Magnolia Plantation

I've never visited a plantation before in the South, but I think they are absolutely beautiful.  Don't think I would like to live on one though.  I didn't get to see inside the house on the plantation (pricey) but the grounds were enough to look at.  We were also on a hunt for alligators which we did find.

It was such a hot day!  We put our sunscreen on, applied bug spray and packed some water and off we went.  They had a petting zoo on the plantation where I ran into one of these beautiful birds.

They are just stunning when you see them opened up in all their splendor!  Wow.  They had a bunch of other birds such as turkeys, chickens, roosters and the like all over the place and I went taking pictures of all of them, but they just aren't as cool as this peacock.  B was scared every time the peacock made a noise - they are loud.  It startled her every time.

I eventually moved on to where my family was gathered.  I was curious as to what they were all staring at.



And there she was, holding a Bald Python in her hands.  OMG!  I was freaked out of my mind and also in awe of my daughter that she would hold such a thing.  My kids love animals.  She wasn't done yet...

She had to go hold another snake.  I don't remember the name of this one, but this one was squirmy and wanted to slither over and kiss her face.  I couldn't watch.  She clearly thought it was cute.

This is the Alligator Snapping Turtle.  That little red thing in it's mouth looks like a worm to little fish and they come in to eat the worm and SNAP, the turtle eats it.  Pretty nifty, eh?  None of my kids held this fella.

And here is a Gila Monster.  Yes, these are venomous lizards.  One of two species of lizards in North America to be venomous and it's in front of my kids.  Hm...this one is a baby.  This was probably the best part of the plantation for my kids.

It was fourth of July, by the way.  They were giving out free watermelon and snow cones, yeh!!  My kids never had a snow cone before.

Yummy!

After this refreshing break, we went and walked around the gardens which took us all over the place for a while.  It was very pretty. 



I believe they call these Angel Oak Trees for how the branches flare out the way they do.  I see them all over the south.  They are pretty.

They had swamps there too.  This is where we found some alligators sun bathing.  That made my son, P very happy.  I am just amazed at the number of alligators just hanging out all over the place.  Yikes.  They did say the plantation closed at 5 pm, but we could hang out after hours, but couldn't ensure our safety after dark.  Well, I can see why now. 

We also found a horticultural maze for the kids to run through which was fun!

We had a good time.  We ended up hanging out on some porch swings, enjoying the rest of the daylight, discussing where to eat for dinner and where to watch the fireworks.  We ended up eating at a place called AW Schucks in downtown Charleston and watching the fireworks at the Waterfront (I think).  The restaurant was so yummy!  I didn't take pictures, but you know how I like good seafood, right?

The fireworks turned out really well.  It was crowded, as expected, but it was still a great atmosphere to watch the fireworks on the harbor.  I wasn't sure where the fireworks display was going to be, but when 9:30pm rolled around the fireworks ended up being behind the only trees in my view!  I thought it was funny!  We still enjoyed it all - even though!  The traffic wasn't even bad, thank you God.  We got back to our hotel with no problems.  Yeh!! 

It was a great fourth of July.  We left the next day to Ave Maria, FL to visit my parents.