For this post, we head back down south to Charleston to
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, where we spent one afternoon strolling through the gardens. Magnolia Plantation was established in 1679, and the gardens have particular significance in its history. A young John
Drayton, who had his mind set on ministry, reluctantly inherited the plantation after his older brother died. After acquiring the plantation, he came down with tuberculosis and decided to seek refuge in the gardens. Some time went by and gardening made him well again--a miracle according to him. His wife was homesick for her hometown of Philadelphia, so he planned and planted a number of gardens just for her to help her feel more at home. A very sweet gesture, don't you think? You can read more of the history
here.
Do you see the house peeking through all this green? That's the only picture I got of it. I'm not sure how I missed getting a picture of the whole house, but there you have it, a peek. We spent all of our time there in the gardens and didn't tour the house because we had the stroller, and you couldn't bring strollers inside, but you can
see online that the house looks lovely too. I wish I could capture the atmosphere better with pictures. It was one of those
really steamy, sticky hot days. You know, the kind where you wonder why you wore any makeup at all as it's dripping down your face, where your clothes stick to you as soon as you get out of the air conditioned car, where your feet swell up like you're pregnant when you're not, yes, it was one of those days. But I loved it. It was so southern, or should I say,
suthan. (I picture myself drinking sweet tea, while wearing a silly wide brimmed hat with a big bow when I say
suthan). The moss dangling through the trees, the cicadas and crickets chirping, the heat--they all made for a great low country day. (Oh, and yes, we did make sure little Lois had lots of liquids and took her into the air conditioned gift shop a few times to cool off. I figured someone might ask how the little one fared in the heat.)
The gardens were lovely. Magnolia Plantation is no
Biltmore, but it was beautiful in a more delicate way. Here's Mary overseeing the biblical garden, which was in the shape of a cross.
A swampy green pond with a red bridge.
A little stream.
A place to sit.
A VERY big spider. One of many. I shudder at the sight of it again!
Light on the pond.
Splashes of green.
A
cleome, one of my favorite flowers, which has such a funky shape.
Rudbeckia, also known as black-eyed
Susans.
An orchid.
There's also a petting zoo at the plantation, and this peacock provided the entertainment of the afternoon. He decided to model for me and give me some of his best poses.
He would make quite the bride.
He dropped one of his feathers, a really nice one, so we took it home and it's now in a vase at my mom's house. Did you know that their call sounds like a screaming cat? It's a terrible sound, really. They look much better than they sound.
Back down south again today for some good eats. The significantly better alternative to the Piggly Wiggly in Edisto is King's Farm Market. It's a little farther out, but worth the drive for some homemade pie. Not only are the pies great, but the fruit and veggies can't be beat. We needed some basil but didn't see any, so we asked the nice lady who was working there if they had any, and she said she'd go pick some! She walked out to the garden then was back in about a minute with our hand-picked basil. It doesn't get fresher than that. The market also has really cute country charm: fresh flowers in rustic tins for vases, a great vintage stove stands in for display, and some vintage items for sale, too, like "nostalgic" signs. They even have chickens out back. 
Speaking of food, I guess I haven't mentioned yet how much Andrew cooked while we were at the beach, like his own homemade peach pie, which we ate in addition to a number of King's Farm pies (oink, oink). When I say Andrew's homemade pie, I mean the crust, too. YUM. He also made homemade pizza on the grill, homemade--get down good--sticky buns, and burgers with some local grass fed beef. He's quite the gourmand. Beach eats were good eats for sure. Shown below, Andrew's peach pie, or in this case, beach pie! 
