Brookgreen Lowcountry Trail rice fields, historic artifacts, ghost tales and beautiful old trees

Present day Brookgreen Gardens stands on what was known as The Oaks, Brookgreen, Springfield and Laurel Hill rice plantations, powerful dynasties built on the backs of thousands of African slaves. They provided the labor, skills and technology required for rice cultivation and production and enriched the region with their traditions, crafts, and language known today as the Gullah-Geechee culture.

The Lowcountry Trail provides a glimpse of what life was like on the plantation hundreds of years ago. Admission to Brookgreen Gardens is $12.95 adults, $10 seniors and $6 children 4-12 and is valid for 7 consecutive days.

On the boardwalk overlooking the river and rice fields

You can see the remains of the overseer’s residence (on top of the hill), kitchen, smokehouse and dependency (at the edge of the rice field), uncovered during 2000-2001 archeological digs.

As you stroll the boardwalk along the Ricefield Overlook listen to the audio tour, that features a 30-minute fictional story about life on Brookgreen Plantation.

Four stainless steel figures, created by award- winning artist Babette Bloch, tell a revealing story about the specific roles of a Lowcountry plantation: the Plantation Owner, the Overseer, the Enslaved African Male and the Enslaved African Female.

The overseer’s smokehouse
The overseer’ smokehouse architectural design features an exterior firebox, only the second example of its kind to be located and excavated in the Southeast.

The smokehouse replica, Lowcountry Trail historic attractions

During the antebellum period, smoked meat, primarily pork, was a staple food for everyone living in the South. The meat was preserved during the “dry salting” process before it was hung in the smokehouse.

Pieces of fresh butchered meat were rubbed with raw salt and placed in a wooden box for up to six weeks. Then the preserved meat was smoked for about a week to give it a particular flavor. Meat was either placed on shelves our hung from horizontal poles.

The smokehouse was filled preserved meat, ham and bacon. As the slaves survival and well being were directly linked to the content of the smokehouse, food allotments were often used as means of social control. The smokehouse came to symbolize the plantation self-sufficiency and the owner’s control over its workforce.

The overseer’s kitchen
By the end of the 18th century all cooking tasks were relegated outside the main residence, thus avoiding the heat, noise, odors, and fire hazards associated with the kitchen.

Working in the kitchen at the old rice plantation

It was common for kitchens to also serve as laundry and dairy functions.

The detached kitchen provided a clear separation between masters and slaves. It was an important symbol of social boundaries with clear definitions of status, position and authority.

Archaeological discoveries suggest a typical mid 19th century rural south diet. People consumed cattle, pig, sheep, goat and to some extent chicken and geese. Additional food sources included wildlife from nearby rice fields, creeks and woodlands: gar, perch, striped bass, turtle, wild duck, deer, squirrel and opossum.

Brookgreen Gardens ghost legends
Thousands years old cypress tree trunk lines the path of the Lowcountry Trail. A silent witness to so many stories, mysteries and human struggles…

Enormous cypress tree trunk dug out at Brookgreen Gardens

There are many tales surrounding the old Brookgreen Plantation at Waccamaw Neck. My favorites are about Theodosia Burr Alston and the Crab Boy who despite warnings stuck his hand where it didn’t belong, beautifully written by Lynn Michelsohn in her book, “Tales from Brookgreen: Gardens, Folklore, Ghost Stories, and Gullah Folktales in the South Carolina Lowcountry”. All quotes are from this book.

At the turn of the 19th century, The Oaks-Brookgreen Plantation welcomed a new Mistress in Theodosia Burr Alston, the only child of Vice President Aaron Burr. She married South Carolina Governor Joseph Alston and gave up the high social life in New York for a life on the rice plantation.

“Theodosia never prospered in the South. Her health was never good, and she found the South Carolina climate depressing. The heat and humidity often left her frail and sickly. While she participated in lavish social events at The Oaks and in Charleston, she missed the sparkling company of those New York dinners, and she missed the doting father she idealized. Aaron Burr’s disastrous duel with Alexander Hamilton, later accusations of treason over his land schemes, and then his self imposed exile in Europe all left Theodosia deeply saddened.”

