#68 "...3 Charleston things..." Part 1

On Saturday, March 26, 2011, Andrew and I headed out to Wadmalaw Island to view the only place in the United States where tea is grown.  On the way there, Andrew's truck, Betsy Rose, reached 90,000 miles, and he had to basically stop in the middle of a 55 MPH highway so I could take this picture:

Betsy Rose, and the picture that almost got us killed!

Factory and Gift Shop

Once you enter the tea plantation, you can see all sorts of varieties of tea plants growing.

 

We took a 40 minute trolley tour of the plantation. Our guide, John Kennedy (ha) gave us a lot of interesting information about the plantation, which has been around since 1967 when the Cold War frightened the Lipton Company that they may not be able to import tea from the third world countries like it usually did.  In 1987, Lipton sold the plantation to two business partners, one of whom still owns the plantation today, and narrated our little tour over a CD.

 

 We then took a 15 minute walking tour of the factory. Since tea season hasn't started for the year yet, the factory wasn't functioning, so I imagine it would be a little more interesting if there were actually tea leaves being processed, however, the video tour reminded me of something from Mr. Rogers's Neighborhood when they toured a crayon factory. 

We had a lot of fun, and I can't wait to go back in November to see the tea plants in bloom!

Me with my free sample of raspberry iced tea, grown and brewed right here!