Our annual Memorial Day trip to Charleston, SC this time included a half day frolicking about Middleton Place, a “National Historic Landmark” and America’s oldest landscaped gardens. It is truly stunning. You can walk for what seems like miles among both well-kept, aristocratic-seeming gardens as well as southern marshland that extends forever. It’s a really unique combination of two types of beauty — one carefully manicured and the other wild and unkempt.
Looking around at the sheer vast tracts of land that have been preserved I couldn’t help but wonder what would have replaced all of this history and beauty had it not been protected. I could envision yet another cul-de-sac with McMansions and clogged traffic. How unfortunate that would have been.
But the good news is that Middleton Place is around for visitors for years to come so if you have a chance to check it out during a visit to Charleston, I highly recommend it. Just bring your sunscreen and a big hat. It gets hot as hell down there.
(Photo the author’s own)