Taking in easy on the Lowcountry Trail at Brookgreen Gardens

Fortunately, little Aaron was born in 1802 and the next ten years brought joy and happiness to his parents. However, in the summer of 1812, the boy died from sickness and was buried in the family plot on the plantation.

Devastated, Theodosia planned to visit her father in New York to try lift her spirits. She departed Georgetown harbor for a six days sea voyage on a small schooner, The Patriot. The vessel never reached New York. Theodosia’s mysterious disappearance gave way to countless speculations and remains a mystery to this day.

Some believed The Patriot perished in a winter storm off Cape Hatteras, the “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” Others feared the boat sank due to hull damage caused by its old guns that somehow got loose. However most people, including “Kitty Hawk” poet Robert Frost, think that Outer Banks pirates “had lured the ship to its doom for the spoils they could salvage.”

Over years many have sighted her spirit either near the Georgetown warehouse where she boarded the vessel or walking the shores of Dubordieu Beach where her son died. Some have seen “floating over the waves on foggy nights at Huntington Beach, once called Theaville in her honor” or walking down the steps leading to the rice island at Brookgreen Gardens.

Wild, powerful, and beautiful horses

Fun things to do with kids at Brookgreen Gardens (free with garden admission)
• Visit the Children Discovery Center arts and crafts and a live native wildlife show
• Check out interesting farm animals and native wildlife at the Lowcountry Zoo and Farm
• Admire beautiful herons and egrets at the Cypress Swamp Aviary

Honoring history and our brave Marines, a driving tour around Parris Island

While visiting the inspirational Parris Island military museum take advantage of the free self-guided 15 miles loop driving tour. Download the brochure ahead of time; it has a brief description of all the attractions and turn by turn driving instructions. Here are the highlights (data taken from the brochure):

Interesting things to see near the museum

Iron Mike – Erected in 1924 and designed by Robert Ingersoll Aitken.

The Legendary Iron Mike (sketch)

Dedicated to Parris Island Marines who gave their lives in World War I, it is officially known as the “Monument to U.S. Marines.”

The two field pieces on each side are 2.95-inch Vickers-Maxim Mountain guns made around 1900. The drinking fountain nearby is dedicated to all Parris Island Marines who died during World War II.

Iwo Jima Monument – “Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue”

The heroic flag raising on Mount Surabach, Iwo Jima, in 1945 is an inspiration to all Americans as a symbol of freedom and personifies many of the Marines qualities: confidence, discipline, fidelity and the rugged determination to overcome insurmountable odds.

This version of coated plaster was made by Felix de Weldon to raise money for the much larger bronze monument that was eventually erected in D.C.

Douglas Visitor’s Center – Over 100,000 people visit Parris Island each year. The visitor’s center is named for Paul H. Douglas who at age 50, enlisted in the Corps, becoming the oldest recruit to complete training.

As a Captain, Douglas was sent to the Pacific theater in a non combat role. While there, he talked his way into a combat role, later receiving two Purple Hearts!

Leatherneck Square and Confidence Course – Here you can observe recruits

Parris Island Military Museum

undergoing rigorous training to prepare them for hand-to-hand combat.

The main point of interest is the Confidence Course, first introduced in 1958 and updated in 2002.

Constructed of logs, cables, pipe and rope, this tests coordination and endurance.
The most challenging of the 11 obstacles is the “Dirty Name” and the “Slide for Life.”

Memorial Park and Molly Marine – Opposite Depot Theater, is a Memorial Park honoring the 5th, 9th and 14th Defense Battalions which trained at Parris Island during World War II.

The centerpiece is a replica of the famous Molly Marine statue, dedicated to the service of all Women Marines. The original was commissioned during World War II by a Reserve recruiter in New Orleans. The sculptor, Enrique Alferez, was a Mexican immigrant who himself wished to become a United States Marine.

4th Recruit Training Battalion – Here is the training for female recruits. Women began serving in the Corps in 1918 in the Women’s Reserve. In 1948 females were integrated into the regular Marine Corps, and in 1949 the first class graduated at Parris Island.

