One event from Christmas break.....

Just to share a little bit of one of the prettiest places around Pawleys Island...

While Justin was in town I decided that I wanted to take him to a place that I have not been since, oh... probably, a field trip in Kindergarten: Brookgreen Gardens!

 It has over 1,000 scultures by close to 350 sculptors. The main sculptor is Anna Hyatt Huntington who established Brookgreen as a place to protect the native flora and fauna and to display art in its natural setting. 

We had a lot of fun walking around looking at the different sculptures. We walked around for about an hour in the sculpture park and probably did not see even half of them. There were so many! Many were very much realistic, as Anna Huntington liked to sculpt real life.

Although I prefer real life sculptures, I had a hard time understanding why so many of the sculptures had to be naked....and why Justin was so intent on helping only the naked ones keep their balance? Boys. *shaking my head*

There was so much more to Brookgreen than just sculptures. With the beautiful moss covered oaks and walking paths, we almost forgot we were cold!  We had packed our lunch before we left the house and ate lunch in the gardens.

I was especially impressed with the Aviary. As we walked around the aviary and gardens, Justin and I kept comparing Brookgreen to a plantation in Charelston we visited earlier in the year. Everything about Brookgreen was so well-managed, beautifully landscaped, and clean! You could tell several people take part in maintaining the wonderful place!

The price was $10 a person and worth every penny!

We saw plenty of wildlife just hanging around.

 A short story: when we were taking this picture of the geese a car drove by and said, "They're canadian, but you can keep them." As I turned around to see who said it, I noticed the car was from New Brunswick. I couldn't help but laugh.

There was also pretty ironwork all around Brookgreen. I know this isn't a good picture of the gate...but you know I couldn't post something without a picture of Justin and me! :)

The gates reminded me a lot of the gates you can see in Charleston. The attention to detail and elaboration made them beautiful.

When we arrived at the park we first visited the Visitor Center. They told us then that feeding time was around 1pm in the Zoo Area. So we walked around the gardens before and made our way towards the zoo at around 12:45 or so. When we entered we were immediately bombarded by the cutest otters I've ever seen.

I say they were the cutest otters because I do not think I have ever had otters get up from where they were laying, run toward the water, and start swimming and doing tricks right in front of me before. It was so awesome. I assume that since we arrived at around 12:55pm or so, they thought we had food and just got excited.  Either way, I note them as the cutest otters ever.

The zoo at Brookgreen contains animals native to this region of South Carolina. So we saw eagles, hawks, owls, foxes, turkeys, and a few different animals. As we were standing by the fox pen I thought I smelled a skunk. Justin then informed me that I in fact smelling the fox. As you can imagine, I did not find him as cute after that.

If any of you are ever in the area and have time to spend an afternoon at Brookgreen, I really hope you do. Especially if you love the outdoors. Huntington Beach State Park is right across the highway from it and it has a really nice campground!  FYI! :)