Tree leaves visitors awe-struck

The Angel Oak is estimated to be more than 1,400 years old.
JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. -- Many moons ago, when Mohammed walked the earth and Constantinople ruled, a tiny acorn took root in a vast Carolina forest.
Actually, the forest wasn't part of South Carolina back then.
In fact, it wasn't even part of the United States.
It was an unnamed land where wild things roamed, and if there were any calendars around to mark the passage of time, the year would have been about A.D. 600.
Today, more than 1,400 years later, the little acorn has stood its ground and grown into a strapping giant of a tree that people call the Angel Oak.
This natural wonder is located in Johns Island, S.C., a rural town just outside of Charleston.
Every day, numerous tourists en route to Charleston's charming attractions make an out-of-the-way trek over dirty back roads just so they can stand beneath the Angel Oak's gargantuan branches and marvel at its ancient age.
The Angel Oak certainly does inspire awe in many a mortal.
Massive
Its spreading, moss-laden limbs are so thick and heavy that they stretch laboriously across the ground and have to be supported by wooden blocks, and its massive trunk is so fat that it measures more than 25 feet around.
On a sultry Southern day, the tree's wide arc of leafy branches offers more than 17,000 square feet of shade.
The Angel Oak is a live oak, a type of tree native to South Carolina and especially popular on the Carolina Sea Islands.
It has been a tourist attraction since the 1970s, but has been recognized by locals since at least the early 1700s.
It's hard to say exactly how big the tree was in those days, but today it reaches a height of 65 feet.
Its largest limb has a circumference of 11 feet, and the length of its branches is 89 feet.
Most of the Angel Oak's branches are shrouded with gauzy, gray strands of Spanish moss, adding to its wistful, romantic presence.
If only this tree could talk.
Through history
It's amazing to realize that it was here when Columbus discovered America, when Shakespeare penned "Hamlet" and when George Washington crossed the Delaware.
During the 1800s, the property the tree grows on was part of a plantation owned by Justis Angel, which is how the tree earned its name.
Today the City of Charleston Department of Recreation owns the tree and surrounding land, which is called Angel Oak Park.
There's no charge to visit the tree or the park, which is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.
XFor more information about the Angel Oak, call (843) 559-3496, or write to Angel Oak, 3688 Angel Oak Road, Johns Island, SC 29455.