Forest Tent Caterpillar Tried to KISS me at Magnolia Plantation & Gardens

While at Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, we sat on a bench outside and enjoyed our slice of cranberry nut bread with butter on it.

It was a surprise to suddenly notice this critter walking 'UP' to me!

Put him/her back on my knee but the race up to my LIPS started anew...!

Up it came and FAST.

Did pick it up and placed it on the picnic table and we left.

Guess it CRIED

What would you have done?

Only later of course, I figured out that this was a Forest Tent Caterpillar or Malacosoma disstria

Forest Tent Caterpillar Moth

Malacosoma disstria Hübner, 1820 ←click link for more images.

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens also has a Zoo and Nature Center 

So after the Caterpillar tried to KISS me, that is where we went next...

What a beauty of a Peacock in Pieter's favorite color blue, as he can distinguish it well, being color blind...

The Indian Peafowl is one of the most colorful species of bird.

The males, called peacocks are well known for their courtship displays in which they fan their long colorful trains in order to impress females.

Well, this one did show quite a lot of its colorful train!

What a majestic bird!

A groundhog sitting up... had to zoom in through the wire.

Wire visible later with Bobcat photos.

Elegant deer, and there even was one roaming freely around. At one time it was nudging my hand, where I held the iPhone, while I read some information... 

This turtle was HUGE, an African Spurred Tortoise...

A barn owl...

And a Bobcat and here I could not walk up to the wire for capturing it through there... out of protection there was another wooden fence I guess.

When I used my usual kitty call, it turned its head and we could admire its majestic 'grand' kitty face!

They live in Georgia as well.

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens has a lot to be seen and is educative for children as well!

Hope you enjoyed your virtual visit without getting 'KISSED'...

Related link:

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens with Nature Train Tour | previous post by me

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens with Nature Train Tour

 Our second day's trip and this time I was the designated driver...

After driving about half an hour, we arrived at Magnolia Plantation around 11:30 o'clock.

America's Oldest Romantic Garden

Ancestral Home of the Drayton Family

Established 1676

In its original day it was about 2,000 acres or 809 hectares, mainly with wet rice fields.

Today it is approximately 500 acres or 202 hectares as a lot of its lands had to be sold off.

More info here→ History of Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston SC, USA | Tour Guide Interview for a short 3:35 video.

Pieter's older brother Toon invented that for a formal photo shoot in the Nation's Oldest City, we were the owners of the Magnolia Plantation: {Do YOU all know Our Nations Oldest City - St. Augustine, Florida?} ←click link.

So finally we got to SEE IT...

We stood in line for purchasing our entrance tickets.

Guess due to the Tornado warning the week before and prior to that another cold spell, people postponed their visit–just as we did!

The guided 45 minute garden tour was NOT available, so we went on our own.

Might have been better for being able to do it on Pieter's pace.

In the back you see the Long White Bridge and we stand there admiring the many swamp cypress trees.

Magnolia Plantation & Gardens is right along the Ashley River

Me next to the sign pointing to the Long White Bridge and we now follow the Native Azalea Garden...

Pieter near the abundantly blooming Chinese Snowball Viburnum which we have in our wood garden.

click link→{Our Viburnum Tinus & Viburnum Macrocephalum - Chinese Snowball Viburnum}

Well, not all azaleas were past their blooming period!

Live Oak trees with their Spanish moss hanging down.

Everyone not from the South might have never seen that...

Dad loved it very much: click→Bye-bye Spanish Moss and dear Friends...

Here Pieter is standing under several Chinese Parasol Trees, 

Another tree that we have in our garden: click→ {Our Firmiana simplex, Sterculia platanifolia, Chinese Parasol Tree}

This is the spot where those Chinese Parasol Trees grow...

Do you see all those knees from the Swamp Cypress?

They grow up from the roots of the trees.

We also have a few in our wood garden, they do grow in swamps and lowlands.

I'd walked a little ahead for capturing this huge water bird.

Don't know what it is, looks like a stork but guess its bill is too long for it...

Maybe one of my readers knows?

Here you can see its long bill clearly.

Yay, found some picture perfect Azaleas and they match Pieter's t–shirt.

