Date Night 7"14

Bruce and I at Murrells Inlet 

Bruce and I made an agreement earlier this month to have a date night  at least once a week, so this evening we decided to have dinner and watch the sunset at Murrells Inlet.

Part of Murrells Inlet  restaurant row.

It's a good place to go for dinner because there are lots and lots of  good restaurants lined up along the marsh

Sister's restaurant and marina

All of the restaurants have good views  of the marsh from the dining room, and for those that prefer al la fresco dining there are covered dining  decks with live bands playing,  but you don't have to stay inside the confines of the restaurants to enjoy the view or have fun.

BJ on  board walk

A  long board walk fronts  the marsh so you can stroll the walk listening to live music, looking at the marsh and the marina, and of course enjoying the sunset.

Murrells Inlet Marsh Sunset

Good Day for Golf 7 '14

  Bruce and I were itching to get outside today an take advantage of  the 80 degree temperature and a breeze.  The respite from humidity helped both of our games.  We were both easily making it onto the greens in two drives... now if I cold just learn to putt.. LOL!

Yahoo! Its cooling off a bit 7 "14

Look at the uplift in these clouds

The jet stream has taken a big dip  and is bringing some much welcomed  cooler  air  all the way down to the our Southeastern coastline.  Out mid day temperatures dropped  to the low eighties, which is almost fifteen degrees cooler than the previous weeks temps.  

30 Sec. later they were exploding.

The clash between the warm and cool air masses has brought on some magnificent  cloud formations.  

And 30 secs after that they were unreal!

I don't begin to have paints iridescent and /or saturated enough to do justice to the color of this evening's sunset.  

Beth Elohim Temple and Cemetery, Georgetown, SC: 7 '14

Temple Beth Elohim

This afternoon, Bruce and I decided to visit the  local Jewish Temple and Cemetary  nearest our home.   Jews arrived in the historic seaport of Georgetown, S.C. in the mid 1700s. They worshipped in each other's homes, and also at the Winyah Indigo Society.  Although the sign outside the temple says it was established in 1904,  that does not begin to tell the whole story of the importance of this Jewish Congregation in this area of South Carolina.

By 1800,  Jews were a small but important portion of the population. Although proportionally only 10% of the white population, Jews have held a disproportionately large role in civic life as evidences by the historical markers below.

As you can see from the SC State historical signs, the Jewish cemetery in Georgetown was established in 1772 and contains the graves of three of Georgetown's Jewish mayors.

The cemetery is  roughly a  city block  in size, which relatively small compared to some we have visited in the Northeast.

But it is well maintained, and both Bruce and felt it to be the most peaceful cemetery we have ever visited.

In part that is because there is a sense of continuity and belonging here that one does not find in the larger more anonymous cemeteries.   Whole families, with names like Cohen, Moses, and Solomon are buried side by side here for generations .

 The oldest grave we found was 1772  and the newest 2010. The oldest graves were often the saddest because they told of how hard life was for the early colonists, many of whom lost child after child, or died in childbirth trying to give life.

But seeing the graves  of so many generations also tells a story of commitment to family and community that is sorely missing in modern society.  

 For more on the history of the Temple Beth Elohim Congregation check out:

http://www.jhssc.org/Georgetown_Temple_Beth_Elohim_History.html

Day 3 Visit with Kathy Campbell: Brookgreen Gardens 7'14

We had originally planned to take a river boat tour of Brookgreen Gardens' rice fields, but  changed our minds (along with our clothes ) after getting soaked to the skin on the Georgetown tour.   Instead we went out for a good ole southern meal of sweet tea and fried chicken at Hog Heaven.  By the time we finished eating, the skies were clearing, and we felt fairly confident that we would be able to watch the historical out-of-door drama, Aaron and  Theodosia,  being presented at Brookgreen Gardens, without risk of drowning.

