Yesterday we celebrated CDF’s 29th birthday. I took the day off and we went down to Orton Plantation. We spent at least half of the day there and ate a picnic lunch. Then we went shopping on the way back and finally made our way home.
My plans for the day were to cook all the meals, give CDF her presents, go on a day trip, and generally give her the day off. I also helped MDF make her a card and in the afternoon we baked a Red Velvet cake together.
We left for Orton around 10:30 or so. I packed a picnic and we planned on spending most of the day down there. It was the first time either of us had been there, so we didn’t know what all there was to see. We certainly didn’t expect alligators and snakes (though I guess we should have).
The garden was very pretty, and besides a few scary encounters with wildlife, we really enjoyed our walk around the plantation grounds. The late azaleas were still blooming and there were camellias, old bush roses, and other flowers too.
The visitors guide said the walk around the garden usually took about 45 minutes. We took longer, since we stopped in the middle of the garden and sat on a group of three metal chairs to have lunch. The chairs were set back toward some trees on one side of a grassy area facing the “Triangle Garden.” It was a lovely place to have lunch.
We saw another baby alagator in a lagoon as we headed back from the graveyard at the far end of the plantation. It must have heard us coming, because it dived under the water. But it had been around long enough to give CDF a fright.
On the way back to the van we took some more pictures of CDF and the girls around the pansies in front of the plantation house.