Drayton Hall

This morning, we went to see Drayton Hall. The plantation had been the same family for seven generation before it was sold to the National Trust.  Unlike some of the restored houses in Charleston, and some of the restored plantations houses nearby, this one has been preserved.  When the Drayton family owned it, throughout all the generations, they never added indoor plumbing or electricity, so the house is pretty much as it was when it was built in the early 1700s, with whatever modifications the family made over time (I can honestly saw not much was done to it). The last Drayton to occupy the house used it as a summer home, and used to refer to it at camping out.

 Drayton Hall from the road approach.  Originally there would have been two outbuildings, one on each side. The first floor were the storerooms.  The actual living quarters started on the second floor.  Over 300 square feet, with only two bedrooms, but several reception rooms.

 

 

 Detail of the moulding in one of the formal rooms.  This was carved by hand out of mahogany.  Amazing!

 

 A portion of the servants' staircase.  Imagine going up and down this very narrow and steep staircase with a candle in one hand, and trays, or buckets or chamber pots in the other.  And no handrails!

 

 

 The original outhouse.  This had seven seats, at various heights, two with armrests.  It was later converted into an office.

 

 The house from the river. This is what visitors coming up the Ashley River and walking up the drive would have seen.

 







 





Historic Charleston

Yesterday, we walked around historic Charleston.  It was a beautiful day, and fairly warm. We started with a tour from a fellow named Michael Trouche, a 7th generation Charlestonian.  Best money I've spent in a long time.  Charleston is one of the best preserved, if not the best preserved, city in the US.  The history spans the colonial period, the revolutionary war, the civil war, and reconstruction.  The historical area is incredible, and well worth the time to walk around the streets.  Just remember to wear good walking shoes!  Here is a selection of pictures, in no particular order.

 The Mills House Hotel. The only original part is the balcony on the second floor.  The rest of the hotel is an exact replica of the original.  Robert E. Lee stayed here at one point.

 

 

 St. Michael's Church and the US Post Office.  The church is one of the oldest in historic Charleston.  The post office dates from the late 1800s.

 

 Architectural detail from the Charleston City Hall.

 

 Typical houses in the historic district.

 

 Houses along Rainbow Row.  Called that because of the brightly coloured houses.

 

 An early form of GPS?  Charleston also has a history of pirates, who happily stayed off shore and raided the ships leaving port. Knowing latitude and longtitude was important.  This is actually marked in a tiny laneway between two streets.

 

 A Charleston single.  The street door actually the door to the verandah that runs the length of the house.  The actual door to the house is in the middle of the verandah.

 Some of the sweetgrass baskets for sale on the street.  The designs are descended from those made by African slaves brought into Charleston. 

 











 





 

 





Patriots Point

Yesterday, Walter and I left for Charleston for a few days.  The drive down was quite nice.  Some beautiful roads, through the Carolina low country.  We went to the Naval & Maritime Museum to see the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown.  The USS Laffey, a destroyer, and the USS Clagamore, a submarine, are also in the museum.  All open to the publice. 

If you've ever seen the movie Midway, you'll know that the Yorktown was part of the Battle of Midway, and was severely damaged.  So badly, that after the battle, only a skeleton crew was left on board, and an ocean tug was dispatched from Pearl Harbor to tow it back for repairs.  Unfortunately, the Japanese sunk the Yorktown before the tug could reach it.  So how is it possible that the Yorktown is now in the Charleston Harbor??  The answer is that this is the second Yorktown.  When the original was sunk, there was an aircraft carrier being built in New Jersey.  It would have been called the USS Bon Homme Richard, but was quickly renamed as the USS Yorktown.  It continued to serve in WWII and after, including Vietnam, and was decommissioned in 1970. 

The Yorktown is also home to various aircraft used by the military from World War II to Vietnam on the flight deck, and a few in the hangars.  You can walk through the ship, in various self-guided tours, and see what it would have been like to be a member of the crew.  I even climbed into the captain's chair.

We didn't go aboard the USS Laffey, but we did board the USS Clagamore.  Submarines are very tight quarters.  If you don't like small spaces, you'd have a hard time on one of these.  Still it was really interesting, and I'm glad I did it.

 Walter at Patriots Point.  The bridge in the background leads to the peninsular Charleston - right into the historic area.

 

 

 I think Walter was in his element - all these planes to explore.

 

 

 Looking at the engine of the Tomcat from the back.

 

 

 Helicopter from the Vietname era.

 

 In the captain's chair of the USS Yorktown.  The bridge much smaller than I thought it would be.

 

 The Yorktown, with the Laffey in the background, and the Clagamore in the foreground.

