For our second day in Charleston, Andy and I decided we wanted to see something new for both of us. So the four of us piled into the car and head to Magnolia Gardens, a plantation along the Ashley River. When we arrived, we opted for the full package which included a boat tour and a tram tour as well as a tour of the house and the slave cabins. We grossly underestimated the effect the heat would have on us and ended up only doing the boat and tram tours, but it was still pretty fun.

Since we had some time before the tram tour, we started off our visit with the petting zoo. To help convince the animals to let us pet them, we bought some feed to give them. Unfortunately, some of the little guys are very smart. Once they realize you have food, they tend to follow you around, as one white goat in particular did the entire time we were in petting zoo. While in there we also got to feed a pretty doe (really, how can people eat such a pretty animal) and a little rabbit.

After the zoo we hopped on the tram for a tour of the plantation grounds. This took us around all the various swamps and ponds. Unfortunately, we again didn’t get to see any alligators due to the heat. The tram also took us around the slave cabins and passed an old Indian burial ground.

Magnolia Gardens has a fun little hedge maze, which we went through next. Though it’s quite small, that didn’t prevent us from hitting a couple dead ends before finding the statue in the middle. Funnily enough, while it took us about 10 minutes to find the center, it only took us about 10 seconds to get out thanks to some thinning in the hedges.

Deciding it was just too hot to walk around anymore, we decided to head down to the docks to wait for the boat tour. Since the boat had already returned from a tour and the guide was just killing time before the next tour, we got to sit on the boat and relax alone with him. The boat tour took us through the swamps of the plantation. When plantations were at their production peak, this area of the grounds was used to grow rice. Now it’s host to a vast variety of wildlife, though it was difficult to photograph them from the boat without a good zoom lens.

After the boat tour we opted to do some wandering around the gardens on our own. This was especially enjoyable as we got to see many different flowers and even a fun little spider. I can’t remember what kind of spider it is, but I’ll be posting a photo of the female in an upcoming post. The male is about a quarter of her size. Once she’s mated with him, she eats him. Smart girl if you ask me.

With the heat of the day upon us, we head back home to relax a little before having a cook out and fireworks to celebrate Independence Day. There was, however, an ulterior motive to our desire to get home. See, for months now Joe, Andy and I had been in on a very fun birthday surprise for Nicole and her surprise was set to arrive in a few hours all the way from England. I’d post a photo, but to my dismay we didn’t take a single photo that night after we left Magnolia Gardens, so just imagine in your head a nerdy British guy named Andrew.

Initially Andrew was supposed to arrive earlier in the afternoon, which was the real reason Joe and I were trying to cut short the day at Magnolia Gardens. Due to the nightmare that is air travel, though, Andrew missed his afternoon flight, getting stuck on one that didn’t arrive until 8 p.m. So instead, we head home and enjoyed a lovely meal made by Joe (who is an awesome cook, by the way). Since Andy was out of cigarettes, after dinner, Joe and him headed out to pick up a pack (as well as swing by the airport and grab Andrew). Somehow Nicole managed to not be suspicious in any way when it took them well over an hour to run out for smokes. Of course, she forgot all about how long they were taking when Joe asked her for help getting stuff out of the car and she went to open the back door and out popped Andrew.

Honestly, I still can’t believe we were able to keep that surprise a secret for so long. So many people knew about it and we had been planning it for months. But we all managed to keep it quiet and it was well worth it. The rest of the night was spent using every bit of fireworks bought the day before, creating a very pretty light show right in the neighborhood. While some other people had their own firepower in the area, I have to say I think ours was the best. Also, anyone get the irony of an Englishman traveling to America to celebrate our independence from his tiny little island? What a traitor. Off with his head!