The other side of the coin of Myrtle Beach, Brookgreen Gardens, is a great diversion from: the sand and the sea, the shopping, the nightlife, and often in season - too many people. Everything that has become the Myrtle Beach experience, Brookgreen Gardens in the antithesis. Personally, I always gravitate toward the path less traveled so my time wandering the gardens, the nature trails, the quaint zoo of indigenous animals and the sculptures in galleries, the gardens was my time well spent.

    Remarkably, at the heart of Brookgreen Gardens is the element of time. Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington, the visionary creators of Brookgreen Gardens, intuitively employed the factor of time in almost every facet of their concept in this creation. The sculptures are mostly of marble and bronze, the material of which will immortalize the communicable efforts of the sculptors, including Archer's wife, Anna, for centuries. The aforementioned sculptures, the majority of which, are placed amongst the flowering plants that change with, and by the seasons, and most importantly, the ancient live oaks that sink their taproot deep into this former plantation's soil.

     The plantations that collectively comprised the current Brookgreen Gardens were four: The Oaks, Brookgreen, Springfield, and Laurel Hill, which were collected during the day of South Carolina Planter Joshua John Ward, who at one point, before the War for Southern Independence, was the largest slave owner in the United States - over 2,000 poor forcibly transplanted souls from The Dark Continent.
    The sculpture that greets the visitors of Brookgreen Gardens at the entrance on Hwy 17 north of Pawleys Island, and in equal distance, south of Murrells Inlet, is this huge piece named Fighting Stallions by Anna Hyatt Huntington: Above. The botany, and, or sculpture enthusiasts make their way to the Welcome Center, where a 10 minute film, Gray Oaks of Mystery, helps to orientate the visitors: Below.      images by Stan Deatherage

    Please forgive the fact that I do not have the title of the work, or the name of the artist for most of the sculptures in the subsequent pictures. I will return to Brookgreen Gardens in late Spring, so I will update each image after that next visit. This image of the bronze group sculpture of children saluting "Old Glory" is located adjacent to the Welcome Center: Above. The next unknown sculpture is a testament to the use line, water, and the natural beauty of tremendous live oaks in the background: Below.      images by Stan Deatherage

    Click here for an enlarged view of northeast South Carolina.
    Brookgreen Gardens possesses the largest collection of sculptures by American artists in the world. That alone is a large enough draw for many art lovers. I; however, cannot imagine how one could two more suited mediums of beauty at in the same space at the same time - the natural beauty of nature with the man made artistry of design in form: Above and below.      images by Stan Deatherage