Now that you’ve worked an appetite dine at Traditions located nearby on China Hutung. Traditions, once near the Dry Dock, was converted to an officer’s club in 1920 and moved to its present location in 1939. Lunch is served Sunday through Friday.

Weapons and History Trail
Page Field – Named for Captain Arthur Hallet Page Jr., a Marine aviator from 1918 to 1930. The field was most active during World War II when it used a variety of aircraft

The Few. The Proud. The Marines

such as Navy dirigibles, Corsairs, Wildcats, B-25 bombers, a glider squadron and a barrage balloon detachment. Today, Page Field is part of the Weapons and Field Training Battalion.

Charlesfort and Santa Elena National Historic Landmark – Along the 1/2 mile Nature and History Trail you can admire a crashed WWII bomber, the Parris Island lighthouse keeper’s home and the Santa Elena Monument.

From here take the interpretive trail through the 16th century Santa Elena town site, one of the most historic early colonial sites in North America. Brochures are available at the entrance of Fort San Marcos or in the clubhouse. Artifacts from the site are in the Parris Island Museum.

Rifle Range – Finish the driving tour at the Rifle Range, where recruits learn the basics of the M16A2 rifle. Each must become proficient in firing from the 200, 300, and 500 yards lines using various positions: off hand, prone, sitting and kneeling.

Each marker in front of the ranges is named for a Korean or Vietnam war battle in which Marines participated. The first range is Inchon, followed by Starlite, Chosin, Hue City, and Khe Sanh. The pistol ranges are named Pusan and Mount Suribachi.

More family attractions around Beaufort
• The historic St. Helena Episcopal Church the second oldest yet fastest growing church congregation in South Carolina (free)
• The magnificent and resilient Hunting Island lighthouse ($2 on top of park admission)
• The creepy-crawling, jaw-snapping, and slithering Edisto Island Serpentarium (adults $12.95, children 6-12 $9.95, 3 and under free)

Have great family vacation in Beaufort, SC!

Fun things to do with kids around Myrtle Beach for under $10

For the past 4 years I’ve traveled up and down the Carolina Coast looking for great adventures, mysteries and memorable wildlife encounters. Here is a list of wonderful things – blessed my now 7 years old daughter – that you can do with your kids while vacationing in Myrtle Beach. All for under $10! (prices subject to change; new attractions added in 2010 and 2011)

To get you started I’ve put together a nice Google Map with all the attractions.

Free things to do at Cherry Grove, Broadway at the Beach and Barefoot Landing
• Walk inside the pristine Heritage Shores Nature Preserve located next to the Cherry Grove Park and Boat Ramp. Feeling more adventurous? Kayak the Cherry Grove inlet all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Beware you may be greeted by dolphins!

Where to kayak and fish in North Myrtle Beach

• Speaking of dolphins, you can see bottlenosed dolphins swim freely around the pier. I got a special treat, seeing them at sunset on 2010 New Year’s Eve!

• Splash around at the water fountain. Don’t be shy, join in the fun, just remember to bring extra clothes

Water splashing fun at Broadway at the Beach

• Jump, slide, crawl at the playground, most likely the most scenic in the Carolinas!
• Sprinkle more laughs at the fish and duck feeding stations
• See up-close Bengal, Siberian, Royal White Bengal and the super stars Golden Tabby tigers playing in an outdoor environment at the remarkable T.I.G.E.R.S Preservation Station inside Barefoot Landing

The tiger is playing with the kids! He was very interested in the like plush tiger toy...

• Visit the Burroughs-Chapin museum, the only art museum in Myrtle Beach, located across the Springmaid Pier. They have an Art Studio just for kids.

Beach piers, museums and amusement parks
• Burn calories while you jump and flip on the trampoline at Barefoot Landing

Wheee! I am so high up in the air

• Fishermen unite at the outstanding Cherry Grove Pier, home to many record catches such as a 1780 lbs Tiger Shark and a 98 lbs Tarpon. All day pass to the pier is $1.50. Bait, tackle, and rods rentals are available at the pier shop, or pay $6 pier fishing fee if you bring your own.

