Saturday April 9, 2014 Day 7. Magnolia Plantation, Folly Beach and paraboarding.

Day 7  At Charleston SC

Wisteria at Magnolia Plantation

The entry of Live Oak "arbor".

Under the Wisteria arbor

The objective today was the Magnolia Plantation , a piece of property held by one family for more than 300 years. It is now a world showplace for ‘Low Country” Culture and the many (300+) species of azaleas, as well as other flowers and plants including hundreds of Camellias. It was just 6 miles from our trailer.

The Entry to the Plantation shows immediately what the families have done over the years to build this 1,200 acre patch of land. It is a Live Oak tree lined entry with some of the other oaks in the Plantation going as far back at the 1600’s.  The Hurricane Hugo hit here very hard as it was a category 5 and they were in the eye of it.  Some trees were removed by helicopter it was so difficult.

The Plantation and Gardens are divided into 22 special gardens and “spots” of interest. The tram tour that we took to start the morning, lasts about 45 minutes and gives a good cross section of the grounds. From old canals used to haul goods to the Ashley River, that runs on the north edge of the Plantation, to wildlife seen along the way  as Alligators, Anhinga and Egrets, to the Slave Quarters and a special Swamp area dedicated to James Audubon. Visitors can walk the trails or even drive a small portion of the Plantation for special  viewing. Seeing a Red Shouldered Hawk in flight was the bird feature of the day.

A Great Blue Heron in Duck Weed (food)

Slave quarters from the 1800's.

The Ashley River on the north side of the Plantation.

(An aside that happened at the lunch counter). The young man ‘Zack” taking my order was pleasant but appeared distracted some. As i often do with ‘wait help’, I asked hm if the day was “going well” He looks me in the eye and said. “Not really” I stated that I was sorry to her that  and said that I hoped things would get better, He said “no , not likely”. I finished with my order, and we ate, but afterwards I told Ruth I would see if I could share with Zack before we left. Zack had a moment, so I asked him if I could say a prayer for what he needed.  He agreed. He related in a few moments that his Uncle was dying and there was no hope. I asked him if he could tell me a few  highlights of his life and he stated that he was a Golden Gloves and boxing champion , lived alone, and though in and out of a mental facility at times, was recently hit by a vehicle while walking. I made sure he knew that I would place him and his Uncle in prayer, and for him to try to remember the good times with his Uncle Jim.

Ruth and I then headed for Folly Beach, which was about 15 miles distant from The plantation. It was a straight shot,  but little did we realize that at the end of the two lane highway that led to the Beach town, there was an Art Festival set up right on Folly Road , that very two lane road. The back up was about two miles and the traffic moved at …well like it would under those conditions. After about an hour we made it through the small, very crowded,  barrier island village and headed to the south end of Folly Beach where there was a County  Park and possibly some birding awaited.

How beneficial Drayton was and how he escaped the law.

South end of Folly Beachand the dune break

Jason gets his parasail and board ready.

Jason in action. He fell once, but got up again.

The fences holding the plants from eroding and sand from shifting.

The Park at the beach was practically empty except for a prospective Para-boarder getting his gear on to set sail in a 20 mph wind . We walked to the beach watching for birds and the start of ‘Jason’s’  flight  on the ocean. The water was warm about 71 F but the wind was erratic at 20 mph or so. We did see a few birds, bringing our daily count to 25,  but it was keeping other birds “down” with the wind so high.  The Black Vultures loved it and were mostly very high in the sky today.

Coming back on the Folly Beach road was much easier once we were out of the village.

Supoer tonight was chicken parmesan and a fresh spinach salad (tomatoes, egg, cheese, onion.) Tomorrow a lighthouse and hopefully more birds.