[Tea Travels] Charleston Tea Plantation in Charleston SC

I have been wanting to visit the Charleston Tea Plantation in Charleston SC for a really long time! I have heard a lot about America's only Tea Garden and I was so excited to spend a day there drinking all the tea I could consume, and checking out all the awesome sights of how tea is made! I also brought home some yummy tea and goodies with me!

To start off I had to get a photo with the giant tea drinking frog named Waddy, that is outside the main building/store/walk through tea factory. 

The inside of the shop was a tea lovers paradise. So much tea and tea goodies! 

And all you could drink free tea! OMG! I had so much tea, they had hot and cold and it was all so yummy! I drank SO much tea while there! 

Also they sell loose and tea bags of the tea made from the plants that they grow at the Tea Plantation. I picked up a box of loose and a box of tea bags (more about those later!)

Inside their store they also have a walking tour of the factory where the tea is dried. It is narrated by the owner of the Biglow Company, 

They even talk about the machine that was made just for harvesting tea on the plantation. The only machine of this type that exists. 

You can even pay for a tour of the remainder of the plantation for $10.00. It consists of a thirty or so minute trolley tour. You get to see the plants and hear the history of the plantation and how it came to be. 

You start off by seeing all the tea plants, and get a bit of background on how the plants got to SC.

You get to see how the plants are grown from sprigs and see how small they are before they are planted on the plantation to become full grown and be turned into tea. The driver also went over how the flavored teas are made and why the company only makes a Black and Green tea.

The trolley returned back to the main building once the tour was over and you could see a few fun signs that told you how far the next Tea Plantations were. There was also a historic sign talking about the plantation. 

I also got some great stuff while I was there too! A tin of their Rockville Raspberry Tea Loose Tea, Cinnamon Spice Tea Bags, Key Lime cookies (for my father), treble clef Teaspoon, Light House Tea bag holder (for my mother), and a fun reusable bag!

There is also a Pokemon Go! gym and lots of Pokestops on the plantation as well! I stuck my Vaporean "Earl Grey" on the gym. 

And the three pokestops! 

And lots of Pokemon!

This was such a fun trip and a full on immersion of tea culture! I loved it and had such a blast visiting! Hopefully I'll get a chance to come back and visit again, I highly recommend checking this place out if you love tea and/or history! You can check them out on their webpage.