Day 5 - Middleton Place, a Massive Plantation Northwest of Charleston
We went to Middleton Place, a plantation northwest of Charleston in Summerville, SC. It's on the Ashley River, and and what would have been a few hours boat trip to Charleston. Here are some animals on the plantation:
Here's some sheep asking for food:
We listened to an hour-long talk called "Beyond the Fields: Enslavement at Middleton Place". The speaker talked about the history of Middleton Place, and that it was not a typical plantation, but was really quite large and opulent compared to other plantations. He talked about how enslaved people worked the rice and cotton fields, built the houses and other structures, landscaped the plantation, created the gardens, and built their own houses and villages. He talked about how the main house and other buildings were destroyed by General Sherman's army at the tail-end of the Civil War, and the post-war history of the plantation.
We also did a garden tour with a master gardener of America's oldest landscape gardens. The landscape is quite beautiful, and you can imagine just how much enslaved labor was required to maintain it.
The plantation was quite beautiful, and it's magnitude in comparison to the McLeod Plantation was obvious. After three hours of touring, we were now ready for lunch.
We found a BBQ restaurant in Summerville called Swigs & Pigs. Shelly had 4 side dishes, Kate had ribs, and I had a pulled pork sandwich. It was a very good meal.
We made it back to the Airbnb around 3:30pm. Kate wanted to rest, and Shelly and I went out to have a couple drinks on the outdoor patio at The Dispensary on King St. We met and had a photo-op with the reigning Miss Southern Coast, who was to appear at a magazine launch at a nearby lounge later in the evening.
I got another pint of gooey butter cake ice cream from Jeni's and headed to bed early. We leave for home tomorrow morning. We had a fantastic visit, and thoroughly enjoyed Charleston, the shops, restaurants, and people.
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