Day 8 (November 9th)

Today we went to Middleton Plantation;  essentially one massive landscaped garden with a slave-era rice plantation on one side.

When we were walking through the amazing gardens and ponds, Mom almost stepped on an alligator! No lie, these guys were almost 3 feet long and basking relaxedly. After this we walked more carefully through the rest of the gardens, and saw many era-correct crafting demonstrations. Later, we went on a Slave History tour. It took us through the slave’s quarters, daily lifestyle and how they used their knowledge of rice farming to win little favors over with their masters.

The other place we visited was Drayton Hall. Drayton Hall is essentially a vacation home for the Drayton family, surrounded by smaller sheds and a pond. The house is devoid of any furniture for preservation reasons, but has been kept exactly the same as it was in the 1870s (parts of it date back to it's construction in the early 1700s.)  The house was home to both the American and British generals in the revolutionary war.

My favorite part of the house was the family height notches in the wall. One of the owners lived without children, so she notched the growth of her dogs! The funny thing is even though her favorite dog was very small, she always notched him just above the tallest dog.