After my minor disappointment with Boone Hall being so young, while we were relaxing Sunday night I did a little research into other area plantations, finally finding on that still had the original house. Even better, Drayton Hall hadn’t even been modernized since 1738 when it was built. In 270 years, it had only been restored. This means to this day there is no electricity or running water. It is the only plantation on the Ashley River to have survived to this day and it’s simply striking how beautiful the house and surrounding land is.

One great thing about this plantation is that no one lives here and there are no furnishings, so taking photographs inside the house is encouraged and we were able to walk through the entire house, including the basement areas where the slaves would do the cooking. One of the two most striking features of the house are the ceilings in two of the downstairs rooms. In the front room, the design was made from molded plaster. The amazing thing about that is that when it was made each mold could only be used to make one piece of the design. When the mold was made, they would put the plaster in and make one shape. This first molding was tossed because it would be too sharp. A second was made, which came out perfect. But then the mold was useless because any subsequent moldings would lose the detail. The second ceiling, in the side room, was actually hand carved from the plaster. It’s symmetrical, though if you look closely you can spot some differences, according to the tour guide. I didn’t spot them, though.

Once we were done looking at the rooms on the first floor, we went to the staircase that leads to the second floor. As with everything about this house, the stairs are perfectly symmetrical. This was the second striking feature of the house. The mahogany staircase was made from the first shipment of mahogany to ever reach the New World. It’s still in pristine condition to this day, which is astounding. Walking up them made me think of all the people who walked up those stairs before. We’re talking some of the most wealthy people in Charleston at the time, I have no doubt, as these stairs lead to the ballroom on the second floor.

We then quickly toured the second floor, where the ballroom is. We also got to walk out onto the upper piazza and look at the view from there, which is simply amazing. Before we left Drayton Hall, we also took a walk down by the Ashley River to enjoy the serenity and peace that can only be found siting outside on a beautiful day next to a still river.

Once we were done at Drayton Hall, Nicole took me to the Angel Tree. This is an oak tree that has been estimated to be 1,400 years old. It’s simply humongous. Many of the branches are either laying on the ground or supported by metal and wood rods because the weight of them would cause the tree to completely uproot itself.

Once we were done sightseeing for the day, the plan was to meet Joe for dinner somewhere near the Collage of Charleston, where he works. Since we still had time to kill once we finished up at the Angel Tree, we head out to Folly Pier to look at the ocean. We even saw a fisherman catch a shark, though because of local laws he had to throw him back. After that, Nicole and I were piered out and headed to meet Joe. We opted for seafood, even though Nicole isn’t a huge fan, and this is when I found my new favorite restaurant. It’s a place called Coast and it’s nestled in this pretty little alleyway. I had the Lobster and Crab Au Gratin, which was a lobster shell, cut lengthwise and stuff with lobster and crab meet mixed with parmesan cream sauce. To say it was delicious would be an understatement. It was heavenly.