Middleton Place

Doesn't that just sound elegant, like something out of an English regency movie or something? Anyway, we are back home and it's cold. :-) But there are still pictures to be posted from the last day of our trip!

We flew out of Charleston, so we checked out of our condo early and drove to Charleston.

Always a challenge - "How did we fit this in the first time?"

Dad says this is the best picture from our vacation. Too bad we couldn't bring some home with us...

The reason we checked out early was because we wanted to visit Middleton Place before catching our late afternoon flight. Middleton Place is a plantation in Charleston that was built in the 1700's by - you guessed it - the Middleton family, who were originally from England. Amazingly the plantation stayed in the family through the late 1900's when it was opened to the public.

When we arrived, there were sheep just wandering around at their own sweet will

The first thing we did was take a carriage ride tour through the woods, on which we learned all about the Middletons.

Here we are approaching the house. 

More sheep grazing on the lawn

This is not the original house; originally, there was the main house, and two "flankers." In the Civil War, the whole of Middleton Place was burned by Union troops. Williams Middleton who was then in possession of the house (I think... it's hard to remember which Middletons were there at what time!) decided to rebuild the south flanker as a home. Formerly it was I think a kitchen (?) downstairs, and upstairs were the "gentleman's quarters," where the unmarried men who visited would sleep.

We toured the house but were not allowed to take pictures. Then we were free to wander around the grounds. The scenery was gorgeous and I took a lot of pictures - enjoy!

This is the view from the top of the "back yard" - though it could also be considered the front yard, since in the "olden days" many visitors traveled by boat. The water you see in the far back of the picture is the Ashley River.

Here's what the back yard looks like from the bottom.

Then we went over to the stableyards where they had some folks demonstrating some of the crafts that may have been done back then. There were also some animals...

Water Buffalo (used as work animals in the rice fields - Middleton Place was a rice plantation before the Civil War)

A Jersey cow 

And yes, peacocks!

A gentleman playing what I think is called a hammer dulcimer - correct me if I'm wrong. (If you were at Liberty Day, you will remember that Amy Lautenschlager, of the Fiddlers Three, played one of these).

This lady demonstrated pottery that the slaves would have made.

This gentleman showed us how the young slave women ground corn.

I want one of these for my birthday. :-)

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!