"Primitive Ways in an Accelerated World"

 Artist and sculptor Patrick Dougherty and son at work on Patrick's last section of his unusual, ephemeral (éphémère) and primitive art project.

First step

Second step above: dig holes and make sure you don't hit a water pipe....

Patrick relies on volunteers help to build his contraptions.

A

 Not quite finished but almost.

Well what do you think? His work is recognized all over the world. All these hours and the art piece will last around 2 years. 

link: patrick Dougherty's Brookgreen's sculpture

Brookgreen Gardens

Remember the long straight 4 miles lane that traversed Atalaya right through its center from last post? On the other end of that lane you will find: BrookGreen gardens where Ann Huntington displayed most of her sculptures. Just take a stroll with us through the photos and enjoy a gorgeous SC winter day. (a warm one for a change). 

Vous vous rappelez le chemin en ligne droite qui traverse Atalaya de l'ocean a la rivière dans le dernier post? A l'autre extremite de ce chemin vous trouverez les Jardins de BrookGreen où Ann Huntington a exposé ses sculptures. Venez admirer ces beaux jardins, fontaines et sculptures par ces quelques photos. 

My favorite sculpture: happy muses running on top of water. (at least that is how I see it)
Ma sculpture préférée: les muses au dessus d'un plan d'eau (mon interpretation). 

There is also a children garden with the cutest sculptures. Too cute.
Vous y trouverez aussi un jardin reserve aux enfants. Trop mignon.

This statue has a smaller version on a square in Tours, France.
Cette statue a une version plus petite a Tours en France.

Spring is here as these flowery buttons peak out.

Le printemps est là jugé par les boutons ci-dessus.

Next field trip: Hampton Plantation, I think!
Prochaine visite: La Plantation De Hampton, sans doute?

Link for you who want more:
Brook green Gardens' site

Jamie and Claire were here.

I knew it! Jamie and Claire Fraser were here. Proof? below it must be a descendent! of them! Right?

You don't understand what I am talking about!? Then go on Starz and watch Outlanders.(or buy the books)! Ah ah!

Atalaya

So many pictures taken lately, time to get them in order and update our visit to South Carolina.
Huntington Beach State Park located in Murrill's Inlet is the site we have picked as a home for February.
The back windows of our camper faces lawn and trees. Big spaces between each camp site gives every one plenty of privacy. A 5mn walk through the protected dunes and you find yourself on a beautiful beach. Windy and cold days alternate with some 60's and even 70's. It is winter the SC way. A bit colder than usual we are told.
So on that day we decided to walk down the state park and listen to the volunteer for a 90mn tour of The Atalaya "Castle". Not sure why they call this Spanish looking structure a castle. Nothing like a European would imagine. At any rate, the information we hear help us understand the creators of this house. A philanthropist and his wife a famous American sculptor spent their winters away from their glamorous life in New York city. They never had any guest spend the night here. She sculpted domestic or/and wild animals from live models- horses, monkeys, bears, elephants...they brought with them for the winter.
22 staff members helped them live their dream secluded winter months. Each room had a fire place. Rooms were built around a courtyard centered by a tower which served as a water tower. Every detail was thoughtfully planed by the owner who never used any architectural plans. Rain water was collected around the central courtyard and pumped to the tower for general daily usage. Madame had her own bathroom with a tub, Monsieur had a 7 head shower. Each kept busy in their field: him with his philanthropic projects and her with her sculptures.
The place needs a lot of work. Can't say it is pretty because it is not but interesting to hear about the life of the wealthy Americans at the beginning of the XXth century.

 The Center tower and the courtyard. Palmetto trees are very flexible and can stand any type of Hurricanes.

 Grooves or gutters  in the yard to collect rain water

 Local bricks (the Huntingtons were big on local food, equipment, material, personal- way ahead of their times) mortar was not cleaned off. Apparently it helps with wall strength.

 Main entrance which runs right through the middle of the courtyard.

