My birthday was this past Saturday and it just seemed right to
celebrate turning another year older while touring historical sites.
Georgetown, SC is where I decided I wanted to celebrate! I enlisted my
family to come tour Georgetown with me, so we loaded up the vehicles and
away we went. The ride to Georgetown is such a beautiful drive. As we
were driving I couldn't remember if I had ever been to Georgetown by
land. My uncle (shout out to my Uncle James!) would plan trips to
Georgetown and my family would jump in the boat & go go go. By water or land, the ride to Georgetown is amazing!
The
day was very cloudy and the chance of rain was extremely high but that
didn't stop us. I grabbed my camera gear, boots, and my rain jacket
and I was ready. Our first stop was at Hampton Plantation State
Historic Site. This site is on the SC State Park list so yes I received
my stamp while visiting the Ranger's Station (another state park
visited, many more to go). We purchased our tour tickets then made our
way to the mansion. We met the Park Ranger/Tour Guide on the 'now' back
porch but when the house was originally built the back porch was the
front...both have pretty awesome views. Upon stepping into the mansion,
you see what looks to be a restoration in process. However, the
exposed beams, no furniture, some 'open' walls are all part of teaching
the history of the home.
Original 'front' of the house, with this viewThe interior
Names of enslaved individuals
George Washington visited Hampton Plantation
The trees on this property were amazing!
God
has blessed my birthday/adventure day & the rain has held off thus
far. We went into Georgetown and ate fantastic seafood at the River
Room. As we were leaving there was a pirate by the doorway so of course
that meant that I had to have my picture taken w/him while doing my
best pirate impression. Pretty spot on if you ask me :)
After lunch, we went on a 'walking tour'. I've started adding these into
my tour plans because I want to see more of the town/city and not fall asleep in the back of the
car. In the few blocks that we walked we saw so much history.
Our
last stop of the day was at the Prince Frederick's Chapel Ruins located
in Plantersville. This place was a little tricky to locate but we only
had to stop twice, turn around once & we found it which I count as a
win. This ruins are not far off the road and are massive! Building
for the chapel (the 2nd one in its location) started in 1859 but was
stopped due to the Civil War. The chapel was completed in 1876.
However, due to the decline in the rice planter community, the chapel
was abandoned. The chapel, with the exception of the tower and front
wall, were demolished in 1966. There is a chain link fence around the
site as vandalism has taken place (come on people this is our history!)
and there are private property signs located in several places. I was
saddened to see the fence with the locked gate because the chapel spoke
to me and I wanted to go exploring. Also, because there was a cemetery
located on the property and I wondered about their loved ones.
Happy Travels,
Amber
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