Cemetery walking - Magnolia

Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC 

The colors were so bright and vibrant for cemetery shots I had to try this one in black and white. I never tire of walking through Magnolia and St. Lawrence cemeteries. I see something new each time. 

Magnolia Cemetery Walking

Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.

I've taken you on walks through this cemetery so many times, if you visited Charleston everything would look familiar. Yesterday we had extraordinary high tides and my intended walk on the peninsula was foiled by flooded streets but where better to be that in a cemetery on a dreary, foggy day?

I come here so often I am always trying to see if through fresh eyes and spot new details to feature.

Bird watching in the cemetery

Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC   

I have friends who go to Magnolia Cemetery and never take a picture of a tomb. It is a bird watching paradise. 

Cemetery accesories

Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC    

This particular cemetery statue was dressed for the occasion with a pearl bracelet. I've walked through Magnolia Cemetery so many times that I am always trying to look at it with fresh eyes and see some new details. Spotting a pearl bracelet made my morning.

Cemetery walking - Magnolia Cemetery

Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC

Cemeteries might not be on everyone's visiting guest route but they are one of my frequent haunts so it only made sense to give my nephew a quick driving tour through Magnolia Cemetery yesterday. It was a beautiful day and the azaleas are starting to burst into bloom.

I am not used to seeing many changes in the historic cemetery so this new mausoleum caught my eye. I've never noticed it before.

Cemetery details

Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC 

I did my walk yesterday morning at Magnolia Cemetery. It was so bright and contrasty that the pictures looked much too cheerful for a cemetery stroll so I played around with black and white and concentrated more on details. I was hopping and skipping with delight to see the bird's nest in the angel's book. Perpetual care indeed!

Animal Kingdom at Green Hill

Green Hill section, Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC   

I often head to Magnolia Cemetery for my weekend morning walks but rarely walk the back Green Hill section. Yesterday was one of those overcast mornings perfect for a cemetery ramble. Clearly this back section of the historic cemetery overlooking the Cooper River is where the animal lovers have congregated.

In other news, this is my new favorite banana bread recipe: Bon Appetite Best Banana Bread. The house smells pretty darn good. Thanks Bon Appetite!

Cemetery Walking

Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.

I've brought you here before, I'll drag you here again and you will like it. Magnolia Cemetery is one of my favorite places to walk and I revisit familiar scenes each time.

Magnolia Cemetery, One of Charleston's Best Kept Secrets: The best kept secret in Charleston!  The artistry of the grave stones, quiet southern gentility, pride, privilege and sacrifice are all around.  Magnolia Cemetery is the final resting place for Planters, Politicians, military leaders, bootleggers, whorehouse madams - you name it, anybody from the last 150 years of Charleston's history.

Buried at Magnolia are 2,200 Civil War veterans (including the famous crew of the Confederate submarine Hunley) - a great percentage of the war's total casualties that includes five Confederate generals and 14 signers of the Ordinance of Secession.  The Confederate connection probably attracts the most people, because there are so many buried here from that era.  A special Confederate section contains more than 1,700 graves of the known and unknown. One reads, simply, "Unknown, Three Bodies, Fort Sumter." Here, too, are 84 bodies of South Carolinians who fell at Gettysburg and were re-interred at Magnolia.

A penny for the ferryman

Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.

While visiting some cemeteries you may notice that headstones marking certain graves have coins on them, left by previous visitors to the grave.

These coins have distinct meanings when left on the headstones of those who gave their life while serving in America's military, and these meanings vary depending on the denomination of coin.

A coin left on a headstone or at the grave site is meant as a message to the deceased soldier's family that someone else has visited the grave to pay respect. Leaving a penny at the grave means simply that you visited.

A nickel indicates that you and the deceased trained at boot camp together, while a dime means you served with him in some capacity. By leaving a quarter at the grave, you are telling the family that you were with the soldier when he was killed.

According to tradition, the money left at graves in national cemeteries and state veterans cemeteries is eventually collected, and the funds are put toward maintaining the cemetery or paying burial costs for indigent veterans.

In the US, this practice became common during the Vietnam war, due to the political divide in the country over the war; leaving a coin was seen as a more practical way to communicate that you had visited the grave than contacting the soldier's family, which could devolve into an uncomfortable argument over politics relating to the war.

Some Vietnam veterans would leave coins as a "down payment" to buy their fallen comrades a beer or play a hand of cards when they would finally be reunited.

The tradition of leaving coins on the headstones of military men and women can be traced to as far back as the Roman Empire.
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/military/coins.asp#2rVGauBcOL846x1F.99

I have often noted tokens left on tombstones and wondered at their meaning. Pebbles, toys, golf balls etc., but I wasn't certain of the meaning of the coins in the oyster shells at the graves of the Hunley submariner tombs. Doing a little research I discovered that it was particularly a custom to leave coins on military tombs. Some sites mentioned that different coins had different meanings. In an explanation on snopes.com a quarter meant that the visitor had been with the soldier when he died. Considering the Hunley sank in 1864 I don't believe that is the case here. If it is, this is a more interesting cemetery than even I knew!

Why are pennies put on a grave? Some people hold to the tradition of leaving something of yourself when visiting a grave. If nothing else, a coin from your pocket serves as a marker of your passage and esteem for the departed. It also signifies to any that pass by that the grave was visited, and that the deceased is well loved and esteemed and has not been abandoned or forgotten. Coins are also an older form of leaving flowers, a practice prompted by the heavy Romanticism of the Victorian era.

