Magnolia Plantation - Charleston, South Carolina



It had been a lot of driving that first day, and it wore on all of us. Especially me, admittedly, since I had worked the previous night, only to rush off back home to pick up my son and girlfriend, and get going. We were stalled for a variety of reasons, and left later, which meant arriving later, too.

The next day, we wanted to make it all the way to Charleston from Virginia Beach, and that, too, meant a lot of driving. That meant that two days in a seven day trip had been largely filled with driving, and everyone was kind of tired of it.

I had been kind of expecting to go to Savannah, Georgia, on that third day, thinking two hours there and two hours back, after spending the day in Savannah, would seem pretty lightweight after the first two days of driving. We could get Savannah out of the way immediately, than focus on Charleston, and begin moving slowly but steadily upwards, heading ever northwards until the trip ended.

My girlfriend was strongly opposed to going to Savannah on that third day and, in fact, she was beginning to not want to go there, period. That is another story for another post (on Savannah - to be published later).

So, instead of driving further south, we stayed in the greater Charleston area that first day, and figured out some places that would be of interest to everyone.

And we found one right off the bat.

There are things that make the South a bit different. A bit unique.

I'll admit to having some preconceptions of the South, having only lived exclusively in the North, and not ever having truly visited "the South" before. The South was the heart of the so-called "Bible Belt", as well as the heart of the red states. It took a decidedly different political perspective than the rest of the country (and, frankly, much of the rest of the world, too). I had imagined the South to be this large, mostly empty, mostly hot and sticky area, with a kind of rednecky feel to it.

Let's be clear: that does exist. But there is more to the South than that, too.

But there is one more important characteristic, or trait, that distinguished "the South". This was a land of racial problems and hatred. The stories and legends abound, but suffice to say that I was very much aware that legalized racial segregation had existed there just a decade before I was born (in 1974). Blacks were relegated to second class citizens, and although officially, there were "separate but equal", the de facto reality was that whites pretty much were in a privileged position by way of comparison. This was a system that persisted for a long time in the South, and these attitudes did not go away very quickly or easily, either. After all, remember that there were violent protests, bombings, political murders, and brutal police crackdowns on peaceful protestors. Some prominent Southern politicians proudly - but inaccurately -  declared that segregation would last forever!

Going back a little further, historically, the South also was the land of ownership of black people by white people. This was a land that used to thrive on slavery. I have heard if defended (by a black man, no less!) as an economic system, and indeed, it was economics that drove the South to secede from the Union and take up arms to preserve "their right" to maintain slavery there. The thing is, that economic system was based exclusively on an unfair system of legal slavery based on race, and the South went to war to preserve that, too. The Jim Crow segregation that came to exist shortly after the Civil War, during the Reconstruction days, was almost an extension of slavery. They could not officially keep slavery anymore, so they set up a system that was the next closest thing. And that system lasted until just ten years before I was born.

We're not talking ancient history here, folks.

So, yeah, I kind of expected that racial history and hostility to be present here on this visit, although I was not entirely sure where it might surface. I have always suspected - strongly suspected, at that - that the rather willful political direction that the South took after the Civil Rights Act and Voting Act of the 1960's - two political acts that, for all intents and purposes, swept away the legal edifice of Jim Crow segregation - was kind of an extension of the same people that remained resentful and reluctant to let go of the racial caste system that existed in the South until not too long ago.

Things might have changed, I thought. But how much could they really have changed?

Yet, while down in the South, there was nothing really obvious about racism there that I could see. True, there were impoverished communities, and these at least appeared to be exclusively black (at least the ones that I saw). But, there were few people outside (it was damn hot, remember!), and let's be honest: that's not very different from here in the north, where most minorities are generally crammed into poorer communities, and most affluent suburbs where people enjoy relative lives of privilege are - surprise, surprise - enjoyed mostly by whites.

Still, although racism in the North certainly, undeniably exists, it became the identifying marker of the South in the 1950's and 1960's, as the Civil Rights movement heated up. Many people that I know, who ave been to the South and, in many cases, desire to move down South (or in some cases have done so already) seem to conveniently forget this rather ugly bit of history, as if it really was no big deal. Not surprisingly, those people are almost exclusively white.

This history was on my mind throughout this trip, from the planning phase, to the actual trip itself.

And so, perhaps it was fitting that our first trip was to a plantation. And when I looked at the plantations of Charleston, one in particular stood out: Magnolia Plantation.

This place was supposed to have the oldest gardens in the United States, as well as being a plantation with a lot of wildlife. I had expected a plantation to be a very elaborate house and grounds, surrounded with fields and fields of cotton. This was not exactly what I had come to expect.

Yet, it was an experience! We enjoyed ourselves, and learned something, too, with each of us taking something away from it. That makes it worth the while to visit it, right?

Here are some pictures from the experience, that might help you get a feel of what is available there:

A picture of my son and myself, with the beautiful bridge over the pond behind us, right by the house of the plantation. Fittingly for South Carolina, I am wearing a t-shirt of the long defunct Montreal Expos, as well as a New York Giants hat. He is wearing some kind of Star Wars shirt. 

My girlfriend, posing.

My girlfriend and myself, with the bridge behind us. Important to remember that it was sweltering hot on this day!

 

We saw peacocks almost right away upon entering the plantation grounds! There were people parked and taking pictures of something by picnic tables, but I could not immediately see what it was. When I looked closer and saw, it seemed necessary to pull over and have everyone take a closer look! Just look at how beautiful these creatures are! Their screams, on the other hand, are less than lovely.

An albino squirrel. They also had an albino raccoon, which should be pictured in this blog entry as well. 

The slave's quarters.While we were there, there were large birds (possibly peacocks) going in and out of the building, although I do not think that they came out in these pictures. 

Spanish moss on an old tree by the slave's quarters.

Contrast the slave's quarters t the opulent home of the white masters. 

Here, I took a picture of my girlfriend taking a picture, and my son exploring something or other either in or near the pond. 

These weird stumps (at least that's what I am guessing there are) were everywhere around the lakes and ponds, and I could not figure out exactly what they were, or why there were so damn many of them! Maybe someone else knows, and would be kind enough to inform me? It just seemed so strange, that I wanted to take at least one picture of them. 

Albino raccoon.

The petting zoo is not to be missed, if you have children! Really cool experience, and you see some rare animals there!

Not even entirely sure what this was. Thought it was the slave's quarters, but those were pointed out to us on the tram tour. These were fairly close to the house, and right next to the petting zoo. Wish I could tell you for sure what this was, but I cannot. Looked interesting, and right next to it, as you can see, is just one of plenty of trees in the area that have the famed Spanish moss.