The “off-season” always brings travel – some personal, some business, some a little of both, but wherever we go we always have our eyes to the art world. Whether the four of us are together or if we have gone our separate ways, we always enjoy discovering what the local offerings are in the way of arts and culture. It’s always fun to share our stories and photos when we return. We thought it would be fun to share some with you. We hope you enjoy.

Susan’s first trip this year was with some of the ladies from the Celebration of Fine Art shortly after the show closed.

We started our trip in Myrtle Beach, SC. The featured art destination was Brookgreen Gardens, located between Myrtle Beach and Pawly’s Island, SC in the famous South Carolina Low Country. We set out early and enjoyed an entire day of exploring the magnificent gardens and sculpture on the grounds.

Founders Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington were wealthy philanthropists. They began their sculpture collection, which includes many pieces of Anna Hyatt Huntington, in 1931 and today Brookgreen Gardens boasts over 1200 works spanning the entire period of American sculpture from the early 1800’s to the present. The 50 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds is the perfect setting for this extraordinary collection. If you get to the Myrtle Beach area, Brookgreen Gardens is a “must see”. Visit their website at www.brookgreen.org for more details.

From Myrtle Beach, it was on to Charleston, SC for this group of art lovers. Charleston is full of rich history and architecture. If you visit the Celebration of Fine Art in 2008, you’ll be sure to see some works of art inspired by photos from this trip.

Our first stop in town was the Visitor’s Center at the Charleston Heritage Foundation, which I highly recommend. After watching a brief film about the history of Charleston, we purchased our “Charleston Heritage 2 Day Passport”. This Passport is good for entry into Gibbes Museum of Art, Nathaniel Russell House, Edmonston-Alston House, Drayton Hall, Middleton Place, Aiken-Rhett House, Joeseph Manigault House, Heyward-Washington House and the Charleston Museum. This is an absolute must if you want to tour these magnificent homes, plantations and museums. The cost of the pass was $35 for all you can do in two days time. Individual tours range in price from $17-$35 each. Visit the Charleston Heritage Federation at www.heritagefederation.org for more information.

I am a great fan of architecture and was absolutely in awe of the beautiful buildings from the early 1800’s and beyond. The town is filled with stately homes with beautiful side porches, wrought iron details and flower boxes billowing with colorful blooms. We saw supreme examples of antique furnishings in almost every home we toured.

A very unique tour that we took was at Drayton Hall, out in the country. The plantation home has been left completely empty of furnishings so that the viewer can concentrate on the architecture that has stood the test of time. Everything in these amazing homes was hand forged (obviously!). Back in the 1800’s architectural and design details were very symbolic in indicating how a home owner made money and how much money they had. For example, someone in the shipping business would have rope detailing surrounding his doors and windows. Charleston was the center of wealth for the East Coast before the Revolutionary War.

The rich history in Charleston, SC makes for a delightful and memorable experience. The town is filled with galleries, antique stores and specialty shops. On the streets you can find local Gullah artists selling their sweet grass baskets (“must buy”) as you watch the many horse drawn carriages go by filled with tourists listening to local historians sharing their knowledge. I can’t wait to go back with Jake and share the riches of this town. In the two and a half days that we girls spent there, we only scratched the surface of the many offerings of this town filled with culture. Not to mention, great food! But that is a whole other blog!

I was so inspired by Drayton Hall that I joined the National Trust for Historic Preservation. To learn more visit www.nationaltrust.org or www.draytonhall.org.