CharlestonSavannah2013: Wadmalaw Island

September 24, 2013

Today we shuttled to Angel Oak on Johns Island. This is a southern live oak located in Angel Oak Park, on Johns Island SC. The Angel Oak Tree is estimated to be in excess of 400-500 years old, stands 66.5 ft (20 m) tall, measures 28 ft (8.5 m) in circumference, and produces shade that covers 17,200 square feet (1,600 m²). From tip to tip its longest branch distance is 187 ft. The Angel Oak Tree is thought to be one of the oldest living things in the country. The land where the Angel Oak Tree stands was part of Abraham Waight's 1717 land grant. The City of Charleston now owns the property.
From Angel Oak we biked the back roads onto Wadmalaw Island. This is one of sixty some occupied islands in the low country. It was first landed upon and claimed for England and the Lords Proprietors in June of 1666. A group of 148 colonists settled on the west bank of the Ashley River in 1670, but only lasted 4 years of poor crop production. They then moved to what is now Charleston (Charles Town).
Our destination this morning was the Charleston Tea Plantation with a longer option to Cherry Point Landing. Cherry Point Landing provides access to the Atlantic with water passages through the grasslands. Across and to the east is Kaiwah Island. The shore land has huge live oaks draped with Spanish moss. After visiting Cherry Point Landing, I biked to Charleston Tea Plantation, which is the only remaining working tea farm in the US. The seedlings came from China in the 1870’s and the plantation now covers 125 acres. It was operated by Lipton Tea Company from 1960 to 1987 and then sold to Mack Fleming and Bill Hall. They converted it from an experimental farm into a working tea plantation with mechanically harvesting. The tea is know as American Classic Tea and is the official tea of the White House. Bigelow Tea Corporation purchased the plantation in 2003. We had a picnic lunch on the grounds and then were given a private tour of the plantation.
Our afternoon ride took us to the Irvin House Vineyards and Firefly Distillery on Wadmalaw Island. The vineyard produces Muscadine wine and the distillery, flavored vodka. The flavored vodka is popular throughout the Southern US. They also produce and sell their version of “white lightning.” There were tasting rooms for both the vodka and Muscadine wine. This was the end of the biking for the day and we had a 2 hour shuttle to Beaufort.
In Beaufort, we are staying at the Beaufort Inn, which consists of a main large house, containing numerous rooms, and several small houses on the property. We share a duplex house located on a grassy green. After showering, we had a very delicious dinner in the main dinning room. This was followed by a local women dressed in antebellum clothing who provided with stories of the history of Beaufort and taught us the Virginia Reel and the Patt0 Cake Polka. It was quite an entertaining evening. Tomorrow we bike from Beaufort to St. Helena Island.