The fishing pier at Cherry Grove Beach

• Speaking of piers, in January 2011 we spent a wonderful weekend at Springmaid Beach Resort, which proudly boasts the historic Springmaid Pier (longest pier in Myrtle Beach). Admission is $1 (free for resort guests), a daily fishing pass is $8 and rods can be rented for $10.

• Let your kids imagination flourish at CMSC featuring a USS Coast Guard boat, an authentic X-ray machine, diamond mining, a magical school bus and a pizza delivery truck ($8 admission, $1 off coupon available)

Come on board!

• Climb on baby elephants and zebras at Jungle Safari mini-golf! Oh yeah when you really feel like it put that ball into the hole… “I like to move it, move it” ($8 admission)

• Test your wits and navigation skills at the mind-boggling Mirror Maze inside the Barefoot Landing shopping and entertainment center($7.99 for all day pass)

• Race into space, play astronaut, build your own constellation and learn all there is to know about planets at Ingram Planetarium in Sunset Beach. Grownups can rock on at the cool laser shows featuring songs from Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, The Beatles and more ($8 adults, $4 kids 3-5)

I am flying mom!

• Have a tea cup party ride at the Pavilion Nostalgia Amusement Park at Broadway at the Beach ($3+tax per ride, less for bulk purchases). Here is a 2011 list with the most exciting rides.

• Play with the largest, museum quality model train layout at the NC Railroad Museum downtown Wilmington. Kids love pushing buttons, watching Thomas and company go over bridges and even ordering food at a drive-thru McDonalds! ($7 adults, $6 seniors and military, and $3 children 2-12 years)

Parks, historical sites and zoos
• Visit the romantic Atalaya Castle inside the Huntington Beach State Park where the Wild Things Are! Beware of free roaming jaws snapping alligators! ($5 park admission, free entrance to Atalaya)

Mysterious Atalaya Tower

• Reward your nature loving spirit at Waccatee Zoo – The Beast Things to Do – featuring hundreds of exotic and weird animals ($7)

• See a Giant Sloth skeleton replica, learn about nature’s deadly forces, admire a T.N. Simmons Sea-Skiff and check out Michael’s Jordan childhood memorabilia at Cape Fear Museum in Wilmington ($7 adults, $3 children 3-17)

What a giant! I am glad he is not a carnivore

• Be amazed, awed and bewildered at Cape Fear Serpentarium in historic Wilmington NC home to the most venomous snakes in the world: bushmasters, Gaboon vipers, King cobras, Tropical rattlers and Fer-de-lance ($8, live feedings in the weekends at 3PM)

• Admire the Brown’s Ferry Vessel, the oldest American-built wooden boat, located inside the Rice Museum in Georgetown (~40 minutes drive). Did you know that Georgetown was once the rice capital of the world? ($7 adults, $5 seniors, $3 students and free for kids under 6)

Browns Ferry Vessel traveled in early 1700s along the Carolina Coast to bring goods from plantations to Charleston.

• See how native people lived along the Carolina coast before the arrival of Europeans. The Horry Conway Museum in downtown Conway features a great collection of Native American artifacts from Archaic, Woodland and prehistoric time periods. Admission is free. Added bonus, take a relaxing stroll along the Waccamaw River to enjoy beautiful scenery, historic warehouses and the Conway Arboretum.

Enjoy your family vacation along our beautiful Carolina Coast!

“A license to steal” my delirious Pirates of the Carribean adventure at Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach

Arrrgh! Whatever happened to Queen’s Anne Revenge? Wanna rub elbows with 18th century VIPs like Blackbeard, Captain Morgan and Edward Lowe? Well come down to Myrtle Beach Ripley’s Aquarium, a haunted house filled with odd sea creatures, outlaws and monster sharks!

Welcome to the Pirates World at Ripley's Aquarium!

Sea masters, privateers and just brilliant marketing pioneers…a world of mystery, wits and terror. Most romanticized the pirates’ “rise against the machine”, others spited it for their ruthless and savage ways. Either way, the buccaneers stories were the first blockbusters fascinating the mankind to this day.

