Drayton Hall, c.1738. Photo credit: Wade Lawrence
Charleston: A History
The glory that is Charleston today is a relatively recent development. If you ask most locals, they’ll tell you that Joe Reilly, the city’s mayor since 1975 raised Charleston up and gave it life, grace and beauty again. For a hundred years beginning with the end of the Civil War―or the War Between the States as it’s referred to in Charleston―the city looked like a faded aging beauty who let herself go to the dogs. Today it is a place where the two hundred year old houses have been restored with the care they deserve. The gardens now bloom with forsythia, lilies, honeysuckle, and magnolias.
For a true taste of the antebellum South, head for the plantations of Middleton Place, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens and Drayton Hall, and be transported back 250 years ago. Drayton is the oldest preserved plantation house in America and it sits on 350 acres. This is a chance to walk through rooms that have not been changed since old man John Drayton built the house in 1738. A little hint…if you become a member of the Friends of Drayton Hall for $45.00, you get free or discounted admission to all of the National Trust Historic Sites and a souvenir rice serving spoon, which I found works just as well spooning out Ben & Jerry’s ice cream as it does rice.
If you can get to Middleton around lunchtime, stop at the Middleton Place Restaurant and treat yourself to southern fried chicken, then head out to one of the several tours offered, such as the house museum tour and the hour long African American Focus Tour which explores the lives of the slaves and freedmen.
