A Year of Travel Keepsakes

I posted more than a year about earrings as travel keepsakes. I’ve continued that preference over the past year. Here are the keepsakes acquired since June 2012:

From Tennessee in June 2012 (Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville)

From New York in October 2012 (Watkins Glen and Corning)

From Arizona in March 2013 (Kartchner Caverns)

From South Carolina in April 2013 (Charleston)

From Virginia in May 2013 (Chincoteague

And Richmond and Norfolk)

From Arizona in June 2013 (Tucson)

And finally - from New Mexico in June 2013 (White Sands and I-10)

These small items are easy to fit into luggage…and great memory joggers for years to come. Here’s to remembering happy times!

Huntington Beach

The vacation in South Carolina was coming to an end when we walked around Huntington Beach State Park in late April. It was the last day before we all headed for home. The park has a beach (obvious from its name) but also includes a boardwalk over the swamp and pine woods. Each one of the areas has something to offer.

It was too cool to wiggle our toes in the water but we picked up shells and I enjoyed the seaweed that was drying out on the beach. There were browns and reds and green. I liked this bit of green on the sand.

From the boardwalk we saw many birds. The egrets were the most common and I’ve posted a lot about them recently so I’ll include two different ones in this post. The robust looking Double Crested Cormorant was surveying the swamp from a piling.

The green heron was on the boardwalk and the supports for it. Green herons are shape shifters. The neck contracts and expands - changing the bird’s look dramatically.

In the woods, we heard a woodpecker and, after some searching, found it working on a dead pine tree. It is a red-bellied woodpecker.There must have been many insects in the tree because it was focused on a relatively small area of the tree for quite some time - allowing for picture taking.

Charles Towne Landing

Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site is across the Ashley River from Charleston. I visited in late April and just realized I had not posted about the place. It is the earliest colonial settlement in what is now South Carolina - started in 1670. There are exhibits in the museum and from archeological digs throughout the site that help visualize what it was like. There is a replica of a 17th century sailing ship to tour as well.

There is a statue of a Native American situated in the trees. How strange they must have thought the colonists coming in ships and taking command of the land.

The camellias were near the end of their season but a few bushes still had blooms.

Looking out over the marshy land - the Ravenel Bridge is visible in the distance and pelicans are seen frequently.

The place is wild enough to still have raccoons under the trees.

It had been dry enough the few days before we were there for some of the resurrection fern growing on the oaks to be withered (top image) but other limbs still had green fern - allowing for comparison.

This is a place to walk and absorb the history of the place while savoring the outdoors of South Carolina in the spring before it gets too hot.

Pieces of Shell

Back in April, I picked up shells while watching the sun come up at Surfside Beach, South Carolina. I posted about the sunrise but am just getting around to photographing the shells. Even broken shells attract attention.

Their ridges in gentle, fanning curves

The smooth surfaces worn by water and sand

The bumps where sea urchin spines once anchored

The spirals that have broken open

And some that are still tight.

All of these shells will find a new home around plants in a pot - souvenirs from a spring day at the beach.

South Carolina Aquarium

The South Carolina Aquarium is located at the edge of the historic district of Charleston and right on the harbor - with a great view of the Ravenel Bridge. My favorites of the many pictures I took are in the slide show below. The maps behind water (1) and on the floor (10) provided orientation to the area. Alligators (4) and pelicans (5) were both animals we saw elsewhere during our vacation. I had never seen the underside of rays (6) like I did at this aquarium and it was all because there is a ‘feed the rays’ exhibit and they rays are very good at positioning themselves along the glass of the tank to get the food! Have you ever watched a tank of jelly fish (8)? I found it intriguing and soothing in equal measure; they seem so graceful and relaxed.

Patriots Point

Patriots Point is on the Mt. Pleasant SC side of Charleston Harbor - within sight of the Ravenel Bridge. The centerpiece of the museum is USS Yorktown, a World War II air craft carrier. It is so big that it will not fit in one picture frame from the parking lot.

There are tours available but we chose to take things at our own pace. The hanger and flight decks have planes displayed.

Walking on the flight deck is quite an experience; the metal deck made odd sounds as I walked toward the edge. I was more comfortable staying toward the center of the flight deck. The bridge towers above- with the World War II ‘kills’ indicated by the Japanese flags.

There were rooms on the other decks set up in museum style (I was disappointed that the room about Navy women did not mention Grace Murray Hopper). The arrows on the floor are helpful; it would be easy to get lost in the warren of rooms!

The ship is in Charleston Harbor and there is some degradation of the metal. Hopefully it can be maintained for years to come - enlightening visitors about a period of 20th Century history. It bridges World War II to the space again since it was the ship that recovered Apollo 8 from the sea in the 1960s.

