16-17 March 2022
Huntington Beach State Park, Murrells Inlet, SC
Marc- We spent the 16th shopping and touring in the rain. Included in the touring was a trip back to Georgetown to visit the Rice Museum that we had missed last year on the boat (it was closed due to Covid). The Museum is housed in a former hardware store with old school technology in having a large central open core to the building. Items were stored upstairs and below the main floor. An item could be requested and then sent to the retail floor easily using winches. Since the core was open, requests could be called out. On the top floor we found a partially intact 18th century wooden schooner, with its cargo of bricks, that was found in the Waccamaw River mud in 1976. Apparently the mud has the distinction of being a very good preservative. The Museum curator explained the incredible success of the Indigo and then rice plantations in this area. The five richest people in America at that time resided in Georgetown County. The demise of Indigo was due to closure of the British market after the Revolution. The demise of rice was due to the Civil War giving freedom to slaves, as well as the inability to mechanize. When the Indigo and rice were gone, lumber became the major export. Today, pulp and paper is the leading industry.
On the 17th we returned to BrookGreen Gardens and enjoyed visiting more areas with Craig and Donna Lewis. We saw more sculptures and gardens, did a boat plantation tour, and saw the amazing zoo.
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