Magnolia Plantation in South Carolina boasts the last intact large-scale romantic gardens in the United States. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, click here. But Magnolia’s history and her gardens go back a century before there was a United States, when Ann and Thomas Drayton established the rice plantation in 1676 along the Ashley… Read More Magnolia Plantation & Gardens in South Carolina
The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon is a quirky museum in Charleston, South Carolina, and a backdrop to some of the defining events in American history. It ranks near Boston’s Faneuil Hall and Philadelphia’s Independence Hall among the most significant still-standing buildings from the Revolutionary era. Finished in 1771, the two-storey, Palladian-style, stone Exchange and… Read More Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon in Charleston
Charleston’s Battery and Rainbow Row faded from view as my travel companion and I sailed aboard the ferry toward Fort Sumter, perched on a small island in Charleston Harbor, site of the first battle in America’s bloodiest war. The five-sided Fort was planned during the 1820s, in the wake of the War of 1812, designed… Read More Fort Sumter
Boone Hall is one of the oldest working plantations in America. Since its founding in 1681, it has produced a range of goods from cotton to pecans and been owned by a cast of colorful characters from an early English settler to a Georgian prince. The plantation is named for its first owners Elizabeth Patey… Read More Boone Hall Plantation & Gardens in South Carolina
“8004” The gentleman quietly ordered a bottle of Dom Perignon. He then requested six glasses and two chairs for the corner half-booth behind him. Nestled next to the floor-to-ceiling greige fireplace, the booth’s light beige banquettes blended into the slatted wainscoting. The gentleman too fit the setting, his round creased face warm and smiling above… Read More Wentworth Mansion in Charleston, South Carolina
With a CD of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” playing, drill instructors award each recruit they’ve trained the Marine emblem of eagle, globe, and anchor. They may now call themselves United States Marines. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, click here. Leslie CarboneLifestyle Blogger | Travel Buff | Time‘s 2006 Person of the… Read More Emblem Ceremony
The recruits in this video, and the two to follow, have nearly reached the end of USMC boot camp’s Phase Three, which emphasizes teamwork. They are undergoing “the Crucible,” a sort of “final exam” in the form of a 54-hour combat simulation exercise. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, click here. The sound effects… Read More Crucible–Part One
Phase Two of boot camp features combat water survival. Many recruits arrive on Parris Island unable to swim; some actually fear the water, according to Captain Peter Marks. Instructors work one-on-one with the camouflage-clad, barefoot recruits at the shallow end of the pool until they’re ready for rigorous training in the deep end. In five… Read More Combat Water Survival Training at Boot Camp
