East Coast--Charleston, SC--Day 18

Another light house, another plantation. That was today's sightseeing. Earlier we had found a modern light house on Sullivan Island, across the river from Charleston. We were also aware there was an old light house, no longer in service, on the southwest side of Morris Island. This island is not accessible except by boat. From everything we had seen it appeared you could not get close enough by car or on foot to get a good view of this light. The closest point on our maps was from the far east end of Folly Island. This morning we drove down to Folly to see what we could see and were pleasantly surprized with a good view. This light, the Morris Island Light House, is very old and has not been used for many years. It was originally on Morris Island itself but over the years the waves have washed away the sand and now it sits on a small patch of land of it's own. When the tide comes in, as when we were there today, the little island is under water. It is now starting to lean toward the sea and continues to deteriorate. There is an organization trying to raise enough money to save this light but it may already be too late. It would be a shame if it is lost and would be missed by light house freaks like us.

Later we drove out west of Charleston to the Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. This is one of the few plantations that have been in the same family hands for many centuries. The Drayton family has owned it since the 1600's. The original planation consisted of 2000 acres. During the Civil War it was occupied by both Confederate and Union troops. At the end of the war there were many renegade union troops running loose, buring all the plantation houses they came across. This was the fate of the house on this plantation. After the war the resident Drayton found himself destitute and had to sell off 1500 acres of the land. The gardens, which had been world famous before the war, had survived and to raise funds the owner opened it up to tourist, which they have now been doing every since. The current house was built over the foundation of the original house after the Civil War. Touring the gardens took well over an hour. There were some plants blooming but it would be a much better tour to come in the spring or summer. There are several areas on the grounds to tour including a petting zoo with many animals to see up close and personal.