Brookgreen gardens – The Hermits' Rest

Sculptural Delights Plus Natural Beauty Equals a Good Saturday

Ah, It’s good to have a day off for fun and education. Today we enjoyed sleeping in a bit, then followed through with our plan to go back to scenic Brookgreen Gardens to see the new exhibit that was getting installed this week. We ended up seeing two new exhibits and lots of living wonders as well!

First off, we went to the beautiful butterfly exhibit, which was closed when we were at the Low Country Zoo last week. It’s always fun there, because there are beautiful flowers and water features in addition to all the butterflies.

They have different butterflies at different times of year, too, depending on what they have hatching. I can’t tell you what any of these are, because I don’t want to put them on iNaturalist. They aren’t wild. But they sure are pretty!

After the butterflies, we hopped back over to see the red wolves again, hoping maybe they’d be up to something this time. We lucked out, and while the female was just resting in the sun, the male came out of his giddy hole, walked around, then rolled and stretched for us. I guess that was enough of a show for him, because he went right back into his shady spot. We were lucky to see this!

We drove back to the main part of the gardens to see the first exhibit, which was the 90th National Sculpture Society awards exhibition. There were 42 works of art in the exhibit, which was narrows down from a couple of hundred entries. Only a small subset of these sculptures will be winners and exhibited in the NSS gallery in New York City later in the year.

We really enjoyed looking at the variety of entries and reading the stories the artists shared about their work. There were a lot of COVID themed works, and others with universal themes that really touched my heart.

I listened to a talk about some of the works by the curator of the museum, Robin Salmon. That was quite a privilege.

We went back to the same little restaurant we ate at last week, and had a good time visiting with the birds once again.

We also enjoyed lots of nature. There was a group of plants that was literally dancing with dragonflies. We must have watched them for five minutes, along with another couple. There were blue, orange, and yellow ones. Some of my photos have at least five in them!

We also got to see the resident alligator family (and hear them). First we saw the mother gator, who was hanging out in a small pond, then we saw two of her babies in a larger pond, hanging out with turtles. All the while we could hear other alligators nearby, but I decided not to be a dumb Master Naturalist and go look for them.

We ended up finding the other exhibit I was looking for, which was of Shona art from Zimbabwe. They used interesting stones, and I especially liked one that was completely different looking when it was polished versus unpolished. Many of the artists made people whose faces and body parts were polished, but their clothing was unpolished, and it was quite striking. I completely forgot to take any photos, but here’s a sample from the exhibition web page.

It’s just so lush and green at Brookgreen Gardens. I’m going to hold on to the image of all the green grass and the huge oaks when I go back to my crispy home.

When we got home, we napped, then headed down to the bar, where Kevin the bartender/history professor was kind enough to give me a pre-publication copy of his book on early Florida history, La Florida. I can’t wait to read it. I love an academic book with humor thrown in every so often, and I appreciate his perspective on the Spanish.

I also have the book from the NSS exhibit to enjoy, as well. It has interesting biographies of the sculptors.

Lee and I sure had a good day. And we had smoked salmon for dinner. That’s right. Indulged ourselves.

Ooh, We Did Activities

Today Lee and I made up for yesterday and engaged in vacation-like activities, which is sort of unlike us. We even got out of the condo before noon, which may be a Lee record. I say this lovingly, of course.

We just knew if we left we’d discover something as fascinating as this plant, called pumpkin on a stick. I want one!

First we headed off to our favorite local spot, Brookgreen Gardens, which I have written about before but am too lazy to link to it. It’s an amazing old plantation that has been painstakingly turned into a wonderland of sculptures surrounded by gardens that set each sculpture off perfectly. We were disappointed to find that the main indoor exhibit area was closed, because they were switching out exhibits, but happy to learn the new exhibit opens next Saturday, so we can go then.

Luckily my childhood favorite poem is still here to see.

Instead, we walked over to the permanent sculpture exhibit, the Offner Sculpture Center, which we’d never been to before. That was wonderful! There were many studies for the larger works on display in the gardens, plus interesting bronze medals, and many other works by a variety of mostly 20th Century American artists. There were many by Anna Huntington who started the collection, and also a great many by Richard McDermott Miller, who had many fascinating self portraits and human figures. There was also a film about how bronze sculptures are made, featuring him. Quite interesting.

Anna Hyatt Huntington liked statues of horses a lot, so there are many here (and many large ones in the gardens for horse people like me to enjoy.)

After the sculptures, we ate in what was once the plantation’s old kitchen. Everything was fresh and delicious, and we had a nice conversation with the woman who was working there. This is a very out-of-the-way spot, so it was quite serene. And there were brazen birds who wanted to share our food.

We will be going back there for a night exhibit, perhaps, and also to see the zoo, which has a new red wolf exhibit. That will be interesting. Yeah, I can come up here and just go to this one place repeatedly and be adequately entertained!

