Today we went to Historic Brattonsville, which is a living museum of a plantation around the late 1800s and early 1900s. They were having a special event today called “By the Sweat of our Brows” which featured people dressed as and talking about the slaves that worked on the plantation.
We are museum members, so it was free for us! We will probably go back for other events, too. We had a very good time. It didn’t start great, with a loud “No no, we don’t allow pets” from the people at the door. I replied “That’s great, she’s a service dog” and they let us be on our way. Later on the people behind us in line saw us again and commended me for being so brave and speaking up like I did. That was nice.
We got there right at 10AM when the event started to try to beat the heat. We were among the first there! We made a beeline to the farm animals! They had a horse, some cows, sheep, and some pigs. The horse was awesome. He wasn’t as big as Chanda’s horse, and he was off white all over his body and mane and tail. He was very friendly.
At first, I kept Hestia back a ways so I didn’t bother Mr Horsey. But the horse was VERY interested in smelling her. Hestia was a little scared to be honest, but who wouldn’t be being as small as she is meeting a full sized horse! Brad got some really great pictures of Hestia and the horse.
Next we saw the sheep, but they weren’t interested in making friends. Then we went to the pigs. Hestia about lost it when she saw the pigs! She nearly jumped out of my arms to go and play with them! Then she started barking at me when I didn’t let her see the pigs, so I turned around right away and left the pig area. So I missed all the fun Brad had of getting a picture of a pig peeing, and pictures of the pigs in their enclosure.
There were lots of interpreters there, dressed for the time of the museum, doing period things like making bricks, spinning wool, cooking, and showing people around the place. They were all super nice. Besides the horse, I think my favorite part of the museum to see was one of the better-built slave cabins, for slaves that were skilled. It was made of brick instead of wood and had a fire going in the fireplace. They had a cot and pillows on the floor for sleeping, as well as a sleeping area upstairs (many people would be forced to live in these small structures). It was decorated as if it were a well-used house, with personalized furnishings like an old worn quilt and a toy.
We got to talk with a woman about the history of Brattonsville, turns out she wrote a booklet on Brattonsville slaves and is descended from slaves who originally worked at the plantation. We had a great time talking with her, and Brad bought her booklet to learn more about what she uncovered in her PhD research.
Our last stop was to get our portraits done! They had art students from Winthrop University there doing portraits for free! It turns out we were popular to draw because we got one of Brad, one of Hestia and me, and one of the three of us! I think we’re going to get frames and frame them. I at least love mine!
We went home before we got totally exhausted by the heat, thank goodness. I wore my orange and pink wool sundress and my new floppy straw hat to shade my face. Brad wore his new linen long sleeved and long pantsed outfits. He prefers to cover up rather than apply sunscreen all over.
So, that was our trip to Historic Brattonsville! We had a really good time, and now you can enjoy all the pictures that Brad took!
Veronica holding Hestia (in a red mesh vest) and petting an off-white horse on the nose while the barn person talks about the animals that are there.
Veronica and Hestia smile at the camera (well, I”m guessing that’s the face Hestia is making) with the horse and his caretaker in the background.
First greet with Hestia and the horse. You see the horse’s nose coming up to the front of Hestia’s face, which you can’t see as she is facing away from the camera.
Big eyed Hestia looks at Mr. Horsey in amazement!
The horse sniffs Hestia and she draws back like she is not sure what is going on!
Veronica petting the horse’s neck.
More of Veronica petting the horse, with Hestia looking away like “ummmm, really?!” Another woman is petting the horse’s nose.
Sepia toned photograph of the horse sniffing Hestia and Veronica holding Hestia. The clouds in the background are white and fluffy and it looks like an old picture.
Mr. Horsey stretching out his neck so that he can get another whiff of Hestia! Hestia’s actually sniffing him, too.
One last one of the horsey sniffing Hestia! Hestia’s done sniffing, but isn’t pulling away.
Veronica holding Hestia in front of the sheepsies. Veronica is smiling at the camera, and Hestia can’t pull her eyes away from the sheep!
Veronica and Hestia looking toward the sheep as they show their heads at a large opening between the horizontal slats.
The sheep were very interested in Hestia, so they all came over to have a sniff.
This is a closeup of a sheep’s head with its body in the background. It is a white sheep, a Gulf Coast sheep, which are very rare nowadays.
A closeup of another white sheepie. The Gulf Coast sheep were valued because they could live well in this environment. However they didn’t produce much wool (only on their backs, chest, and tail), modern deworming made their hardiness obsolete, and they don’t get big for a lot of meat, so they are very rare today.
Three sheep, two white ones on the ends, and a black one with a bell on it in the middle. All the people working there told us about the special black bellwether sheep!
A medium sized black pig in a corner of a pen, peeing. Brad says he cropped the picture with the pig in the far corner so he could have a little privacy.
Time for piggies to go inside! The moving butt of a black pig is almost inside the old wooden barn, with two other black pigs following in a line.
Veronica holding Hestia while in the background a man tends to a fire and basic cooking structure he’s prepping to cook some pork.
A pretty door in the main house. It has segmented yellow panels on the inside, lines around the edges of these in black, and a red color for the rest of the (thick part of the) door.
Veronica and Hestia, with Veronica’s head turned at an interesting angle accentuated by her wide-brimmed straw hat, in front of the pretty door.
LOLOL at the Hestia horse faces 😀 Tao would have had a MOMENT with the sheep–we used to have a sheep farm less than 1/4 mile away from us in CT, walked past it every day. You are inspiring me to go check out a plantation about an hour away from us, once Deja is on track. I loved these sorts of things before the physical messes…Sturbridge Village and Plymouth Plantation in MA, Monticello and Williamsburg in VA, to name a few…thank you for taking us with you yet again! <3
Glad you enjoyed our trip! The only problem with the plantations is that usually there are not wheelchair ramps or accessible houses to visit. So visit now before your physical health declines more! A power chair was easily able to manage the grassy areas, but a manual chair would have had a very hard time.
Another GREAT adventure for the 3 of you! Having trained and shown horses for so long, I must admit I liked those pics the best.
Kudos to Brad for that sepia toned one – made the picture look very old and in the ‘period’ of that time.
Yes, Brad is so talented with editing the photos!