Edisto Beach, SC

I left Mark's house and drove down into South Carolina, and cruised along the Grand Strand that sprawls along the coast and features the beach/golf hi-rise mecca of Myrtle Beach. As a rolled along and saw all of the monsterous mini-golf and go-cart activity parks, the shopping malls, the "plantations" with their fancy gated entrances and manicured grounds, I knew then that this is a place that is not my style. When the sprawl ended and the longleaf pines gave way to live-oaks and palmetto trees, the state began to have more appeal. I ended up at a nice little state park north of Charleston, not too far from the airport. Unfortunately phone and internet were very poor there, so it wouldn't do for Nancy and her job. I picked her up, and the next day we moved down to the coast, to Edisto Beach State Park. This place is great - right on a beautiful stretch of sand beach, not as spacious and private as many parks, but everyone is super nice and so happy to be there, which really makes a difference. We immediately decided to stay the week, got camp set up, and went to the beach.

Good to have Nancy back at camp:


Miles of gorgeous sand beach littered with beautiful shells:


Dolphins swim just off-shore:


Sunlight filtered through a live-oak hanging with spanish moss:


Folks don't use their cars much here. Many have golf carts, but most walk or ride bicycles. Its very flat here, so cycling is easy, and there's a grocery store just across from the campground entrance, so even trips to resupply can be done by bike. Then there is a nice network of trails for hiking and biking, and the beach, when the tide is out and exposes hard, flat sand, is a fun place to ride.

Toby catches a ride:


Riding on the beach:


Riding on the trails:


Nancy inspects the "Spanish Mount":

This is a 20 foot deep, 1/2 acre across pile of accumulated oyster shells! Some 4000 years ago indigenous americans began to pile their shells here, and the mount became so large that is was used by explorers as a landmark. Archeaologists have found pottery and bones of fish and animals in the pile, but it is mostly just oyster shells.



This friendly little sanderling ran up to me and pecked away at some mushrooms growing in the sand by my feet. The bird seemed unafraid and stayed within a foot or two of my feet while I crouched down with the camera to snap a few photos:


One afternoon we took a drive into Charleston. We really liked the feel of this city. The older section of town had such beautiful architecture, lovely private homes with walled gardens, and a really fun covered marketplace teeming with vendors selling their creations, including sweet-grass woven baskets, jewelry, pottery, and benne-seed cookies. We worked up an appetite walking and then had dinner at Hyman's Seafood on Meeting Street. We're glad that we took the time to check out Charleston. Here are a couple of photos of the city:



And I'll leave you with this - me and my birthday present of a full-face helmet so that when I get all armored up to do serious downhill trails, my noggin will have adequate protection!