After a bit of a rest and some sun gazing, we went to Topgolf, which was our reward for doing the annual tedious sales presentation. (This is a building you go in where you eat, drink, and try to hit golf balls into targets.) We lucked out and got a reasonable, fun couple to play with and ended up having a good time. Whew—I was worried my obnoxious new acquaintance, Steve, who crops up everywhere I go, would be paired with us and I’d drink too much. I was a bit concerned when I saw the couple brought their own clubs, but I ended up second, because the husbands were trying too hard. Kathy, the wife, had paid attention at her one lesson and drove straight and true. Of course, I was so busy watching that I didn’t get any photos of her.

I was glad that rain held off until this evening. We got a full day of fun in before I have to go back to work. I always feel better when I get to surround myself with art, gardens, and really cool insects..just look at this immense grasshopper!

Eastern lubber grasshopper
(*Romalea microptera*) which can be three inches long!

Sculpture! Birds! Nature Surprises! Beauty?

Today I got to have all the funs, to celebrate an actual day off, and have some emotional recharge. And of course I had to do some deep thinking. I’m on a roll with wonder and wondering.

You may remember that Lee forgot to pack any shirts for the trip. The t- shirts he got were fine. But. He got one long-sleeved shirt at Kohl’s when we stopped at one on the way, and it turned out to be weird and too big. So, he declared we would go to Tractor Supply and get more Lee-esque shirts. Why? It got chilly overnight!

Imagine my happiness when I saw that next to the store was a beautiful wooded area with a stream running through it. It was sort of like what I imagine in my mind when I think of a southern American woods. There were oaks, sweet gums, ash, and holly trees, with ferns and palmettos underneath. There were jack-in-the-pulpits and lizard’s tail. Vines included muscadine grape, poison ivy, and Virginia Creeper. I was in heaven. Plus I got to buy a windbreaker.

As if that wasn’t enough, we were actually in our way to our favorite spot, Brookgreen Gardens. It’s always great, but we lucked out this time. For one, the butterfly exhibit at the zoo has recently re-opened. We got to see some butterflies we’d never seen before. And the flowers weren’t bad, either.

While waiting in line, I met a fellow horse owner and traded photos, of course. But dang, look at these beauties! I don’t know what they are, though.

Of course, I had to get bird photos, too. I didn’t take many of the captive birds, but the ducks were so pretty I had to. At least I got some pretty wild birds, too.

I’ve saved the best for last. Just yesterday, a new exhibit opened. It’s sculpture by two married people, Babette Bloch and Marc Mellon.

Mellon has had his work at Texas A&M (to impress the locals) at the Bush Presidential Library. He also designed an official medal for President Obama. His main work has been statues of female athletes. He makes them look strong as well as beautiful. He also did a horse. I liked that.

My heart melted when I started looking at Bloch’s work. She started out in bronze, but then moved on to making art with laser-cut steel. It’s lots of flowers. As you know, I am fond of flowers.

I had two favorites. One is a phoenix. The base of the sculpture is based on Bloch’s face!

My second favorite was a wall with dozens of flowers in bowls with color behind them. Each bowl was someone’s family heirloom. It moved me to tears to see the old things become new art.

All her work was interesting and different from anything I ever saw. The burnished parts were mesmerizing. Here’s some more of her work. Lee just loved the dog, of course.

To top it all off, I went back in at the end of our visit, and I got to tell Bloch how much her work and the stories behind it moved me. That felt great. My heart is full. What a great day.

My Deep Thiughts

Being at Brookgreen and enjoying the art made me wonder something. Do humans always seek beauty? Have they always done so? Are there things that just naturally please humans?

Are sunsets thought beautiful in all cultures? If so, why?

I seem to remember that symmetry is often found beautiful, like in people’s faces. And there’s that golden ratio that’s supposedly pleasing.

Any thoughts? I’m going to do some research. I guess I shouldn’t take time off from work and chores. I start wondering.

We Had to Get Ourselves Back to the Garden

However, we didn’t head to Woodstock; we went back to Brookgreen Garden. We rose with the sun and both worked hard today, so we really needed to take advantage of the multi-day tickets we had.

We headed in a different direction this time, and of course saw lots of flowers. I’m amazed at the variety.

There were, of course, many beautiful statues. My favorite was three women sitting on a framework of metal, just lounging around naked. Such ennui. It’s just what they do!

I also liked the Don Quixote statue, which was in a lovely planting of Texas plants. At least I think that’s what it was. I’ve seen all the plants there at home, anyway.

Eventually, we made our way to the BEST PART of the whole place. It’s a Low Country trail and zoo with native animals and farm animals that would have been on the plantations. My favorites were the river otters. I teared up watching them play.

I enjoyed goats, horses, an interesting cow, owls (lots of cool ones, but hard to photograph), a big ole alligator, and chickens. Bit by far the best exhibit was the aviary. I was in heaven there. So many of my my favorite birds, up close and personal.

The habitat was truly beautiful. You could watch the birds catch and stalk fish, interact, and even build nests! This was so much fun, and interesting. We saw a few other animals, like a little green frog, Canada geese, a pretty skink, and many more brown thrashers.

