which indicated that the owner was a shipping merchant.

We drove by the 137 year old jail. It was made out of brick and had windows with bars. The prisoners were not given any blankets for the winter and in the summer they had to fight the heat/humidity and mosquitoes. No electricity and no running water. The hangings took place out in the courtyard and were held on Saturday for everyone to come and watch. The gallows were only one foot off the ground. The prisoner was covered with a hood over his head and a rope around his neck. The rope was then tied to weights which were dropped to pull the prisoner up and snap his neck.

The second half of the tour took us out to the Magnolia Plantation. The front door of a plantation always had to face the river. Guests were never brought into the home through the back door. Stephen Fox who was already very wealthy and living in Barbados decided to invest in some property in Charleston. He bought 2,000 acres on the Ashley River just north of Charleston. When Thomas Drayton, Jr. married Anne, the daughter of Stephen Fox, he gave the property to them as a wedding gift which began a long line of Drayton family ownership that has lasted over 300 years.

The original house was built in 1676 and it was destroyed by fire caused by lightning. The second house was burned down by the Yankees. After the war was over no one including Drayton had any money. He owned lots of land but had no cash. He went up to his summer cabin and took it apart and brought all the lumber down by barge on the Ashley River. He built the new house on top of the old foundation. After his death his daughter Julia became the new owner and she wanted more room. So, she added on to the side of her father’s house. All the hand-made quilts were amazing and the furniture was beautiful. Every room but one had a fireplace. One room upstairs had a picture hanging over the fireplace that depicted a style of art called head hunter art. The artists would travel around the country and paint scenery and different bodies (with clothing - not nude) in the picture. Then they would meet a family that wanted a portrait done and place the head on the body that was already in the picture. This particular painting over the fireplace showed how obvious it was because the head was a young girl and the body was of a woman.

Wisteria wraps itself around the palm trees and appears to be growing right out of the palm frawns.

Several salve houses still remain on the property.

After touring the home, we got on a tram that drove us 3 miles through some of the property. There are camellias, azaleas, trees of all variety. We saw alligators, turtles and a variety of birds.