Brookgreen Gardens

 I stumbled across Brookgreen Gardens online and I almost didn't visit because I didn't know if I wanted to forfeit my beach time to visit a botanical garden.  My reasoning was that we can visit gardens almost anywhere we visit but the beach is fairly rare as far as how often we can visit.

I'm so glad I pushed past that thinking and decided to branch out and see something different beyond just the beach fun.  I had no idea it would be as large or grand or interesting as it is.  This place ranks up there on our top ten list of attractions outside of natural attractions.  It is that great of a place.

 It is huge, with 9,100 acres.  It is well done and has a wonderful historic sense, having been founded in 1931 by Archer Huntington and Anna Hyatt Huntington.  It is quite frankly, breathtaking.  I must have said wow at least once every ten or fifteen minutes.

First off, are the trees.  The amazing, some of them 300 year old, trees.

Then there are the gardens.  The gardens are laid out the shape of a spread wing butterfly.  There are different sections, each with its own theme and beauty.  It would take me hours to describe them so I'll just point you to the website: here.   

As we walked through them we were so taken by how many spaces were made just to sit and take in the beauty for as long as you'd like.

 

There are water features throughout the gardens.

And there are even spaces for children's fun in the Children's Peace Garden.

 The gardens alone would have been well worth the visit.  On top of the gardens,  there is also a wildlife refuge and incredible art galleries and sculptures.  I'll leave the other parts for another day because there is just too much to tell to fit in one blog post.

If you are in the area, please visit this place.  Tickets are $12 for adults and they are good for a whole week.  You really can't beat that, can you?

Living the life in South Carolina!