A left over from the many t–shirts we had made in Indonesia, in different colors, for Dublin, Georgia's St. Patrick's Festival...

Here we stand actually in the back yard of Magnolia Plantation and it is being worked on...

The front is facing Ashley River and from the video link that I showed in the beginning you get a better understanding.

Shown here is the entire walk we did... 2.87 km in total.

By 13:30 o'clock we'd gotten onto the Nature Train Tour, with driver/guide Sharon.

Just had to capture these tulips and Azaleas near the parking area.

Yes, that is an ALLIGATOR swimming in the marshes...

Those trees were full with Great Blue Herons and Egrets, nesting!

Slave houses, which were used mainly for sleeping, as their cooking was done outside.

An Egret on the wooden board.

To the left another alligator...

Sharon was very knowledgeable about all things nature!

Below is a short Relive video from me driving to Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, crossing the Ashley River and also from our Nature Train Tour; ENJOY!

Our Charleston See–It–All Sightseeing Bus Tour

 Quite pleased with having booked us a Charleston See–It–All Sightseeing Bus Tour!

That proved to be excellent and conveniently close within walking distance to our Hyatt House Charleston Historic District in South Carolina.

Thanks to TripAdvisor, where I found some excellent reviews that highly recommended this.

Also instead of a carriage tour, which covers only a limited area and would be rather noisy as you are out in the open... Considering my Pieter wearing hearing aids.

Having booked on line I had our tickets on my iPhone and we walked in about 5 minutes from the Hyatt House Charleston Historic District, to 375 Meeting Street to VISITOR CENTER of Charleston.

That's where all the tour buses come to pick up their passengers.

Charleston with its Southern Charm was founded in 1670 as Charles Town in honor of King Charles II.

Charleston is also called the Holy City because of its religious tolerance and abundant places of worship.

Charleston has lots of handmade wrought iron work. Notice the elaborate front door that goes to nowhere?

It just gets opened for letting the natural breeze go through all the way by opening the next door and/or windows.

Also the single house (one room wide) has its narrow side with a gable end, along the street.

Always facing north/south or east/west for taking advantage of prevailing breezes.

Citadel Military College

The Citadel Airforce Jet named Annette from the Vietnam War era.

Huge Replica of the Citadel's Class Ring

Colonial Lake Park a charming historical city park in the middle of Charleston's historic neighborhoods

As you can see, the weather was perfect!

Charleston maintains also a perfect green image of its beautiful historic city!

Great architecture and perfect gardens, parks and green sections throughout.

Lovely historic home and especially the lower outdoor shutters are exactly in the pattern as we have for our indoor shutters and doors!

You can see our Historic Charleston raised panels here: {Our 'GREEN' Bedroom} ←click on link.

Also The Charleston you can see here: → Solid Oak Shutters REDONE: Now Professionally Mortise Hinged by Husband Pieter

Real lovely homes and often surrounded by Live Oak trees, as you see here in the front.

Statue to the The Defenders of Fort Sumter Monument in Battery Park

Text reads: To The Confederate Defenders of Charleston 

Fort Sumter

1861–1865

The statue is located in the southern tip of the Battery

The Battery in Charleston is a fortified seawall and promenade.

The Battery is lined with historic antebellum homes... the cream of the Holy City's architecture.

Our Sightseeing Bus Tour lasted 90 minutes and the driver was very knowledgeable.

My Pieter enjoyed listening to him and getting to know more about Charleston's history and architecture; so did I!

Charleston See–It–All Sightseeing Bus Tour provided by Adventure Sightseeing, SC ←click for more info.

Just snapped this picture hastily as we had disembarked at the Visitor Center before driver Benji pulled up...

That was a wonderful Adventure!

Now we leisurely stroll back to our hotel...

Pieter comfortably dressed in his Zegna jeans and comfy shoes, just as I was wearing, with my Escada jeans and Wolford top seen in top picture.

Lovely handmade wrought iron work everywhere and these lanterns got adorned with flower baskets.

And arriving "HOME" again at our Hyatt House...

Perfect for tea time at our One Bedroom King Suite!

The weather was perfect as well with still 23℃ or 73.4℉ at 16:40 o'clock! 

Enjoy our short Relive video and stay tuned for more...