Congaree National Park, Hopkins, South Carolina

Today we visited Congaree National Park. Congaree became a National Park in 2003, making it one of the newest National Parks. It had previously been the Congaree Swamp National Monument since 1976.

Congaree is a 22,200-acre park and home to some of the tallest trees in the world, including giant sweetgum, tupelo, hackberry and many other varieties of hardwoods.

Approximately ten times per year, the Congaree River floods its banks and the Congaree Swamp acts as a giant sponge, by cleansing and filtering the water.

Marlon balances daringly over the Congaree River which comes as no surprise as some of his ancestors were circus performers...really!

Nearby, a deadly snake waits...hoping for Marlon to fall in the water so he can have lunch.

Every other Sunday here at Congaree, seven canoes are provided for free ranger guided tours of the river and swamp. Reservations can be made 14 days prior to the tours and, as we found out, tours are booked within 10 minutes of the park opening on that first day of reservations.

Here is a canoe on its own self-guided tour of the park.

Luckily, they made it past this snake.

Doug was looking a little pale.

An elevated boardwalk winds about 1.3 miles through the massive trees. In all, there are more than 25 miles of hiking trails in the park.

After leaving the elevated boardwalk, we then walked the 4.4 mile Weston Lake Loop Trail.

Did you know that turtles like Froot Loops? We found out they did when we saw someone sharing with them.

For a 7 minute video, click below. C'mon...it's ONLY 7 minutes!

For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/may/congaree-national-park/ .

To be continued...

Edisto Memorial Gardens, Orangeburg, South Carolina

Next, we drove to the City of Orangeburg to check out the Edisto Memorial Gardens.

The gardens were originally developed in the 1920's.

In 1951, the first rose garden was planted. From then to now, the garden has grown to more than 50 rose beds featuring over 4000 plants and at least 75 different varieties of roses!

The Edisto Memorial Gardens are one of only 23 official test gardens in the United States and introduces up to five different hybrid roses every year.

Statuary is abundant in the gardens.

See...Doug was really there.

The Orangeburg Festival of Roses is held every year to celebrate the garden's blooming.

We don't think we have ever seen a rose tree before.

This paddle wheel can be viewed from the 2,600 foot boardwalk which meanders through the nearby Horne Wetlands Park.

Marlon was really there!

The boardwalk runs along the north fork of the Edisto River.

More statuary surrounds the garden's pond.

These, and their doodoo, also surrounded the garden's pond.

Brand new little ducklings waddled around.

On the lookout for intruders.

Darn goose poop on my foot...

This War Memorial stands at the entrance to the Gardens.

For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/may/bee-city-and-edisto/ pictures 89-142.

To be continued...

Bee City, Cottageville, South Carolina

Today we continued our search for the neatest small zoos and petting farms in America by heading down to Cottageville, South Carolina.

First we stepped out of the Knight and were greeted by this cute little fellow.

Then we headed to Bee City, USA in the small town of Cottageville...a small town with a huge population.

The retirement project of E. A. Biering provides both kids and adults alike a neat, inexpensive way to while away half the day.

If you or your children like to feed animals hands-on, you will most definitely like Bee City.

No...that is not an exotic variety of bee Doug is feeding.

Mother and children look longingly at our monkey-o's, which look eerily similar to a popular cereal shaped like the letter "o".

Give me an "o"!

This monkey is trained to work hard for his monkey-o's. Every time someone places one in his bucket, he has to reel it in.

Marlon offers a tasty morsel to his new friend. We decided to take this one home as a pet.

We were thinking about eating in the Bee City Cafe when we saw this 3-piece chicken dinner special.

We passed on the special and found these little chicks running around the coop.

This emu wasn't interested in monkey-o's. It wanted to stick its head in our cup of food pellets, so we let it.

Bucky beaver wanted to eat some pellets too. We recommended a dentist for the poor guy's underbite.

This baby horse was not interested in pellets, but was looking for a little stability.

Next, we ran into this little band playing some swamp music.

Even the fish were dancing.

Look closely and you can see Baby Wallaby in its mother's pouch.

This serval is a wild cat of the African Savannah (not the Georgian Savannah).

What would Bee City be without...well, bees?!

What would Bee City be without...well, buildings?!

What would Bee City be without...well, a video?!
For more pictures of Bee City, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/may/bee-city-and-edisto/ pictures 1-88.

To be continued...

Big Water Resort, Summerton, South Carolina

Today we arrived at Big Water Resort in Summerton, South Carolina just north of the town of Santee on Lake Marion (Marion...not Marlon).

The resort had nice pull-through spots with plenty of room for the car and small enough trees to present no problems.

If you ever visit, try a game of miniature golf.

Take an hour and sweat off some calories in the workout room.

There's a nice outdoor pavilion for picnics or large group activities.

Members of the resort can rent a park model for their stay.

The laundry room is located in the same building as the bathrooms and showers. This area appears to be permanently open to the weather.

The swimming pool and clubhouse are on the shores of Lake Marion.

The new resort features a clubhouse with a nice wooden deck for relaxation.

The swimming pool area features a lazy river complete with other water toys.

Marlon's favorite thing about the resort was definitely the lazy river.

The big fish shaped pool will soon be joined by another pool, currently under construction.

Doug's favorite thing is getting doused by VERY cold water.

The resort has facilities to clean your fish if you are lucky to make a catch.

Big Water Resort is a very nice new addition to the Coast to Coast Camping network.

For a 35-second (!) video of the resort, click below.

For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/may/big-water-rv-resort/ .

To be continued...