The Pirate called me up and told me he had read about an EPIC tree in South Carolina. So I hoped on the road and headed to Jacksonville to grab him and then go check out this tree. Angel Oak is a Southern live oak located on Johns Island near Charleston, South Carolina. The tree is estimated to be 400–500 years old and is 66.5 ft tall, 28 ft in circumference, and produces shade that covers 17,200 square feet. Its longest branch distance is 187 ft in length! The oak was named after Justus Angel and his wife, Martha Waight Tucker Angel. Local folklore tells stories of ghosts of former enslaved people appearing as angels around the tree… and it is a site to behold!

We also stopped into the Old Sheldon Church Ruins. A historic site located in northern Beaufort County, South Carolina, it is eerily beautiful. The ruins lie among majestic oaks and scattered graves and have been a popular site in the Lowcountry for photographers and wedding ceremonies.

Our final stop was the Old House Plantation, a historic plantation site and grave located near Ridgeland. The plantation was first settled in 1743 and was active into the early 19th century. It was the birthplace and burial site of Thomas Heyward, Jr., one of South Carolina’s four signers of the Declaration of Independence. The plantation site includes a number of plantation structures including the main house, two flanking outbuildings, a tidal mill, stable and slave quarters. The original 500 acre plantation grew to 16,000 acres and was destroyed by fire in 1865. Associated with the plantation is the Heyward family cemetery and surrounding brick wall. The location was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.