Hampton Park

Jim and I took a much needed spring break, heading to Charleston, SC. It was cloudy, but we had perfect walking weather!

Being only our second time to this beautiful city, we ventured to a park we did not visit the first time.

 At 60 acres, Hampton Park is the largest park in Charleston.

Unfortunately it is named after Confederate General Wade Hampton III, one of the largest slave owners of the south. Considering the park's history, I would have named it Freedom Park, or something like that.

In the 1700s, the land was the Orange Grove Plantation owned by John Gibbes.

In the 1800s, the land was acquired by the South Carolina Jockey Club. The horse racing ended here when the Civil War was going on.

I just love the look of Spanish moss contrasted with vibrant flowers.

This park also boasts marvelous live oaks!

The site became a prisoner of war camp during the war. More than 200 Union soldiers were buried here in mass graves. 

After the Civil War, black Charlestonians along with white missionaries and teachers held a parade of 10,000 people on the race tracks used by the wealthy white slaver owners. This must have been a powerful event of emancipation triumph!

These crepe myrtles are surely gorgeous in summer with their flowers and the Spanish moss doing its messy goodness thing.

This city took over at the beginning of the 1900s.

In the mid 1900s, the park was home to a zoo which closed in 1975.

In the early 1980s the designing of the park locals and visitors enjoy today began.

It is a gorgeous park for running, walking, picnicking, bike riding and dog walking.

There was a lovely variety of spring flowers and even camellias still blooming! The summer must be beautiful here with crepe myrtles, roses and other summer blooms showing themselves.

Since this was a fairly long walk from the historic section that we were visiting, we maximized our time by the park. This meant visiting nearby Rodney Scott's BBQ. We enjoyed seeing this pitmaster in action on a Netflix's BBQ series so it made sense to make the hike for this whole hog barbecue. Rodney's restaurant can also be found in Birmingham, AL and Atlanta, GA.

Also near Hampton Park is a restaurant and bar co-owned by Bill Murray who occasionally calls Charleston home. Someone who we are both big fans of. Harold's Cabin is filled with charm that includes 3 separate indoor spaces filled with quirky decor. Rooftop seating is also available.

If you go, the park is located at 30 Mary Murray Blvd in Charleston, SC. website

Have a marvelous day/evening (wherever you are on the clock)! ~Val

St Patrick's Day Festival

After missing our town's St Patrick's Day Festivities the weekend prior to the holiday due to the weather, we made it to the 40th annual Columbia celebration in the Five neighborhood this past weekend.

Jim and I were all about the music rather than the green beer.

This neighborhood celebrates its history with murals and photos of what it was like the in 1940s and 1950s.

Some features have been preserved like this cowboy in a bathtub. This building is currently for lease so some lucky business can have this as an attraction.

The old theater is now a bar. This neighborhood has many bars since it is in walking distance to USC which seems to be a party school from what we witnessed!

There is an eclectic collection of buildings here.

I need some crazy green wearables for next year.

We saw many marvelous and fun outfits.

The day was like a music festival for us. 5 stages throughout the neighborhood, each on 1 of the 5 streets that intersect here. 

Many genres were represented including rock, funk, hip hop, country, folk and pop. The music started at noon and went until 8 - 9pm (we left before crowd got super drunk and wild). Each band played 1 hour so it was constantly changing with a fantastic variety. Definitely an event for the music lover.

Here were the entertaining 502s from Orlando. I am guessing they are a college band because the students here knew the lyrics. These guys used a great variety of instruments throughout their set.

 

This was the Stews out of Alabama. Since we are partial to rock, they were one of our favorites for the day.

 

We saw a lot of great bands and had a blast. The day started off cold and wet and ended up hot and sunny!

Here is the website for local's reference next year! https://stpatscolumbia.com/

Have a marvelous day/evening (wherever you are on the clock)! ~Val

Hampton-Preston Mansion

The Hampton-Preston Mansion is part of Historic Columbia in South Carolina. Built in 1818, it changed hands many times until is was taken over by the city.

This past Sunday was the unveiling of a new greenhouse on site.

This greenhouse will be used by the city for growing and storing plants as well as educating the public.

In 1823 the home was sold to Wade Hampton, one of the south's wealthiest planters. 

As beautiful as the home is, it can not be ignored that many were enslaved here.

Today one can tour the mansion to learn of its dark past under the Hampton and Preston families.

Within the 100 years following the Civil War it had various owners including a college.

In 1970 it was deemed a historic site by the City of Columbia.

None of the antiques here are original to the house but give one the idea of how it would have looked in the 1800s.

Considering what happened here makes it bitter sweet enjoying the walk through.

This southern front porch is much grander than that of our home!

Afterwards we checked out the new attraction where local PBS personality, Amanda McNulty of Making it Grow spoke of the state of our land in South Carolina. This included how we can better respect and protect our properties, particularly with regards to tilling, fertilizing and watering.

It will be wonderful to see the greenhouse filled with plants in the future!

We strolled the gardens to see what was in bloom.

Camellias were still going strong!

Daffodils start blooming in February here, then all through March.

A variety of orange that grows here has been planted in multiple locations.

The Mid Carolina Camellia Society was present. After a discussion of these beauties we are considering planting these beauties again in our yard. Most are shade loving, not compatible with our property. However there are a couple of varieties that can handle sun.

It was unseasonably cold last weekend. The temperatures even dropped into the 20sF overnight! Crazy! The azaleas did not appreciate this and were quite droopy.

A few lucky blooms handled it ok.

We have this flowering plant in our yard and apparently you can train it for arches and arbors!

Irises are popping up.

These are probably weeds but so pretty.

There is a new gatehouse entrance to the garden/

It was a cold, but enjoyable day!

If you go, the mansion is located at 

1615 Blanding Street

Columbia, SC

website

With reduced capacity, I would recommend referring to their website before venturing here to make sure they will be open.

Have a marvelous day/evening (wherever you are on the clock)! ~Val