A Southern Stroll Through Magonias

Are We Lost?

This morning we wanted to venture out ... so we did! South Carolina here we come! (Honestly, it's only 20 minutes away).  I found a plantation nearby and since we both love history we went, plus we don't have plantations up north. If you want to learn more about where we went HERE is a link to the website. It is called Redcliffe Plantation.

Now, to get there our GPS said we would be taking unpaved roads, which is fine (adds to the adventure really). We didn't realize that we'd be traveling a long ways on them with no signs about the plantation. The picture above is the road we took to get there, it was fun!

"Um, Nadj - some hillbilly is gonna come at us with a gun"

Donkeys!

Yes, we passed by several homes along this dirt road and one had goats and donkey's! Being the city girl that I am, I made Stephen stop in the middle of the road and I got a picture. I had to hurry though because a huge dog across the road started barking at me and did not seem so happy.

Let's Do This!

We arrived right as the "park" opened at 9am. So the weather was still slightly cool, which was nice because the sun was hot. We were able to walk around the grounds, which were so quiet. We walked through the slave quarters and the stables. The big house didn't open until 1pm for tours, so we weren't able to go there this time, but below is me on the steps!

I want a porch someday!

This porch was amazing! We almost went and got a blanket to set down for Addie to play and Stephen and I could sit down on the rockers that were provided :P.  It was just us; it was fun!

Adalynn had so much fun!

Honestly, this little girl was having such a good time. Looking at everything and laughing and kicking her legs. She was just a contained bundle of energy! It made looking around the house and land more entertaining!

The Mansion

Stray Dogs

Alright - story here... (oh, and I so wanted to adopt the little guy, I named him Charles...)
On with the story. So we were almost done looking around when a park worker came walking up, she was going to open up the "gift shop" (just a few books), so we talked with her. Very sweet lady, lives walking distance away! We were asking her questions about the house and, of course, Stephen asked about ghosts. There are none by the way.
Anyhoo - these two black puppies came walking around soon after she arrived and she started telling us about them. They just showed up one day and she has tried to adopt them out, with not luck. She cannot seem to get one of them to come near her right now. What is interesting is that the last owners of the mansion back in the '60's owned 2 black dogs. Literally, identical to the ones that showed up now. What's more interesting is that the owner in the '60's found his dogs when they came wondering around the house after a rainstorm. Hmm... she brought us into her office and showed us pictures of the dogs from before. So strange!
I befriended one of the dogs, so sweet. She said she'd even let us take him, but that would be way to much for us now and I wouldn't want to separate the two puppies.

Over 100 year old magnolia trees.

These trees were planted by slaves back in the 1860's I believe. They were beautiful! It's so crazy when you hear the story about something you can see. To know that over 100 years ago slaves were planting the very trees I was looking at. Wow.

She zonked out minutes after getting in the car.

Sleepy baby! She did so well, loved all the traveling and even laughed at the dogs! hehe.
We're going back to look through the mansion too, not sure when, but we will!