I can understand why the rich and well to do moved into Charleston. I cannot really understand why they stayed there. On Wednesday and Thursday we took time to visit the area surrounding Charleston.
On Wednesday we visited the oldest plantation house, Drayton Hall, which dates from around 1740. The hall is now empty, but an excellent guide showed us many interesting features of the house and provided some of its history. we really enjoyed this visit. The grounds were also very attractive, with a long river frontage. This visit opened up a new world of the use of archecture and interior design as a means to explain and define the purpose and status of the house and each room. I must investigate this further.
Thursday was supposed to be a quiet day, so we visited a local, small, nature reserve. The Caw-Caw Interpretative Center. This park is based on an old rice plantation and still has the visible remains of the rice fields and irrigation system. The production of rice is an important and integral part of the history of South Carolina and the growth and development of the plantation culture. I may return to say more of it later.
The production of rice in eastern USA collapsed when cotton became more profitable around 1800. So the rice fields, which though they were fresh water, were constructed as part of the the estuaries of the area, were often abandoned as they could not be used to grow anything else. Because they were fresh water they became swamps. This park shows how the habitat has changed over the last 200 years. It is very tranquil and beautiful. We saw a large alligator (saw is not really the correct word, it was sunning itself across the path, forcing us to retrace our steps) and a large snake sat in the fork of a tree. A very pleasant park,well away form the bustle of Charleston.
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