Hey there! Today we visit Hampton Plantation State Park! This state park has the old plantation house as well as some trails around the property. This is the third plantation state park we've visited and one of our favorites. As with Rose Hill and Redcliffe you can take a tour of the house and learn about the history of the park and house. We highly recommend the tour, you won't regret it! The park isn't too large, if you take the tour plan for about half a day or so.
From the parking area you can start right on a trail or head over to the rangers station. The trails take you around the dry and wet fields that were worked.
There are interpretive signs along the trails that tell the story of the slaves, plantation and technology that was used. Due to the recent hurricane we were only able to go on part of one trail.
After we finished with the trail we started over to the plantation house for our tour. Before you go to the plantation house, be sure to stop and learn about the old house that stood here, where only a chimney remains.
Right out in front of the plantation house you'll see the George Washington Tree. This is a really neat tree with a unique history! There is a plaque on the ground close to the tree commemorating it. If you visit, be sure to look for the bell hidden in the tree!
This house is really unique. Take our advice and make sure you go on the tour! Learn about its unique past and future. Unlike the Redcliffe plantation house, this house wasn't in good shape when it was donated to the park service. Rather than restoring the whole house they have preserved it, leaving some of the inner workings exposed. They have preserved the colors of the rooms, and the rooms are very colorful. Even in this state, this house is truly spectacular!
There is a small trail to the side of the house that takes you to the family grave-site, then loops back to the house.
With all there is to see and learn here this park is really worth a visit. What we did see of the trails were well maintained and informative. The house tour is a must. As always I ended up with way more pictures than room, so be sure to scroll down past this to see a few more pictures. Be sure to read the rest of this blog to see our other state park adventures and then visit our website to see the pictures that didn't make it in the blog and in higher (Blog pics are reduced quality to help with space/load times) resolution. Fine art prints are available for purchase at my site also. Be sure to connect with us on social media! All this can be found at our site: http://www.centerlightstudios.com.
Hey there! Today we finish up our visit to Charles Towne Landing State Park. If you missed the first part go check it out real quick. We left off at the replica ship, but before we continue on, let's backtrack and cover the zoo. The zoo branches off the main trail shortly after you start from the visitors center.
There are a few informative areas right before you get to the zoo, like this large unmarked cemetery.
The zoo is fairly small, there's about 5 or 6 areas, but it is still worth visiting. It mainly covers most of the native animals that were in the area when it was settled, some of which are no longer in the area.
The zoo is setup to not only show the animals but give you a history lesson on the area and role they played during the early years. Some of the animals they have here include bears, pumas, otters and wolves!
Now, let's continue on past the replica ship. Like Colonial Dorchester State Park, this park has active archaeological digs that go on. Be sure check the state park website to see when these are!
Continuing on is the Legare Waring House and gardens, this was part of the Old Plantation. This area is beautiful and is used for weddings and events. There is a lot to take in here, get your camera ready!
They were setting up for a wedding on our visit so we couldn't get into the house. We were able to get some great pictures around the house and gardens. The house is right next to the lake where there are chairs and benches to sit and enjoy the view. The lake has a fountain in it as well!
You can cut through this area back to the visitor center or go around the lake, we recommend going around the lake. The trees and scenery here are really beautiful and worth the extra walking.
Coming back around to the front gate of the house you are almost back at the visitors center. Just a short walk through one more area and you arrive at the museum part of the center. The museum is really nice and gives a great look into the history of this area. Don't skip this small area!
As we've said before, there's a lot to do and see at this park, make sure you are wearing your walking shoes and have plenty of time to see it all. The trails here are mostly flat so you just have distance to deal with. The programs are great, be sure to try and visit during a live dig or canon demonstration. This park has plenty of photo opportunities so bring your camera! As always I ended up with way more pictures than room so be sure to scroll down past this to see a few more pictures. Be sure to read the rest of this blog to see our other state park adventures and then visit our website to see the pictures that didn't make it in the blog and in higher (Blog pics are reduced quality to help with space/load times) resolution. Fine art prints are available for purchase at my site also. Be sure to connect with us on social media! All this can be found at our site: http://www.centerlightstudios.com.
Hey there! We are back! Thank you for your patience as we finish up our state park adventure. Today we visit Charles Towne Landing State Park! This historic park has a lot to take in and explore - they even have a small zoo. You can spend almost a whole day at this park, this is a must visit if you're a history buff. Due to the size and scope of the park we're going to split this into two posts. The park and trails offer a lot of hiking/biking, we hiked over 3 miles and didn't make it to all the areas of the park!
The visitors center is just a short walk from the parking lot, there are interpretive signs like this all over the park. It is really nice and offers a view over the pond and a small museum.
Setting out from the visitors center you have a couple of trail choices. We took the history/animal forest trail, this trail takes you around most of the park and gives you the option of seeing the small zoo.
The zoo branches off to the left from this trail, just follow the signs if you want to see it. We'll cover more from the zoo in our next blog post so stay tuned! Continuing on past where the zoo branches off you'll come to a field with an interesting past! There are several historical markers here that are very informative. There is also a large picnic area with a lot of picnic tables nearby.
This statue is just past the field and honors an Indian Tribe that helped the early settlers, there's also an area where they've unearthed an old home-site, under the glass is an old bathtub!
Right past the old home-site is the old fort, you can take the path around to the side or straight through the fort. We ended up going in a loop to see both trails. If you're wanting to go on just one trail, take the side route, you'll see more - including this small cannon.
Near the end of the fort is an area where they've setup the larger canons, this area has important historical significance, as you'll read on the signs. They have live canon firings so check the State Park website for dates and times, these are always great!
There are a few authentic structures in the fort as well, including this old slave house.
One of the main attractions is the replica ship they have, it's right past the old fort. You can board the ship and experience what it was like to be a sailor hundreds of years ago!! We couldn't go below deck due to the rain this day, but if you make it on a sunny day you can venture below! Watch out for pirates!
They also have the "skeleton" of an old ship here and information on how they were built. There's a lot of history and information here to take in!
Stay tuned as our next blog post will cover the rest of this great park and the zoo! The history and beauty of this park make it a must visit, make sure you have a lot of time to visit and enjoy the whole park. The programs are great and hopefully we'll be able to come back and visit during a live dig or canon demonstration. This park has plenty of photo opportunities so bring your camera! As always I ended up with way more pictures than room so be sure to scroll down past this to see a few more pictures. Be sure to read the rest of this blog to see our other state park adventures and then visit our website to see the pictures that didn't make it in the blog and in higher (Blog pics are reduced quality to help with space/load times) resolution. Fine art prints are available for purchase at my site also. Be sure to connect with us on social media! All this can be found at our site: http://www.centerlightstudios.com.
