Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Grapefull Sisters Vinyard and Carroll Woods Campground

Tabor City, North Carolina

Thanks to Harvest Hosts, we located a Winery and Campground together on the border of North Carolina and South Carolina.  Wine tasting and camping all in one!  We have a nice site in the trees that is very quiet and dark at night.  The folks here are very friendly.  The wine is made from the Muscadine Grapes that are the only grape native to North America.  The original "mother" vine was discovered by explorers near Roanoke, Virginia. We decided to stay a week and explore the nearby attractions with the Jeep.  

Today we drove to Myrtle Beach.  South of Myrtle Beach is Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet.  It is a National Historic Landmark and non-profit founded by Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington in 1931.  Today the garden museum has the most extensive collection in the world of figurative sculpture by American artists in an outdoor setting.  The 9,100 acre property contains not only sculptures but 300 year-old oaks that were planted in the early 1700's when Brookgreen was a thriving rice plantation.  It also contains a butterfly house, domestic animal zoo, and native animal habitats for alligators to wild turkey that we did not get to.  The ticket is good for 7 days as you can't possibly see it all in one day.

The gates entering Brookgreen.

Brookgreen is currently sponsoring the National Sculpture Society Annual Award Exhibition.  Several of the artworks in this exhibition have won awards.

This eagle is done in bronze.

Owl in granite

This horse reminded me of our niece Alison's horse Vega.

This sculpture called Blue Lotus was submitted by Deon Duncan of Salt Lake City, UT.  You can see the swimmer floating in water.

We then began our stroll through the gardens by entering Diana Garden.  A spectacular array of perennials, roses, shrubs and mature trees.  Benches are placed everywhere for quiet contemplation of the sculptures.  You follow the paths leading you to more eye candy at every turn. 

300 year-old oaks with Spanish Moss hanging from their limbs everywhere.

A stroll down The Live Oak All'ee

Diana the Archer in the center of the pond.

More sculptures surround her, done in all media.

Shiny black panther

Dionysus really catches your eye as it is done in 14k gold leaf and shines in the sunlight.

They said Dionysus has to be refinished about every 25 years.

 Pegasus is the largest sculpture in the gardens.

Fountains and peace surround you.

Fountain of the Muses.

The Coleus are only seen as indoor plants in Idaho.  Here they are 3-feet tall and every color imaginable. 

Everything is manicured and landscaped for your enjoyment.

Amazing South Carolina native plants we have never seen.

More pools and fountains

Samson and the Lion

Polar Bears

This sculpture is of Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington who in 1931 created Brookgreen Gardens.  Archer died in 1955 and Anna in 1973.  Their legacy will live on for many generations to enjoy.

Amazing sculptures everywhere you look.  We will be returning for more later in the week.

Lonnie and Becky