Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

What a beautiful property with so much history. The train tour was fun, and walking the grounds was beautiful, but the From Slavery to Freedom tour was great. It wasn’t the traditional “tour”, but a storytelling version of how slavery came to America and ultimately to Magnolia Plantation. Our “tour guide” was John, and he did a great job keeping everyone engaged in the storyline. He stayed back a few minutes to speak to my husband and I on some history of Ireland as well. He was very friendly and personable despite the heat and humidity. It was overall a great visit and we left with more knowledge than we came with.

This place is magical! We went on a Thursday around 11 and it wasn't crowded at all! They grounds are extremely beautiful, well kept and clean. They have a few complimentary tours but we paid another $15 for the 30 minute boat tour. It was extremely interesting to see all the wild life. Our boat tour guide was extremely knowledgeable on different species of birds and had a good sense of humor. Our tour gide for the slavery freedom cabin tour was also exceptional even though he was from Ireland. His knowledge was mind blowing and you walked away a different person (he just doesnt spit facts and dates out, he helps you experience that time period in your mind!). Lunch for 2 was $45 but it hit the spot. Highly recommend their pulled pork BBQ. *The only down side i had was my experience walking up to the front when it was our turn to get an admissions ticket. Not sure if the lady was having a rough day but it seemed as though we were bothering her. She was very matter of fact and not friendly at all.

The whole property was beautiful. The gardens, the house (the house tour was sold out unfortunately so we only saw the outside), the from slavery to freedom tour, and my personal favorite, the swamp loop trail was awesome. We saw alligators, various species of birds including great blue herons and egrets, as well as beautiful bald cypress trees and live oaks covered in Spanish moss. It's like taking a stroll through a different time. I only have 2 small complaints. The prices in the Peacock Cafe were very steep for certain things, especially wine. I just wanted to try the froze' but it was like $15 for the tiniest cup (barely bigger than a shot glass). You can get a whole bottle of decent wine for that price at the grocery store. The only other thing was the peacocks. They were beautiful and we loved seeing them but they were a little bit persistent about trying to take people's food. One peacock snatched the whole top piece of bread off of a lady's sandwich next to us and another one kept trying to take my son's snacks while we were sitting down. I'm sure people probably feed them alot so that's why they feel like they can do that but when you're paying good money for the food from the Cafe it would be nice to not have to fight off hungry peacocks lol. They weren't mean at all, we just had to keep shoeing them away. Overall, our visit was very pleasant and I highly recommend it.

We had a beautiful day for our tour! We spent about 1 1/2 hours wandering the grounds. The gardens are gorgeous and the Long White Bridge was so cool. While we were there a girl was having senior pictures taken on the bridge and a bride and groom were taking pictures. We saw several alligators and lots of turtles! The Slavery to Freedom tour was sad but an eye opener about the lives of the slaves. It is unimaginable to think about how they lived and how hard they had to work. We enjoyed the train ride through the grounds. It was a great way to see the entire plantation! I loved the house tour. It's a beautiful house with some neat furniture and dishes and pictures of the generations of family who lived in the house. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and did a great job! We thoroughly enjoyed our day!

The Magnolia plantation and gardens was gorgeous and we did the slavery to freedom tour and John was amazing with his knowledge about the plantation and the history. The details were vivid with his explanation and it was sad to hear but worth the trip to see. They have a peacock cafe there with actually peacocks walking among the people. Definitely beautiful to see in person.