Gone With the Wind

The tourist circuit of Charleston generally includes a stop at one of the grand plantations that generated the city's pre-Civil War wealth. We chose to visit the one called Middleton.

I was expecting a grand mansion, but hadn't reckoned with Sherman's soldiers, who left behind only this where the main house used to be (the Great Charleston Earthquake of 1886 didn't help either):


The gardens, however, are beyond beautiful, especially during azalea season:





And then there was this fellow, sunning himself beside one of the ponds:


Yes, wild alligators are actually found as far north as Charleston, even though there are freezes almost every winter.