Pirates Exhibit highlights, funny facts and trivia:

Extreme Fear Factor
Pirates preferred to rule through terror and worked hard building their brand. Contrary to popular belief most pirates hated fighting! Fights led to injuries, deaths and major treasures loss. So they often engaged in sadistic rituals that killed all but few captives…’cause “dead men told no stories”…

Legend has it Edward Lowe chopped off the lips of an opposing captain then forced him to watch his 32-crew being decimated before his eyes.

Ruthless intimidation tactics

Don’t blame it all on the pirates. Most of the tactics were taken from the Royal Navy training book. It was said that service in the Navy “was like life in prison, with the addition danger of drowning”!

Not all pirates were fond of torturing. Edward England for one left his opponent go free after he won a fierce battle. His crew didn’t appreciate it and threw him out! England spent his last days as a beggar on the streets of Madagascar. Nice guys finish last after all…

Do you have what it takes to be a buccaneer?
The successful ones (those that lived pass 30s) possessed charisma, brains, brawns, nautical skills and lots of luck. Here’s a pirate typical profile: 27 years old, uneducated (those who could read became captains!), low social status, a criminal record, and sea life experience. Interested? Here are some possible pirate career paths:
• Captain – educated (aka knows how to read). You’re in charge only during missions
• Quartermaster – “chief of justice”
• Cook – low culinary standards yet you’re expected to sew some skin!
• Surgeon – rarely on board, most likely the cook and carpenter played doctor!
• Master gunner – bomb baby bomb!
• Musician – well regarded to cheer up the crew.
• Carpenters, boatswains, shipwrights – the browns doing all the heavy lifting and the never ending repair work…

Runaway Design Show take notice!

Pirate Flag Designs

Pirates boasted incredible Black Flag designs and a buoyant outwear fashion. I guess if you gotta kill then do it with style! 🙂 Bond, James Bond…

Here is a slideshow with more exhibit photos…just in case you need more convincing!

Ripley’s Aquarium hours, admission and location
The Aquarium is open Sun – Thu 9AM to 7PM and Fri – Sat 9AM to 9PM. General admission includes dive shows and special exhibition hall (sales tax is additional):
• Adults: $18.99
• Children (6-11): $9.99
• Children (2-5): $3.99
There are group discounts and Ripley’s attractions combo tickets available. Call 1-800-734-8888 or visit their website for details.

Ripley’s Aquarium is located inside Broadway at the Beach off of 29th North Avenue.

What else is fun for kids around Myrtle Beach for under $10?

Blackbeard Ruthless Pirate of the Carribean!

• Watch grumpy longhorns kicking emus, undecided black bears, roaring lions and impassable Sony and Cher at Waccatee Zoo the “Beast Place” on the beach…($8 adults, $4 kids)

• “Mirror, mirror on the wall, haven’t I been here before?“…lose yourself at the awesomely fun Mirror Maze located inside Barefoot Landing shopping center ($7 multiple entries all day admission)

• Yearlings, toddlers, and babies of all ages kick it up a notch at the Children Museum (you can even hunt for diamonds!) ($7 everyone)

• The Gators are here…no really they are…at Huntington Beach State Park at least. ($5 adults, under 5 get in FREE).

Ahoy Mates! Ahoy!

Wild and wonderful Waccatee Zoo, the Myrtle Beach kids fun thing to do!

Authentic, real and totally unexpected. Fun, fun, fun that is…just 15 minutes drive from Myrtle Beach’s hustle and bustle. There are hundreds of animals from classics like lions, tigers, black bears and chimps to most unusual species like the South American peccarts, Patagonia Maras and the half zebra half donkey ones…

Tip! Spend $1-2 on a bag of popcorn or boiled peanuts to feed the beasts. Kids love it, animals love it (that’s how I got the bear to dance for me!) and you can snack along the way.

I asked the longhorn if Texas will beat Oklahoma. He responded promptly by hooking a poor bystander emu…if you can’t get your horns on a sooner, the emu will do 🙂

The Zoo is open daily from 10 AM to 5 PM. Admission is $4 for children 1-12 and $8 for adults. Here is a customized Google Map showing Waccatee Zoo and other Myrtle Beach attractions worth shouting about.

