11/7/08 (Friday): Here we go again--off on another great adventure! We're already loving Maclay Gardens. We finished up our first three work days today. Wiley has cleared an area along the brick path to set out luminaries for Camellia Christmas on December 5 and I've "worked" in the Visitor center (which hasn't had very many visitors at all). The gardens are just beginning to come into bloom. They're famous for camellias, some of them more than 100 years old.

There are also lots of ancient live oaks draped with Spanish moss, two pristine lakes, acres of azalea, rhododendron and dogwood--all the beloved plants of the deep south.


Our campsite is a lovely little shaded glen with a couple of large live oaks and a swath of verdant green that draws deer like a magnet. We have a little shed with a (free) washer and dryer--it's so convenient! Our only neighbors are Donna and Dick, the other volunteer campers. They have a son who lives nearby and a new grandbaby.



We've enjoyed several walks through the gardens. There's a brick path (the bricks came from an old street in Tampa) beside the lake that's heart-breakingly beautiful. the reflecting pool is the site of many weddings.



There's also a little pond and a number of walled and "secret" gardens with statues and benches. It's just an enchanting place. I keep expecting to see a southern belle out walking under her parasol.



In fact, the area was granted to the Marquis de Lafayette after the Revolutionary War. He wanted to start a colony of French in the area, but the Napoleonic Wars depleted his funds. He sold it to some folks who had a 2000-acre plantation. The original plantation house no longer exists. It was apparently pretty much destroyed during the Civil War and the period of Reconstruction. It was bought in the early 1900's by some people who built a hunting lodge and outbuildings on it.


Mr. Maclay bought it in the 1920's, refurbished the house, and used it as his winter home. Maclay was from a wealthy banking family, but after his service in the Spanish American War and a tour of Europe and the Far East, he didn't want to work in the family business. His wife was from the Fleischmann Yeast family. He had built extensive gardens at his summer retreat in Upstate NY, and decided to built the extensive gardens we know today around his new winter home.


I'll be working on a couple of interesting projects while I'm here. I transcribed an interview with some old friends of the Maclays, and that led to another project involving purchasing a slide scanner and digitizing some historic photos. I'll also be giving them some of my photos to print for the photo albums in the visitor center. Some of the photos they have now are faded.


So far, our only problem has been finding a place with free WiFi so that we can check our e-mail and update the blog. Right now, I'm sitting in the back of the truck in a parking lot at a bagel shop. It's not ideal, but it's free!

So, I may not be as quick to answer e-mails and post new blogs as before, but it's only for two months. Stick with me!