While visiting some cemeteries you may notice that headstones marking certain graves have coins on them, left by previous visitors to the grave.

These coins have distinct meanings when left on the headstones of those who gave their life while serving in America's military, and these meanings vary depending on the denomination of coin.

A coin left on a headstone or at the grave site is meant as a message to the deceased soldier's family that someone else has visited the grave to pay respect. Leaving a penny at the grave means simply that you visited.

A nickel indicates that you and the deceased trained at boot camp together, while a dime means you served with him in some capacity. By leaving a quarter at the grave, you are telling the family that you were with the soldier when he was killed.

According to tradition, the money left at graves in national cemeteries and state veterans cemeteries is eventually collected, and the funds are put toward maintaining the cemetery or paying burial costs for indigent veterans.

In the US, this practice became common during the Vietnam war, due to the political divide in the country over the war; leaving a coin was seen as a more practical way to communicate that you had visited the grave than contacting the soldier's family, which could devolve into an uncomfortable argument over politics relating to the war.

Some Vietnam veterans would leave coins as a "down payment" to buy their fallen comrades a beer or play a hand of cards when they would finally be reunited.

The tradition of leaving coins on the headstones of military men and women can be traced to as far back as the Roman Empire.
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/military/coins.asp#2rVGauBcOL846x1F.99

While visiting some cemeteries you may notice that headstones marking certain graves have coins on them, left by previous visitors to the grave.

These coins have distinct meanings when left on the headstones of those who gave their life while serving in America's military, and these meanings vary depending on the denomination of coin.

A coin left on a headstone or at the grave site is meant as a message to the deceased soldier's family that someone else has visited the grave to pay respect. Leaving a penny at the grave means simply that you visited.

A nickel indicates that you and the deceased trained at boot camp together, while a dime means you served with him in some capacity. By leaving a quarter at the grave, you are telling the family that you were with the soldier when he was killed.

According to tradition, the money left at graves in national cemeteries and state veterans cemeteries is eventually collected, and the funds are put toward maintaining the cemetery or paying burial costs for indigent veterans.

In the US, this practice became common during the Vietnam war, due to the political divide in the country over the war; leaving a coin was seen as a more practical way to communicate that you had visited the grave than contacting the soldier's family, which could devolve into an uncomfortable argument over politics relating to the war.

Some Vietnam veterans would leave coins as a "down payment" to buy their fallen comrades a beer or play a hand of cards when they would finally be reunited.

The tradition of leaving coins on the headstones of military men and women can be traced to as far back as the Roman Empire.
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/military/coins.asp#2rVGauBcOL846x1F.99

Magnolia Cemetery

Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.

Magnolia Cemetery is one of the most beautiful spots in Charleston and I try to get there frequently to walk through the historic cemetery on the banks of the Cooper River. It has beautiful statues, unusual tombs including a pyramid and baby crib, beautiful oak trees and bird watching heaven.

It's almost always empty when I am there although many of us enjoy the cemetery. I've been so often I'm always looking for a fresh angle for a photo and today was just the right overcast and gloomy day.

Memorial Day

Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.

Thank you ladies and gentlemen.

Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the US Armed Forced. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union and Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War. By the 20th century, Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died while in the military service.It typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end.

Many people visit cemeteries and memorials, particularly to honor those who have died in military service. Many volunteers place an American flag on each grave in national cemeteries.

Cemetery Walking - Magnolia & St. Lawrence

Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.

I woke up a couple of times to the sound of rain last night and this morning the skies were gloomy and perfect for a cemetery walk. By the time I pulled up to the gates at Magnolia Cemetery off upper Meeting St. this morning the sun was out and every scene had dramatic lighting. I roamed Magnolia visiting all my favorite spots and then did a quick walk through St. Lawrence Cemetery next door where the angel statue shot was taken.

This last shot made me smile. I have a couple of photographer friends (hi Leah and Kathy!) who frequently go to Magnolia Cemetery just to take pictures of birds. They never take pictures of the tombs or statues. Finding this fake bird in a tree made me feel like I was finally part of their club!

Memorial Day

Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.

 The dead soldier's silence sings our national anthem.  ~Aaron Kilbourn

Thank you ladies and gentlemen.

A girl's best friend

A girl's best friend, Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.n

Some of my favorite walks are through cemeteries and Charleston's are some of the best. I've spent a lot of time in historic Magnolia Cemetery but don't very often get back the more recent tombs in the back Greenhill section where I found this one. I've never seen a tombstone like this before, have you?

Fox Sightings on the Charleston peninsula

Silver Fox, Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.

Sightings of foxes on the Charleston peninsula, you say?! This fella didn't even startle when I spotted him watching over the Cooper River bridges from his perch on top of a tomb at Magnolia Cemetery. Apparently a couple of foxes have been seen downtown Charleston.

I hope everyone has had a good weekend. I've been cleaning out my garage. Blah. It seems like every tenant through the years has left at least one thing - a chair, a ratty old desk, car cleaning supplies.....sigh. I heard someone stop to rummage through what I had put out on the sidewalk and invited him back to see what else I had. He wanted almost everything. Yipee! Old tiles, extra roofing shingles. All gone. 

A few more from the cemetery

Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, S.C.

A few more from Magnolia Cemetery. Since then, I've been here, I've been there, I've been everywhere - an engagement party in Hanahan (hi Heather, Jason), a tall glass of pear cider at Closed for Business and then a fried green tomato and crab stack at Fleet Landing overlooking the water.

Do we have to do Monday?