Actors in 'Aaron and Theodosia"

This historic drama was written for Brookgreen Gardens and is  being presented this summer with a new character, expanded dialogue, period costumes, and furnishings. The play is based on the letters between Aaron Burr, our nation's third Vice-President, and his brilliant and beautiful daughter, Theodosia Burr Alston. Theodosia lived for 10 years at The Oaks Plantation, one of the four plantations that make up the Brookgreen Gardens property today and was married to Joseph Alston, an early Governor of South Carolina. Insightful and thought-provoking, it provides a glimpse into their lives, the daily life on a plantation, and political events of the day.

Brookgreen Garden's "Pegasus " sculpture.

The play ran from 7 pm to 8 pm  leaving us with just enough daylight  in the evening sky to do a quick tour of some of the sculpture and botanical gardens.

'Sunflower girl' sculpture in the Children's Garden

BJ and CC

Then it was time to say, goodbye.  It was a great visit, Kathy, which went all too fast.   Stay safe and enjoy the rest of your trip.

Day 3 Visit with Kathy Campbell Pawleys Island and Georgetown 7'14

Pawleys Island Beach

Wednesday  we took Kathy over to the  Pawleys  Barrier Island.  Unlike the larger Pawleys Sea Island which we live on, this narrow strip of sand is only one block wide,  It acts as a barrier  for the marsh and sea island  against  tropical storms.   AND it has one of the best and cleanest beaches on the eastern seaboard.  We spent a couple of hours walking the beach, collecting shells, and enjoying  the warm water.

CC and Kathy in Georgetown

Then we headed over to Georgetown to take a jeep-pulled  open-air wagon-tour of the town's historic district.  The bad news is that those puffy white clouds in the Pawleys Island photo had turned into a serious thunderstorm that landed right on top of us.   We all got drenched  to the skin.  Needless to say,  photo taking was out of the question without risking the loss of my camera.  The good news is that the rain was warm, and we all found it to be  a great travel tale.

Day 2 Visit with Kathy Campbell Charleston 7'14

Bruce and Kathy  in Carriage House

 No trip to the low country would be complete without a tour of Charleston, and what better way to see this historic city than  on a horse drawn carriage tour.

Our tour guide

There are five carriage tour company's operating in Charleston, each with multiple carriages,  giving hour long tours. To keep the more popular areas from being overwhelmed, the city  has been divided into five distinct routes; before each carriage departs, they must stop at a city managed tour station, which randomly assigns that carriage one of those routes.  As a result, one can never know in advance what one will see on these tours.  

Rainbow row

We lucked out and drew Rainbow Row and all the beautiful historic homes along  The Battery.

A Charleston House in  the Battery Area

Next, we stopped for sweet tea and  lunch at Poogan's Porch, before going on a self directed walking tour  to take a closer look at Charleston's

courtyard  gardens

window boxes and

cobblestone streets 

and the historic architecture of the "Holy City"

Day 2 Visit with Kathy Campbell Shem Creek 7'14

Shem Creek Marsh

Our next stop on the tour was Shem Creek  so that we could walk the board walk through the beautiful Shem Creek Marsh.    It had started raining rather hard when we left the Buckshot Campground  and we had been a little worried about the weather limiting our rest of our out of door activities, but as soon as we arrived at Shem Creek,  the storm passed, and the sky turned intensely blue with beautiful cloud formations

Ravenel Bridge  as seen from Shem Creek

Kayakers on Shem Creek

We watched the kayakers and dolphin parading up and down the creek.

Shem Creek Shrimpers

And of course  took a look at the colorful shrimp boat fleet.

Day 2 Visit with Kathy Campbell Tour of the low country forests 7"14

Kathy on Boat launch of Buckshot Landing Campground

Note the oyster beds on the shoreline behind Kathy.

Having spent much of her life in the Forestry Service, Kathy was very interested  in seeing a typical low-country National  Forest.  We have to pass through the Francis Marion National Forest on the way to Charleston, so we decided to take some detours in and out of the forest so that she could see various aspects of the environment and the communities within it.

Bulls Bay Marsh at Buckshot Landing

One of those stops was at the Buckshot Landing Campground.  While Kathy appreciated the beauty of the setting, she was a little taken aback to see that the forestry service was mowing the lawns of the campground... until I pointed out that if those lawns weren't mowed the tall grasses  would be filled with skeeters,  cotton mouth, copperhead and alligators.   She agreed that public safety  would trump the  natural environment issues.

