Along the way from Charleston, SC to Savannah, GA

We began our day at the Charles Pickney National Historic site. Charles Pinckney was a principal author and signer of the United States Constitution. The National Parks app said this park was open 9a-5p. It didn’t mention that it closed on Monday & Tuesday (though the website does). The gate was locked when we got there so we were unable to tour the grounds.

A few miles down the road is one of the oldest plantations. The Magnolia Plantation and Gardens was established in 1676. They offer multiple tours of their grounds and the main house.

We decided to take the house tour (no pictures allowed inside 😕) and also did a self-guided tour of the garden. The garden was pretty however, a word of caution…don’t feed the alligators. It was also very hot and humid so the mosquitos were out and seem to like me so much more than Joel. 😬

The plantation had peacocks walking around. Very pretty but also very noisy birds. They sounded like small children screaming.

Next, we drove down to the town of Beaufort, South Carolina. Our intent was to stop at the Reconstruction Era National Monument. Unfortunately, this visitor center is closed, we’re not sure why. The sign directed us across the street to the Beaufort History Museum.

This town was really cute with loads of Southern charm. It has been featured in a number of movies and the History Museum will provide a map to take a self-guided tour of the houses featured in famous movies. This one was in the Big Chill.

This town was also home to Robert Smalls, born a slave here in 1839. He went on to serve as a US Congressman and a delegate to the 1868 and 1895 State Constitution Conventions. Beaufort is also the future site of a Harriet Tubman Monument.

We arrived in Savannah in the late in the afternoon and stayed down by the Savannah River in the historic district. The road along the river included the original stone from the 1600’s. Some of the old stairways are also still intact, though they come with warning signs. Joel walked down carefully since they were very uneven. They reminded us of the stairs at the pyramid El Castillo in Chichen Itza, Mexico.