Looking east at Pawleys Island -Aug 25 2011 I thought it appropriate to post a few pictures of the Pawleys Island Marsh on the eve of Hurricane Irene's approach. The photos were taken at 6:30 pm as the sun set ... I wanted to take a picture from the same area as yesterdays post, but was unable to get onto Pawleys Island as the roads were already flooded. (For those of you who don't know... houses in the low country are all built on stilts.) I took these photos from the marsh at the end of my street . For comparison, I have included some pictures of photos, I took earlier in the year in normal high tide conditions from the same area.. Looking east at Pawleys Island - Aug 2010Pawleys Island Marsh looks more like a lake than a marsh as Hurricane Irene approaches. Notice all the cordgrass is completely submerged in today's pictures. The tidal level is the highest I have seen it since moving to SC and is expected to continue to rise after dark as the storm grows closer ( It was about 200 miles away when these photos were taken). Looking North toward PI causeway - Aug 26 2011 Looking North toward causeway - July 2011

Looking east at Pawleys Island  -Aug 26 2011

  I thought it appropriate to post a few pictures of the Pawleys Island Marsh  on the eve of Hurricane Irene's approach.   The photos were taken at 6:30 pm as the sun  set ... I  wanted to take a picture from the same area as yesterdays post, but was unable to get onto Pawleys Island as the roads were already flooded.  (For those of you who don't know... houses in the low country are all built on stilts.) I took these photos from the marsh at the end of my street  .  For comparison, I have included some pictures of photos, I took earlier in the year in normal high tide conditions from the same area..

Looking east at Pawleys Island  - Aug  2010



Pawleys Island Marsh looks more like a lake than a marsh as Hurricane Irene approaches.  Notice all the cordgrass is completely submerged in today's pictures. The tidal level is the highest I have seen it since moving to SC and is expected to continue to rise after dark as the storm grows closer ( It was about 200 miles away when these photos were taken).

Looking North toward  PI causeway - Aug 26 2011

Looking North toward causeway - July 2011

Calm before the Storm Irene '11

Looking west from Pawleys Island towards Pawleys Plantation

It is incredibly peaceful this evening as we wait for Irene to move in tomorrow

Artist Date in New Bern NC

New Bern City Hall

BJ and I had been confined to the house far too much this week, so we decided to set aside our chores for a day and do something interesting. We set out sights on the small town of New Bern, NC. It is a four hour (one way) a road trip to this picturesque town and well worth the drive.  Whether you are an architectural painter or a  nature photographer, or just a lover of art and history, this place has it all.

Water Front

 New Bern is located at the confluence of the Trent and the Neuse rivers in what is known as North Carolina's Inner Banks region. It was first settled by Europeans in 1710 by Swiss and German immigrants. It was named after the capital of Switzerland, Bern, meaning courageous, which is something these settlers must have been to brave the wilderness. New Bern is the second oldest town in North Carolina and served as the capital of the North Carolina colonial government and then briefly as the state capital.

County Courthouse

Today, New Bern has a population of roughly 30,000. people. Like most of America, most pf its day to day businesses and shopping have moved to newer shopping centers in the suburb. and it's inner city is struggling to find a new identity. Still for a community with such a small population, the residential and commercial historical areas are in remarkably good state of preservation. The unique architecture of those areas, along with the natural beauty of New Bern's location, has helped to make the town a bit of a mini tourist attraction.

The downtown area is very walkable, and every direction you go leads to something interesting. This path lead to a small courtyard park called "Bern Park which was filled with carved bears. (Actually the whole town has colorful statues of bears around it. I never did find out why. )

The town also has a lot of churches  And I do mean A LOT... all are beautifully maintained, with interesting facades.

New Bern's 's downtown commercial district is not only well preserved but has really interesting places to shop There are lots of eateries, art stores, and some great one of a kind places to visit.

This former bank building (c.1913), headquarters of the Craven Arts Council & Gallery, is both a cultural and architectural treat. The classical facade of Ionic columns provides a grand entrance for the two-story gallery. Changing exhibitions of various media such as painting, sculpture, photography, pottery and fiber art by artists of the southeastern United States are provided free of charge in the gallery area.  It is one of the most beautiful galleries I have ever visited. Be sure to visit the Bank of the Arts Sculpture Park on the corner of Broad and Middle Street across the street from the Cultural Council Gallery

 Mitchell's hardware is a real store... filled with everything from cast iron pots and cast iron stoves to tin buckets & watering cans and loose vegetable seed sold by the ounce.  Their window dresser has a clear sense of whimsy.

In addition to its fascinating war history, New Bern is more recently famous for being the setting of the Nichola Spark's ' book, The Notebook.  And it is commonly known as the Birthplace of Pepsi Cola.

Caleb Bradham invented and began marketing the drink in his tiny pharmacy.
Bruce and I couldn't resist a sample at his counter.

PS I didn't get any photos of the residential neighborhoods, but if you enjoy photographing or painting architecture those are really interesting  as well.

Artist Date in Bluffton SC / Late August 2011

Anyone who questions that value of art in today's economy, should pay a visit to Bluffton, SC,  where local art is the powerhouse behind the town's economy.

BJ Enjoys local art as much as I do

Virtually every commercial establishment in the town is promoting art in one form or another

Even the signage is artsy

Some  are specialize in what they display  like the  tea house where we had lunch 

General Store

And some are down right funky 

An out of door art extension of the general store

The local filling station and auto repair shop display recycled  metal art

The local filling station 

For those who would rather make art, than purchase it,

  there are  also the usual anti-bellum buildings,

 

  interesting churches

 And beautiful scenery along the May River 

Shrimp dock

Anyway you look at it , Bluffton SC is worth a visit.

Exploring Charleston with Noreen 8 '11

Today my friend, Noreen Sneed, and I decided to explore  Charleston.

The original intent had been to visit all the antique and other interesting shops along King Street, have lunch, and continue on down Broad Street.  A record breaking heat wave forced some modifications .

We made it into all of the shops along King Street.  (The Audubon and Charleston Historical Society shops were places of particular interest to us.) But by the time we reached the corner of King and Broad the grueling  100+ degree heat had both of us feeling wilted. 

We cooled down with some nice southern iced tea to keep. Then kept to the many shaded courtyard alleys  to prevent further frying  of our poor feet.  It was a lovely visit, but next time we'll check the weather forecast before planning to hike Charleston  in the dog days of summer.

Little River Light House Aug '11

I had seen photos of a light house along the Little River in South Carolina, so today Bruce and I went looking for it.  It turns out to be a  replica of a light house that is used by a condo community  to store its pool supplies.  Functional or not, the clever camouflage has become something of a local landmark to boaters on the Little River, SC.