 Looking through that hall in the center you can walk four miles from the ocean (right behind you taking the picture is the beach and the ocean) to the river on the other side of the area. The materials used to build the "castle" was brought by way of the river on that straight narrow path. At the time not many people lived in the area. (go on the link given to you below for more info)

 The window protections which makes the whole "castle" look like a prison, there to protect from debris during hurricane seasons

There is so much to tell you about them that the best thing to do is to send you to an internet link where you will be able to read more about Mr and Mrs Huntington.
Huntington's castle internet site
Next post: Brookgreen gardens

Irma's visit

 September 2017 Irma's devastating effect on Pawley's Island.

"Between the waters" / "Entre les Eaux"

A decent day sees us biking on the beach, birdwatching in the marshes or taking a field trip. Yesterday's field trip was at "Between the waters" translation of this 17000acre reserve/former plantation Hobcaw Barony mentioned in the last post. Below are some pictures (did not take  many).

Une journée en vélo, une autre où on observe les oiseaux dans les marécages qui nous entourent ou bien encore on fait un petit voyage en voiture. 

Hier nous sommes allés " Entre les Eaux" traduction de Hobcaw Barony, la propriété mentionée dans mon post precedent.  Ci-dessous des photos de Hobcaw.

In one of the many clearing of the property remains the slave quarters. Some cabins are still there. Every night slaves had to walk 2 miles through the forest and its wild life such as wild boars, snakes... to come back from working long days at the master's home.
Dans une des clairieres se trouve un village d'esclaves. Comme vous le voyez les cabines ont été préservées. Les esclaves devaient faire plus de 3 km a pied pour rentrer chez eux chaque nuit en passant dans les forets et ses animaux sauvages dont des sangliers...des serpents...

This above is a more updated version of a slave cabin. It has a porch and some windows. Just imagine the life here. However the owner apparently was more generous than most. The slave children were able to go to school right here and their college tuitions were paid by the owner's family. A doctor visited once a week.
Ci-dessus une cabine améliorée car elle a un porche et des fenêtres. Imaginez la vie ici. Cependant 
le proprietaire était un peu plus humain que la plupart car il offrait une école et les frais payes pour l'université aux enfants de ses esclaves. Un docteur venait aussi un jour par semaine.

Why "Between the Waters"? Indians named the location: Hobcaw, because of its location between the ocean and the river. A great place to hunt, fish and grow corn. Close to a river which was the main transportation system. King Highway (which is now highway 17) runs through the property undisturbed just one lane dirt road which saw many horse riders and carriages.
Pourquoi "Entre les Eaux? Les Indiens, natifs de la region, l'ont nommée ainsi a cause de la location entre l'ocean et les rivières. Un bon endroit pour chasser, pêcher et cultiver le mais. Les rivières étaient le moyen le plus pratique de se déplacer. King Highway (maintenant route 17) passe encore sur les terres de cette reserve. En fait c'est un chemin de terre qui était utilise par cavaliers et calèches. Cette section est restée telle qu'elle existait.

This above is the 16 bedroom Hobcaw main house where many famous people were invited by the Baruchs, a financial millionaire from New York.  The culture of rice was no longer a financial boom. The land was for sale at a very low price. So the Baruchs bought it primarely to spend winters hunting for ducks and entertain their guests.
Photo precedente: Grand Manoir (?) de16 chambres qui ont vu nombreuses célébrités du XXieme siècle invités par la famille : Baruch, financier millionaire de New York. Il venait surtout pour chasser les canards avec sa famille et ses amis.

Our next field trip was south of Georgetown: The Hopsewee plantation. It is privately owned. Tours are conducted 3 times a day. You go through the whole house which has many interesting features such as  hand carved candle stick crown moldings. We searched the internet but could not find any p as we were not allowed to take photos while visiting. We will keep looking.
Notre voyage suivant: sud of Georgetown: La plantation de Hopsewee. Propriété privée ouverte au public. La maison entière est a visiter. On peut y voir nombreuses reliques du temps passe. Le plus intéressant était le moulage sculpte a la main en forme de bougie. Pas moyen de trouver des photos pour representer ce style et interdit de prendre des photos d'intérieur. (on continue de chercher)

