As quickly as spring burst upon the scene a week ago, so we watch it fade again. A few days ago, my calendar was clear for the afternoon, so I decided to take one more foray into the country for the season until next time. A friend and I drove from Charleston to visit the Cypress Wetlands in Port Royal, but were unimpressed. We were looking for spring landscapes and although there were many birds and alligators to admire, it was otherwise ho-hum. With a little help from Google, we found the Old House Plantation near Ridgeland (also known as the Daniel Heyward Plantation), birthplace and burial site of Thomas Heyward, Jr., one of SC’s four signatories of the Declaration of Independence. Nothing much is left of the original buildings except the family cemetery and surrounding brick wall. The house was destroyed by fire in 1865. The driveway and Avenue of Oaks are really beautiful although the azaleas had peaked already.
After we had wandered around for awhile, we headed for home via Tomotley Plantation and the Old Sheldon Ruins. The Sheldon Ruins have been further “ruined” (at least for photographers) by the addition of an ugly black fence that surrounds the remaining structure. One can understand why however, since some people just can’t seem to resist defacing these historic relics that we should be actively protecting.
