Ladys Island, SC

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

Heartfelt thanks to all of my classmates, shipmates, squadronmates and their families for all the sacrifices made on behalf of the best country in the world, our US of A!!!

OK, back to yesterday, Sunday, 5/27/2012  :-)

We're definitely on vacation... stayed up late, over-imbibing on the back porch and got up late, well, late for us at ~0730.  Decided to head back to Blackstone's in downtown Beaufort for late breakfast.  We brought the girls with us this time and enjoyed a very nice meal.  While we were eating, discussed plans for the day. 

Decided we'd head back to the house, swap out cars for Chuck's truck and, travel out to Hunting Island's.  Figured we'd hit the beach first, then the Nature Center in the state park before heading back to Ladys Island.  BJ decided to stay back and get some things done at the house.

Headed out a little after noon and made good time to Hunting Island beach.  Was quite windy along the way.  As we got nearer the water, you could see the chop out in the Atlantic indicating winds >20knots.  To get to the beach, you have to head into a heavily forested part of the island loaded with Palmetto trees and other shrubbery native to these parts.  Easy to see why the makers of Forest Gump and other movies chose this area of the country for location shooting.

With Tropical Storm Beryl nearby, I was quite surprised at how many people were at the beach enjoying the heavy, turbulent surf and doing BBQs.  There are no life guards and you swim at your own risk.  Having said that we did notice that there was a pre-positioned EMS ambulance and 2 police cars in the parking lot.  The surf was a brown, churned up, foam spitting, angry force of nature... and yet, there were plenty of locals enjoying the waves.  Wind speed was >20 knots with higher gusts, skies overcast.  We were standing on what little beach sand there was.  The rest was covered by dead sea grass, foam and water.  Only the small dunes way back were untouched.

Didn't stay longer than it took to take a biology break, a handful of photos and departed back through the 'movie set' of a jungle, back onto the road and continued on to the Nature Center located just before you reach exclusive Fripp Island bridge.  We spent a good 1/2 hour bird watching and visiting the Nature Center's wildlife conservatory staffed by Park Rangers.  Rosie was quite excited to be able to meet and hold one of the Center's residents:  an 18yr old Diamondback Terrapin named, Buddy! 

Back outside, we were also happy to discover that the small man-made pond at the foot of the pier contained a visitor:  a wild 8-10 foot alligator!  The Park Ranger let us know that you can judge the length of an alligator by measuring the distance between the 'gator's nostrils and a point between it's eyes.  I estimated the distance between the alligator's features at ~8 to 10 inches.  The Park Ranger agreed.  A couple of the Ranger's assistants came out and poked around the murky, shallow pool with a long PVC pipe making the alligator splash around a few times entertaining the growing crowd around the pool.  We departed soon thereafter.

On the return trip we took a short detour while on St. Helena Island to go briefly tour Fort Fremont at Land's End.  Fort Fremont was constructed in 1899 to defend Port Royal Sound.  The Fort never saw any action and in 1901 was decommissioned.  It was armed with 'disappearing' cannons of various calibers.  We walked around a bit before jumping back in Chuck's truck to go visit some friends of his that lived right near the Fort - Lee and BJ.  Nice retired folks, who obviously liked and respected Chuck, and who were looking to sell their home and move to California - where BJ was from... Culver City to be exact.  Our visit was short and filled with mosquito bites!!

We eventually got back to the house - via a quick stop at the Publix for some groceries - where BJ had been busy with home chores and prepping some of what would turn out to be a delicious home made dinner.  On the menu this evening:  boiled shrimp covered with Feta cheese, oven baked until golden brown; a veggie medley of comprised of several types of squash, and; roasted potatoes.  Wonderful meal, served up by great friends!

Amazingly, we were all a bit beat and made it a quiet, short evening before we hit the rack.