 

 

 

 



Myrtle Beach, Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet

Walter and I are in Myrtle Beach for a month.  Our way of getting a head start on spring.  We got here on Friday, and have settled in to our 'home away from home' nicely. The condo looks out onto the driving range and the 10th tee at Tidewater Golf Course.  Nice view to wake up to each morning.

On Sunday, we went to the Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet.  What a beautiful place!  The gardens were established in 1931 by Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington, and comprise over 90 acres of  art work.  Several of the pieces on display throughout the gardens are the work of Anna Huntington.  There are flower beds, trees, fountains, walkways, ponds, throughout - all displaying various pieces.  There are also herb and vegetable gardens intermixed with the flowers - very interesting displays.  The rhododendrons and magnolias are also in bloom - beautiful pinks.  I've posted a few pictures here.  We spent about three hours wandering around.  It was cool - around 10 degrees Celsius, and breezy out in the open but beautiful. We're planning to go back later this week, as our tickets are good for seven consecutive days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw a variety of birds, including a vulture sitting by one of the ponds.  The cardinals here are slightly different from the ones at home.  The most notable difference being that the males have yellow beaks, rather black ones like their northern relatives.

 

After the gardens we headed down to the shore of Murrells Inlet.  A lovely, huge beach - mostly deserted at this time of year.  A few hardy folks walking on the beach, bundled up against the breeze.  Still, the sound of the surf has a compelling, almost magical, quality to me.  I could listen to it all day.

 



 

 

 

 

 

Memories of our trip

 




Lounging by the pool. We had the whole pool to ourselves that afternoon.  October seems to be a quiet time.

 Adrien and his two friends.  He really got excited when he saw Lightning McQueen.

 

  Walter and me - aka the Grey Nomads.

We're now back home, after going up the I-75 from Florida to Ajax.  It was a wonderful trip, and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.  Spending time with Chris, Jes and Adrien was a treat.   It was a wonderful holiday.

Another Disney Day

Adrien and his compass fron the Tortuga Tavern.

 

 

 Adrien and the evil space villain Zurk.

 

 Chris at the race track.  Adrien is in the car with him, but Adrien's head is barely visible above the steering wheel.

 

 

On Thursday, I went with Adrien, Jes and Chris to the Magic Kingdom.  Walter opted to stay at the condo and spend the day relaxing.  Above are a few snaps from our day at Disney.  Adrien had a great time.  We saw Tigger and Winnie the Pooh walking along the street.  Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to take a photo before they disappeared.  We did Big Thunder Mountain, the Astro Glider, Pirates of the Caribbean, Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, Peter Pan's Flight, Winnie the Pooh's Ride and several more before we finished for the day. Lots of fun.

 

Central Florida

On Wednesday, Walter and I decided to explore a bit of central Florida while Chris, Jes and Adrien were enjoying Disney.  After dropping the kids off at the Magic Kingdom, we set out for Polk County.  Our first stop was a lovely hidden gem, Bok Tower Gardens, located in Lake Wales.  The gardens are set in 50 acres and include ferns, live oaks, palms, banana trees, pines, azaleas, camellias, magnolias, just to name a few of the varieties.  There is also a wild bird sanctuary, that is used by several migratory birds.

The gardens were set up by Edward Bok, and dedicated in the 1920s by then President Calvin Coolidge.  Mr. Bok was a very interesting man, who had among his acquaintances P. T. Barnum, Charles Darwin, Frederick Douglass, Rudyard Kipling and FDR.  He bought the land for the gardens, sitting on top of a mountain (actually only 290 feet above sea level but still the second highest point in Florida).  We found the gardens to be like walking into a 'Gone With the Wind' setting.

In the middle of the gardens, Mr. Bok has a 205-foot tower constructed, made of Georgia marble and Florida coquina, and housing a beautiful carillon of 60 bells.  The carillon is played every 15 minutes.  What a beautiful sound! The tower also a beautiful art deco grill work.  It really is something to see.

After the park, we headed to Lang Sun Countrey Groves.  This citrus fruit producer also has a cafe called Taste of Florida, and is known for its grapefruit pie.  The cafe makes great salaes and sandwiches, and the grapefruit pie was worth the trip.  Not too sweet, and completely refreshing.  The refreshing.  Lang has been owned by three generations of the same family - from grangmother, to mother to daughter.  The server we had gave me the recipe for grapefruit pie, and I will defintely be making it once we get back home.

 Close up of some of the flowers in the garden.  The colours were beautiful.  The guide told us the best time is late February/early March when the azaleas are in bloom.  But there is plenty to see in October.

 



 My favourite man.  It was a cool day - only about 67F - but sunny.

 

 The tower.  It's surrounded by a moat and can be accessed by going through decorative wrought iron gates to bridges over the water.



  Me - in front of the tower.

 

 An orange laden tree.  The park is surrounded by orange groves.  The trees, like this one, are so heavy with fruit, that the oranges in some places are touching the ground.