What a beautiful, peaceful place. You feel the peace come over you as you drive down the long drive to the ticket booth. This is a wonderful place to visit if you have more than one day. The entrance fee of $12.00 seems a bit pricey but each ticket is good for the day you purchase it and the next 6 days. That certainly brings the price down within reason.
Of course, once we got into the park and parked our car we were thinking they hadn’t charged enough. The flowers are gorgeous and ever changing with the seasons. The grounds are well groomed and the sculpture garden is large with many hidden gardens to be found around the gardens.
Brookgreen Gardens consists of four rice plantations that flourished before the civil war. Each plantation consisted of land that stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Wacamaw river. An artist and her husband purchased four adjoining plantations and began to restore the gardens and to build a sculpture garden and educational center about the life and times of the people who lived on the original plantations.
Children and adults alike find the place enchanting. Many locals have memberships and bring their families several times a year.
We were able to enjoy the park two days. The first day we decided to take the pontoon boat ride (which is an additional $7 per person, but worth it). The ride is about 45 minutes and takes you down the Wacamaw River.
We had a wonderful docent who told about life on a plantation and how the plantations were developed and made the owners millionaires. There are spots along the river where the levee has been broken showing the old rice fields beyond.
There was one bird sunny himself on logs and a few alligators along the way.
We saw a really big guy as we were pulling into the dock.
I was fascinated by the water and the reflection of the cypress trees along the river. The cypress trees are protected by South Carolina law. The nodules you see in the water are roots of the tree. They were cut off in the past and used for many things including ornamental pieces for a home.
We moved on to the zoo that is on the grounds. The zoo contains animals native to the area. As you enter there are cows in a shed. We walked by and moved on to the aviary. We arrived at feeding time. What a great opportunity to see the birds eat and have them within a contained area for good photo shots.
There were babies too. Some of the fish were thrown into the water some was left in bowls on a perch.
We moved on to Denny’s favorite animal, the otter. These were river otters. My shots weren’t great because of the glass in front of the enclosure. There were a couple in a pool outside but the shots weren’t good, so you’ll have to settle for the otter sculpture.
We walked on seeing alligators, fox and other local wildlife before reaching the birds of prey and were fortunate to be there on Friday at feeding time. They call it “mice on ice” because the birds get mice or rats on Friday only. They sure seemed to love it. The mice and rats arrive frozen and the park thaws them before each feeding on Friday.Here are red hawks, owls and bald eagles with their “mice on ice”.
There was a pair of eagles and they are sitting on a nest with eggs. We were told they should hatch within a couple of weeks. All the birds of prey on the grounds are injured and cannot fly. What an experience.
As we were walking to the tram stop we saw several wild turkeys. It is mating season and the males are out strutting their stuff.
I have never seen so many wild turkeys at the same time. We thought they were part of the zoo but they fly in and out on their own and you see so many of them during the mating season.
There were a pair of swans floating on the water.
There were turkey vultures and more turkeys.
And here is the path to leave the zoo and head toward the tram stop.
We had such a wonderful afternoon and look forward to coming back in a few days. We can’t wait to spend more time here at Brookgreen Gardens.
More adventures to come.
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