Cypress Gardens 10 '11

This realistic looking demolished  chapel is a left over  film prop

Today we visited Cypress Gardens.  This well know tourist attraction has been featured in numerous national magazines, popular television shows and motion pictures.

BJ stands beside an artificial cypress movie prop

Many of the  props from the filming of the movie "the Patriot" were left behind  in the gardens, giving one the sense of having stepped back in time to the revolutionary war era.

More props left behind from films made here.

The Gardens feature a large Cypress Swamp which can be viewed  from the water by boat afoot on  well maintained hiking trails.

Guided boat and land tours are available, but we decided we would prefer to see the gardens at our own pace.

 Perhaps he just didn't trust my rowing ability, but BJ wanted to do the oaring. What every his reasons  I was grateful to have my hands free so I could take  reference photos.

There are beautiful reflections,

and interesting views everywhere we looked.

I got a little nervous when we noticed somethings that looked suspiciously like  alligators among some waterlilies.

Fortunately they were just a logs.

After touring the wetlands by boat, we decided to take one of the along 3.5 miles of walking/hiking paths which loop through the swamp and gardens. Stroll along original dikes from the rice-growing era, keeping an eye out for wildlife.

BJ enjoyed inspecting the rice which the Garden's Staff  has planted  in a manner similar to  the cultivation methods which would have been used on this land in Colonial times.

Next we visited the  Cypress Gardens 

"SWAMPARIUM"

Inside large tanks and terrariums feature fish, amphibians, and reptiles (including venomous snakes) native to South Carolina swamps and nearby waterways.

Just outside the Swamparium door is where Cypress Gardens  keeps it live  alligators.   Thank heavens, the beasts were safely contained behind steel bars; these guys are REALLY BIG.

After learning from those exhibits what is potentially lurking beneath the waters surface , I was not nearly as inclined as I usually would be to venture too close  the lotus pond.  This time I let my zoom lens do the work, and kept on moving toward The Butterfly House

This large greenhouse filled with flowering plants, live butterflies, birds, a pond, an arthropod exhibit, and a observation beehive.

I especially appreciated the Garden's focus upon native butterflies like the Zebra above

 and the Buckeye below

The Exhibit also show cased butterflies  that migrate through our area like Swallowtail and Monarchs

Cypress Gardens is located on Cypress Gardens Road,  which is close to the Goose Creek area. It is approximately 25 miles north of Charleston, SC.