All that stuff was good, but I’d have honestly been fine just walking around looking at the ancient trees and the rice fields that are going back to nature. I feel so at home among the shadows and moss. I hope you enjoy some of my landscape images.

Anita, Stop Reading Here

And now for my final fun observation. I was really wanting to get some photos of the really interesting squirrels here. There were many fine gray squirrels, and sure, I enjoyed them.

I’d never seen the other kind of squirrel they have here, though. They are big, with long and curly tails, plus black heads with white noses. What cuties! So, I obsessively tried to get a good photo of one. Instead, I got a bunch of okay but blurry pictures.

You could have knocked me over with a feather when I heard these were fox squirrels, the same kind we have in Texas. But these look so cool. Of course, I looked it up on iNaturalist. Sure enough, fox squirrels come in a bunch of different colors. They can also be black.

Hooray for me. I learned a new nature fact AND relaxed. It’s time to actually vacation, I think.

PS: Anita did NOT stop reading when she got to the squirrel part. I did warn her!

A Well-Timed Garden Visit

Since we are all rested and wanting to see the eastern part of the USA, Lee and I decided to go to Pawley’s Island and Brookgreen Gardens today. I just had a hankering to see the island, since I’d read about it a lot, and you know, they make hammocks there they make hammocks. Sure enough, it was small and cute, and consisted mostly of vacation homes that were quaint and nice. I enjoyed looking at the estuary and the marshes surrounding the island, but there weren’t really any places to get out and explore.

We instead found a nice little hamburger stand, and enjoyed a delicious burger and fries that were not fast food at all. That got us strengthened enough to head down the road to Brookgreen Gardens, where we hadn’t had a chance to go last year. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten to charge my watch, so I missed 6,700 or so steps. Dagnabbit.

I never saw so many different types of Japanese maple in my life!

That did not deter us from having a wonderful time, though. Just driving into the place we saw a cool black-headed squirrel and a brown thrasher. A real highlight though, was a brand-new exhibit in their galleries, which was devoted to American sculptures and other art featuring wildlife and domestic animals. You don’t see many sculptures of good ole dogs, so it was a real treat.

There were also beautiful sculptures of horses (they have LOTS of horses), birds, foxes, otters, and all sorts of animals, plus some great drawings and paintings. We enjoyed the small gallery of items from the people who had owned the land when it was three rice plantations. I was impressed to see a few depictions of where the enslaved people lived, and that they were labeled as such. And I give credit to the families who deeded the land to everyone to enjoy.

The outdoor part of this garden is immense. It’s certainly too big to see everything on the property in one day, so it’s good your tickets can be used for a week! We will come back later to see the zoo, labyrinth, and other areas we missed as we wandered from beautiful spot to beautiful spot, finding little hidden sculptures in niches, and grand sculptures in beautiful settings with ponds and fountains.

This is the 90th year of the gardens, and you can tell, because there are lots of imported and exotic specimen trees that have grown huge. There were many evergreen trees I’d never seen before, plus a couple of deciduous ones, like a very, very large swamp chestnut oak, festooned with gray Spanish moss. You could live under that thing.

Underside and leaves of swamp chestnut oak. Too big to get a good photo.

I can see why this garden has won so many awards. It’s designed to provide new vistas everywhere you turn, and must be spectacular when azaleas and camellias are blooming. I found one camellia blossom.

It was funny how I kept flipping back and forth from wanting to take photos of some of the pretty cultivars of decorative plants to wanting to take photos of the views and native things. Thus, there are a lot of photos in this blog post.

There was wildlife, too! We found turtles, an alligator, geese, a very friendly cardinal, a black-and-white warbler, plus brown thrashers. We heard even more birds. This place sounds fantastic, so blind people could enjoy it (by the way, it is also very accessible for people using canes, walkers, or wheelchairs).

Of course, my favorite part is what they call “beyond the wall,” which is a creek and swamp where the rice fields used to be. I’m so fond of swamps, that my heart got racing as I found sedges, rushes, wild irises, and beautiful cypress knees. The path was just perfect for a swamp lover like me, but, I realized when I ran into a fellow using an electric wheelchair, that it was totally accessible to all (if you’re careful)!

After a quick trip to the gift shop, where I got a t-shirt and commemorative mugs, we headed to shop at Publix, which is kind of like a tourist attraction for people from the South. It’s just the nicest grocery store chain. I got some flowers for our room and the vitally important coffee filters for the condo. Whew. We’re all set now!

Tomorrow I’ll be hitting the beach early, working, then probably relaxing in the evening, but we’ll find ways to enjoy being in a new location, even when working. Since Lee brought his giant iMac, he’s able to record his receipts instantly and keep track of Hearts Homes and Hands’ finances almost as well as he can at home. And I’m all set up, just with my laptop screen. We can do it!

I hope you enjoyed the photos. They sure were fun to take!