Buckshot Landing tidal creek fishing dock

Day 1 with Kathy Campbell

Kathy's first visit to the Atlantic Ocean was at Litchfield Beach

CC's Sister-in-law, Kathy Campbell has come for a short visit.  She'll only be with us for two and a half days, but we are determined to show her as much as possible of  of the low country. 

The  very first stop  had to be the Atlantic Ocean, which Kathy has never seen in person..

As soon as she arrived we whisked her off  for some lunch at the The Litchfield Ocean Inn.  Their Cabana Cafe might not have the best food in town, but it is  the only ocean facing restaurant  in this area so we could all sit out under an umbrella facing the beach  while looking at the waves and sea oats and sipping sweet tea..  The cool thing about this stop is that the last thing that Kathy said she did on the West coast, before boarding her red eye, was dip her toes in the Pacific Ocean.  

Then it was onward to our house to unpack ,and let her take a quick nap, followed by a trip to Huntington Beach State Park 

HBSP Anhinga

for some birding and her first view of  fresh and saltwater marshes.

HBSP heron

And again we took a walk down the beach  so she could see the Atlantic Ocean, then we  jumped to the opposite side of Hywy 17 so that Kathy could see the Intercoastal  Waterway..

Hagley Landing on the Intercoastal Waterway.

By then the thunderheads were building for the usual afternoon showers, and thunder could be heard in the distance, so we decided to head home, and let Kathy rest up for the full day we had planned for her on Tuesday.

Oh what a beautiful morning 7 '14

A small  cold front is moving through the area, bringing some very welcome relief from the heat and humidity of the past week. 

 It also brought some enormous and rapidly changing clouds 

which gave us  a beautiful sunrise for our morning walk.

A Pawleys Island Fourth of July 7 '14

BJ walking the North PI Channel

Hurricane Arthur has passed and we woke up to a beautiful sunny morning   We took a stroll on the North end of the Pawleys Island Beach beach.  Arthur had been kind to us.  It even replenished the  north end beach sand that had been eroded away by  last  winter's storm..  The beach looked lovely in the early morning light.

Getting ready for the holiday

There is to be a Fourth of July parade on the  island later in the day.  Streets, and homes, all along the parade route and on the beach were festooned with Red white and blue decorations.  Everything looked so festive and  patriotic..

Calm before Hurricane Arthur? 7 ' 14

Arthur brings a  rainbow to the PI beach

As always, one can never be to sure just what will happen if a hurricane hits one's neighborhood. e can clearly see the the outermost bands of the approaching hurricane , but people here in Pawleys Island seem relatively confident that Arthur will not bring much damage.  Beach goers are still walking the  Pawleys Island shore,enjoying the remaining sunlight, and the rainbows between the storm clouds.

Hydrangea Harvest 7"14

Hydrangea Blossom Harvest

Our Hydrangea macrophylla are covered with huge blooms.  For the past month ,I've been clipping off  eight or ten of them each week to bring in the house for cut flowers   All that has done is make the remaining inflorescence grow larger. The weight of these bracts are so heavy that their stems are bending under their burden.  Even a small rainstorm has them dragging in the mud and bruising them badly.  Needless to say, The heavy rains that Hurricane Arthur are predicted to bring, will most likely ruin  every single blossom on all of our plants.  Time to harvest the whole lot.  Fortunately, if given plenty of fresh water, Hydrangea blossoms are quite long lasting, and can even be dried .  Looks like we will have these beauties with us through the whole house for the entire remainder of the summer.

Early Herb Harvest 7"14

Basil and Tarragon Harvest

We are not expecting any structural damage from  Hurricane Arthur, but experience has taught us that our soft leafed plants usually take quite a beating during  a heavy summer  rain storms.  CC decided it would be wise to harvest large quantities of  our basil and tarragon while it was still in good shape,  We'll be  probably be housebound by the storm for most of the day, so we'll use that time to make lots of pesto.