A Diva's Vacation - Part 2

During our visit to Myrtle Beach we spent two days at Brookgreen Gardens, a breathtaking Southern flora and fauna preserve which also acts as a display space for figurative sculpture by American artists.

This place was amazing, and beautiful even in late fall.

An explosion of fall colors in the courtyard of the Lowcountry Center.   

 

Wood ducks on display in the museum space inside the Lowcountry Center.

We were admiring them when one of the volunteers told us that these weren't taxidermied specimens...they were carved from wood!

If I hadn't been looking at these with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed her.   

The floor of the museum space in the Lowcountry Center is an aerial map of the local coastline and tidal area...which is a freaking genius idea! 

Brookgreen Gardens from above.

We took the Creek Cruise which winds through the purpose dug channels which connect to the local river and allowed for the cultivation of rice, which was the greatest source of wealth for the local plantations. 

The historic rice fields have been left fallow for several generations now, allowing them to become a natural wildlife preserve and bird sanctuary.  The tall, deep rooted marsh trees which were cleared to construct the fields are slowly beginning to reclaim the river banks.

Alligator

Yellow-bellied Sliders (turtles)

So peaceful and beautiful.

Sunlight through the leaves

My traveling companions relaxing in the shade and enjoying an

afternoon snack of soft pretzels.

An aluminum sculpture by Anna Hyatt Huntington, the co-founder of Brookgreen Gardens.  Her work is on display all over the grounds.  She originally worked in bronze but switched to aluminum because the admired its luminous quality in low light. 

I took a picture of this particular sculpture for my buddy the HOPSF...who really likes squirrels. 

You're welcome.

This is a diagram of a Rice Truck. 

Rice trunks are devices used to control or carry water throughout the system of rice fields. Generally they are long wooden boxes that serve as sluices. A door or gate is built into each end. The trunks are installed in the banks of the rice fields for water to travel to and from fields. The gates are opened or closed to remove or add water to a field. The earliest rice trunks were even simpler devices. Slaves hollowed out cypress logs and fitted them with plugs at each end. This technology was common in West Africa and may be where we get the name rice trunk.

A canopy of Spanish Moss growing on the Live Oaks.

And seriously...the picture doesn't do it justice,

As I said earlier, rice was the crop that made this part of South Carolina the wealthiest region of the south for well over 100 years.  Prior to the Civil War this view (now part of the bird sanctuary) would have been nothing but marsh-like rice field and slaves as far as the eye could see. 

The large trees you see in the distance are 'regrowth' on the banks of the river. 

This is a 6 ton cypress log, on loan to the gardens.  Cypress is one of the deep rooted trees that would have flourished in the marshy regions which were drained and cultivated for rice.  These trees grow to massive sizes and are being cultivated as part of the conservation project in the gardens.

My uncle, putting an advantageously low growing branch to good use.

My aunt, pausing to admire the Spanish moss.

 

- HistoryDiva