Trip to the South after Christmas

Mikki and I were both pretty much exhausted this year by Christmas... so much so that I felt we needed to get away and rest before we tackle 2012. So, we chose the path of least resistance... and that was to fly from one place to another, no connections and no driving... short and simple. So we chose Charleston, South Carolina. The South is very relaxing if you ignore the visitors:-)

What a magnificent area this is. We have slept, read, drawn and driven, looked, photographed... and yes, eaten. A lot. Good grief, what food these folks fix. If you like grits, shrimp, biscuits, butter, collards, pork chops, chicken, crab cakes...then you'll love Charleston. And, if you don't like grits, they'll dress em' up and make them taste like cheese and you'll love them. Here are a few pictures of the trip...

A downtown window at night

The most beautiful camellia blooms I've ever seen. They were laying in a bowl at a pharmacy in downtown Charleston. Amazing combination of color.

A camellia bloom at Middleton Plantation

Camellia blooming

Color against the gray was too much to pass up... this is a pink magnolia loaded with blooms and it's first one to start opening. Can't image how beautiful it'll be in a couple weeks.

Poured glass... Mik walking by coincidentally. 

Peacock at Middleton Plantation

Hen resting on her roost

Not sure of the bird, but loved the pose

Some kind of egrets, but loved the shot. I think Mikki took this one.

Love this anvil in the blacksmith's shop at Middleton Plantation

The horse stalls at Middleton Plantation

Tea growing at the Charleston Tea Plantation. The only American grown tea and a wonderful manufacturing facility we toured. 

The pond at Middleton Plantation

St John Baptist Church on Johns Island. A wonderful cemetery that dates back before the Civil War. There were numerous gravestones dating to the early 1700's. A couple of the men in the cemetery were fighters in the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. Amazing to read the tombstones. So many babies lost to disease. We have no idea how good we have it.

Mama goat watching me at Middleton Plantation

The Angel Oak. 17,000 sq ft of ground cover! An amazing specimen of Live Oak just out of Charleston. It is hard to believe until you stand next to it. It's the largest oak East of the Mississippi, which indicates that there is one larger West I suppose. 

Me standing next to a limb. It's alive:-) 

A drawing of a cotton pod and a boll from the Middleton Plantation. I was blown away by this tall cotton they grew there. I had to draw it. They say this is as close to Sea Island Cotton as we can grow here.