Charleston Experiences

Welcome to Magnolia Gardens. Unlike most of America's gardens, which are formal and seek to control nature, Magnolia cooperates with nature to create a tranquil landscape like Eden where humanity and nature are in harmony.

The gardens at Magnolia Plantation are of such beauty and variety that they have brought tourists from around the world to view them since they were open to the public in the early 1870s. However, many parts of the gardens are much older, some sections more than 325 years old, making them the oldest unrestored gardens in America. As the plantation has stayed within the ownership of the same family for more than three centuries, each generation has added their own personal touch to the gardens, expanding and adding to their variety. Today there are various varieties of flowers from camellies, daffodils, to azaleas and countless other species in bloom year round, with the climax of incredible beauty building towards the spring bloom.

Duration: 30-45 minutes

Step back in time with a half-hour guided tour of the Drayton family home, the third to grace the site in more than three centuries of Drayton family occupation. The “Big House” you see today was built in the late nineteenth century. (Two previous houses were destroyed by fire—the first accidentally, the second by Union soldiers in 1865.) This tour gives an overview of family life at Magnolia, focusing on the years between 1870 (when work on the present structure was begun) and 1975, when the house was opened to the public. Ten rooms are open to the public, furnished with early-American antiques, porcelain, quilts, and other Drayton family heirlooms. Guides describe life in the 19th century, using furniture and household objects to bring plantation culture alive. 

Patriots Point Development Authority was established in the 1970s to develop a naval & maritime museum on Charleston Harbor with the World War II aircraft carrier, USS YORKTOWN as its centerpiece. It’s also home to the Patriots Point Museum and a fleet of National Historic Landmark ships, the Cold War Memorial and the only Vietnam Experience Exhibit in the U.S., the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, and the agency's official Medal of Honor Museum.

Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum serves as a national destination of excellence for the preservation and education of current and future generations about America's history, traditions and values.Since opening in 1976, Patriots Point has become one of the the state's most popular tourist attractions with more than 300,000 visitors each year. The YORKTOWN boasts one of the largest education and overnight camping programs in the nation, with more than 40,000 school age children attending these programs each year.