Charleston

Day 56, May 27, 2011, Charleston

58.3 miles, averaging 14.8 mph

Route from Walterboro to Oak Plantation Campground, Charleston, SC

Best Moment – Today I arrived at the campground around noon.  This gave Neita and I time to spend some time exploring Charleston.  And we are here tomorrow too!

Worst Moment – The road into Charleston was extremely narrow without any shoulder and lots of traffic.  Today’s route was probably one of the scariest ones that I’ve been on so far.

Today’s route was fairly short and through more pine forests.  There were lots of logging trucks and lots of interesting buildings.  The Ashley River Road  (highway 61) is a main way into Charleston and has many of the historical plantations along the river that are now open for the public.

Getting into Charleston early, I got cleaned up and Neita and I headed out on Rocket to explore the plantations.  There were three along the road, we stopped at The Magnolia Plantation and toured the home, the swamp and the gardens.  The home had been built before the Revolutionary War, and though it was burned to the ground two times before the Civil War, somehow survived that “Unpleasantness,” as the Southerners referred to the Civil War.  During the war, the family was at one of their other homes in the North.

Magnolia had been a rice plantation and it was quite interesting to learn how rice is grown in the Low Country.  The Ashley River is brackish and as the tides would come in and go out, the fresh water, being lighter would be on top of the salt water.  Rice needs fresh water. There were water gates that would let the slaves flood the fields and they would let water into the rice paddies by tasting the water.  As long as it was sweet, the water would continue to flow into the field.  Once the water tasted salty, they would close the gate.  Rice needs the water to help support its stem.

The river was the main source of transportation between the plantation and Charleston.  Commerce depended on the tides to be able to move up and down the river in flat-bottomed boats. 

The gardens of the plantation were very lovely.  They had both formal (where the object is to control nature) and informal gardens (where you are enhancing nature and letting it take control.)  (My gardens at home must have been informal.)  As we strolled the gardens, we could hear the “cawing” of the plantation’s many peacocks. There were azaleas, gardenias, hydrangea,, and many other shrubs and flowers in bloom.  

During the home tour the guide told us about many of the activities of the family that has owned and still owns the plantation for the three centuries that it has been around and the guests that have been there.  Audubon was there and the home has a collection of some of his drawings.  During the 1920’s it was quite a party, hoping place, where jazz and booze flowed and guests were entertained, It is quiet possibly where the Charleston was first danced.

Another exciting ride home, as thunderstorms were threatening on Rocket through rush hour traffic.  We made it safe and sound.  Even got home in time to pick up a DVD to watch.