The rivers were the main highways for the Indians and the new settlers. So it was no surprise to find Hopesewee facing one of them.  The King's highway used to pass right at the front door as well. After trying many different ways to make a living from the earth, the first owners learned how to grow rice from their slaves.  The perfect location with all the clear water marshes and rivers in this region. "Gold Rice" was exported all through the world for many years (1/2 the production of the world at the time) until hurricanes and the emancipation of slaves disrupted this very lucrative crop. Many slaves stayed on the land to work and make a living. Nowadays rice is only grown for restaurants and the tourist industry.
We had lunch at a white linen table in the tearoom created by its present owner. We tasted some south dishes: crab cakes served on a bed of salad with remoulade, BBQ sandwich with Carolina slaw and pirleau (a rice chicken dish). Lunch and the tour were definitely worth it.
A couple of days on the beach and enjoying our camp site and we will take you on our next field trip.
Les rivières formaient le réseau de transport des Indiens et des pionniers. Pour cette raison Hopsewee a été construite le long d'une rivière et sur la route nord/sud qui passait juste devant la porte principale de la maison. Apres avoir tente de nombreuses et différentes cultures, les pionniers se sont mis a la culture du riz que leurs esclaves connaissaient très bien. Region prospère au riz grace aux marecages d'eau claire et des nombreux estuaires de la region. "Le Riz d'Or" était exporte dans le monde entier jusqu'aux jours d'ouragans et de l'emancipation des esclaves (1/2 de la culture mondiale de riz a l'epoque). La plupart des esclaves sont restes dans la region principalement a cultiver les terres. De nos jours la production du riz de cette region est uniquement vendue aux restaurants et aux touristes de la region.
A la fin du tour de la maison, nous avons déjeuné dans le "Tea Room" créée par la propriétaire de la plantation où nous avons commandé: crab cakes servis accompagnés de salade et de remoulade, un BBQ  (barbecue) sandwich, salade de chou a la Caroline et du pirleau (riz au poulet fumé). Bonne journée!
Quelques jours a la plage et autour de notre site et nous serons prêts pour d'autres visites.
Could be a museum in Myrtle Beach. A good and free activity to do on a rainy Friday... See you there. Don't wait until my email or Facebook notification. Come back and visit, write comments or send us email to let us know your reactions. Thanks.
Peut-Être un musée d'art a Myrtle Beach. Un bon moment a passer gratuitement un vendredi pluvieux ou frisqué. On vous y retrouvera, j'espère. N'attendez pas de email ou que le post soit mis sur Facebook. Venez nous voir sur notre blog, écrivez vos reactions au bas de chaque post ou envoyez un email pour nous dire vos reactions. Merci.

Photos of the Harbor walk in historic Georgetown . Don't hesitate to stop first at the visitor center. The lady there is full of information and so fun to listen to.
Photos de la Promenade du quai le long de la rue principale de Georgetown. N'hesitez pas de vous arrêter au Centre Touristique. L'employee qui nous a reçus vous donnera une multitude d'informations historiques de la region. 

Bomb diving for lunch.

Winter in South Carolina is not Florida temperature wise. This year especially. So far we had 2 nights below 32F but rest assured we are fine with the Arctic Package deal we bought last spring. 

However we have experienced some decent days. Warm enough to picnic on the beach. Two days ago while eating our cucumber/salad sandwich we were entertained by a huge flock of birds- mostly pelicans-feasting on a school of fish that lasted over 30mn. Too bad Tim did not have his fish pole with him that day he would have loved a good competition with the big birds. See the pictures below- the first one we took with the iphone but we could not get close enough. Our picture does not start to prove the activities we witnessed but found one on the internet that gives a good idea of the meal the albatros had that day.

What else do we do every day?
Yesterday we went to an amazing place that combines: plantation life, science research, nature reserve on a 17 500 acre plantation in Georgetown, 30 mn south of our state park. The Hobcaw Barony is amazing. We took a small bus tour on very bumpy hole stricken dirt road. Belle Baruck " established a multimillion-dollar trust . She wanted to preserve the land and provide a place for scholars to study". It is now the Belle W.Baruch Foundation. Go on the site (below) for more information. We had a guide in the bus and visited the Baruch mention. Many famous people were invited by the Baruch wealthy family: Churchill, Woodrow Wilson and FDR. Well listen to that: I used FDR's private bathroom. (he stayed there for a month)....

http://hobcawbarony.org

That is the end of today's post. Keep warm.