Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

Laura let me sleep in this morning, which was most excellent.

We decided to rent a car, so we could learn to fully appreciate how all road signage either came too early such that it was ambiguous, or came too late (EXITLEFTNOW!!!) To be of use.

Still, we did manage to make it out to the Magnolia Gardens, which sits on a former plantation used to grow Carolina Gold Rice (the premier money-making crop for Charleston, farmed with slave labor). We strolled around the garden briefly before boarding a trolley that took us around the property. Our guide quickly pointed out several alligators sunning themselves on ramps sticking out of the swamp, after which Laura retracted further into the trolley interior. Besides the gators, there were tons of birds, turtles, ancient trees with hanging Spanish moss, and of course, flowers that we admired on the ride and subsequent walk around the demesne.

The trolley also looped around the remaining slave cabins on the estate property, with a mostly unfiltered dialog around the conditions they endured leading up to liberation.

We decided not to tour the mansion on the property, but did learn that it was the third constructed -- the first burned down after being struck by lightning, and the second was destroyed by the union army.

Taking advantage of the rental car, we drove over to a local brewer (Holy City) to sample some local beers and have a quick bite for lunch.

After another nap, we grabbed two of the world's largest personal umbrellas provided by the hotel, and bumbled our way over to the city market to look at local knickknacks and art.

On the walk back we spied that one of the restaurants we had earmarked already had a line forming, and a call to our backup conveyed a three hour wait-list. Searching our other pre-flagged choices during wine-and-cheese hour showed that Chez Nous, the restaurant we went to on our first night had a 7:30pm table open up. Since we both really enjoyed it, we decided to go back and snagged it. As their menu changes every day, it was an excellent choice to round out our trip to Charleston.Read more