At minimum visit the ever mysterious Atalaya Castle inside the Huntington Beach State Park where among other wild things you can rub elbows with free roaming alligators!

Happy family fun on the Grand Strand!

Brookgreen Gardens’ Bloodstain Barn and Atalaya Castle’s Gold-Watcher – mystery tales at Huntington Beach Park

Art lovers, sculpture aficionados and nature enthusiasts watch out! As you stroll Brookgreen Gardens’ peaceful trails showered by a rainbow of extravagant floral arrangements, as you admire one of the most magnificent outdoor sculptures collection in the country, it’s hard to imagine the pain and suffering soaked in these grounds.

“Bloodstains of the dead…Tread them down; walk them out; cover them up. All in vain!”

Brookgreen Gardens

Yes, is slavery blood and all the misery that came along with it. During the Civil War this land was part of the Brookgreen Plantation.
Most of the time the owners were out traveling, leaving the business operations to Fraser the overseer. And Fraser “never failed to draw blood”.

“When someone is in the bull pen they have to take a ride on the pony…The overseer gave my mama forty lashes with the strap…A pool of mama’s blood was on the barn floor.”

Once freedom came to Waccamaw River the people tried hunting Fraser down for payback. He was never found. Yet the blood stains in the barn were still there, a painful reminder of their ordeal.
“We didn’t want to pass through the barn…We tried to get rid of them. Tried to wash them off. Wash! Scrub! Stains came back. We walked back and forth…Stomp! Stomp! Stains came back.

Brookgreen Gardens Yellow Sea

We wondered for Christ’s sake why the bloodstains didn’t leave…years passed and still the blood remained”

More than 50 years later, in 1930, Archer Huntington came in, bought the plantation and transformed it into Brookgreen Gardens. “He saw the bloodstains and he tore down the barn. Yep. That was the first thing Huntington did when he bought the plantation…Until he did that, the bloodstains stayed right there.”

Joe, the gold-watcher at Atalaya

Here’s another story that sheds light into Mr. and Mrs. Huntington character and the incredible Atalaya Castle. As a young boy “Archer’s energy seemed unlimited, and his quick mind grasped everything he saw and read…He intended to spend his live giving his father fortune away.”

People in the area were enthuziastic about the jobs prospects from the start of the outdoor museum (Brookgreen Gardens) and a future house (Atalaya). It was Depression time after all. “When they earned a few dollars, they looked at them and counted them, and figure out how far they would go. They didn’t go very far.”

Joe was one of them. He got a job as loading and removing sand but he failed miserably…wrecking the truck on the first day right in front of Mr. Huntington. He was fired on the spot.

Atalaya Castle Huntington Beach

Joe persisted and few weeks later got a second chance. He split logs, stacked the wood and kept the fire burning at the more than 30 fireplaces inside Atalaya. There were rumors the Huntington hoarded large quantities of money at Atalaya, but Joe saw none of it, for a while at least…

Few weeks later Anna Huntington needed a “scrawny horse” to carve the statue of Don Quixote. Joe found a “nag with bones showing through its rough coat and a head hung nearly to its knees”. Mrs. Huntington was delighted and she pledged to nurse the horse back to health. Joe volunteered for the task. Things looked much rosier with his employers.

Indeed, at Christmas night his trustworthiness was put to the test. Archer Huntington asked Joe to help him move a heavy oak table into the master bathroom. “As the glowing fire reflected on the table, the table itself seemed about to burst into flame. For there, on the table, were stacks of gold, real gold, coins…varying in size from a watermelon seed to a silver dollar”

“Joe, I want you to remain here in the bathroom and keep an eye on it. I will come for it in the morning”. And so he did. To this day, Joe doesn’t know where the gold came from or where it went. He only knows that Huntington trusted him with his fortune that night. “A job that started out so badly ended with each man respecting, and even liking, each other.”

Come to Brookgreen Gardens and Atalaya at Huntington Beach State Park for a once in a lifetime inspirational vacation!

Disclaimer: All the quotes in this post are from Nancy Rhine’s riveting book “Tales of the South Carolina Lowcountry”, an engaging collection of folklore, ghost haunts, and real stories from remote Lowcountry lanes old-timers.