Magnolia Plantation

We toured The Magnolia Plantation while in Charleston.  The Gardens were beautiful even though many of the flower still hadn't bloomed.  

 

 

A little alligator was sunning himself on the rock

To take this picture, I was still on the trail, but I moved closer to a tree to get the whole bridge.  I heard a rustle in the leaves and when I looked down, there was a big snake.  Yuck!  Tyler was impressed though

 

This was the Bamboo Garden

After we did the Gardens, we went on the walking Audubon Swamp Tour.  I liked it, but a few places felt a little eerie-you're walking by yourself on these trails right next to the swamp and you don't know what animals-alligators or snakes-lurking close by.  

There were many Egrets nesting at this time.  At this nest, the Dad kept flying off to another tree and then would bring back the flowers and sticks, pass them off to the mom, who was making her nest with them.  They did it over and over.  It was neat to watch.

An alligator is on the wood piece out there and you can see several nests in the trees.

A black Heron and her babies

There were a few other tours that we did not do: the house tour, rice field boat ride, and From Slavery to Freedom tour that went by the slave cabins.  They also had a petting zoo, cafe, and gift shop.  It was neat to be there and I'm glad we did it.