Calla Lilies

Calla lilies have all kinds of curves - the spiral as the bud opens, a flaring trumpet around a tight yellow ovoid, gentle waves and curls. Was it serendipity that three of the places I went around Charleston showcased different colors of the flowers? 

The white was blooming at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.

The pink was in Boone Hall Plantation’s garden.

The yellow was in a first floor window box in downtown Charleston.

Charleston in April

I visited Charleston SC at the end of this past April. Walking around the old downtown part of the city was quite a treat. I enjoyed the architecture of the churches and houses - 

• Majestic buildings on the aptly named ‘Church’ street,
• The early 1800s vintage Nathanial Russell House with ironwork above the front door like many of the buildings in the downtown area of Charleston and the plantation homes outside the city as well,
• The diverse and overflowing window-boxes that add color just about everywhere, and  
• The tile-clad coal burning fire places and colonial vintage kitchen of the Heyward-Washington House. 

The houses use every bit of ground not covered by building of sidewalk as garden area and the climate lends itself to a lushness that is quite appealing. It was an enjoyable and educational vacation destination.

On the Road

I have been on the road quite a lot the past few weeks. There were some long stretches where I was driving and kept myself focused on that activity rather than noticing too much of the scenery. This blog is about the times I was not driving and the road itself drew my attention.

There was an unpaved road of an oak allee. In the 1860s, the trees would not have been as massive but the road would have been like this - a white, sandy track near Charleston, South Carolina. I saw it on a tram tour. It is just a road to nowhere now since the plantation house is gone.

I posted about the Ravenel Bridge a few days ago. This picture shows the approach to the bridge and the graceful arc the bridge makes between the supports. The traffic moved at highway speeds the 10 or so times we crossed the bridge. Is the beauty and uniqueness of the bridge distracting enough to cause accidents? I didn’t see any but was glad I was not driving.

On foot in Charleston, we walked along tourist clogged sidewalks on Church Street. This was a place where being on foot was better than being in a car. The palm trees and window boxes added color to the brick and ironwork of the buildings. And sometimes the street pavement was cobblestones rather than asphalt!

The bridge and tunnel between Norfolk and Hampton, Virginia was another opportunity to photograph the road from a passenger seat. The choppy water under the bridge sometimes formed white foam against the pillars of the bridge. The tile in the tunnel reflected the red tail lights.

And now I am home again - for a little while.

Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens

Boone Hall was a pleasant surprise. It is across the Cooper River from Charleston SC. It started out as a cotton plantation, supplemented that crop with pecans and a brick yard, and now is a farm using precision growing techniques for fruits and vegetables offered in their own store and pick-your-own. The only cotton grown now is a small test plot that still showed last year’s crop when I was there in late April.

The brick slave cabins with clay tile roofs are unusual; slave cabins were usually built of more flimsy material. But Boone Hall included a brick yard so the cabins for the slaves associated with the house were built of bricks. The cabins have displays and recorded narrative to explain the life there prior to the 1860s.

The gardens are full of hearty flowers of the season and the mature oak allee dates from the 1600s. The people in the picture provide some notion of the size of the trees.

There is a two story cotton gin that had shored up walls - awaiting renovation. The gin was on the top floor and there were holes in the floor to push the cotton below where it could be baled for shipment.

Interesting ironwork is part of the Charleston scene - and Boone Hall’s gate is no exception.

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

There is always a lot to do at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens (near Charleston, SC). When I was there in late April, it was still cool. That meant that there were still a few camellias but the azaleas and irises were blooming too. There was plenty of activity to see from the boat tour through the old rice fields: lolling alligators, hunting herons/water birds and plenty of duckweed to reduce mosquitos (even though it was too cool for insects to be very active anyway). The huge live oaks with graceful veils of Spanish moss (all the tour guides emphasized that it is not Spanish and not a moss…it is an epiphyte native to the Americas) were everywhere. The gardens were a contrast of natural, formal, and escaped vegetation. It was obvius they had been gardens for a long time and still constantly changing - both from the efforts of gardeners and the natural environment of the place. There were crepe myrtles that were growing quite happily among dense natural vegetation that had taken over at the edge of one garden area. I posted about the peacock at Magnolia Plantation last week. I took so many other pictures that it was difficult to pick the 25 in the slide show below. Enjoy!

Ravenel (New Cooper River) Bridge - Charleston, South Carolina

The Ravenel (New Cooper River) Bridge is between Mount Pleasant and Charleston, South Carolina. We drove across it at least 8 times while we were in the area a few weeks ago. It is a landmark from so many vantage points around Charleston!

I took pictures from Patriots Point - from the parking lot,

from deck of the USS Yorktown air craft carrier

and from the picnic area -

and the South Carolina Aquarium

and even Charles Towne Landing.

I was not driving so was able take pictures from the front passenger seat as we drove across. The slide show below are my favorites.

Brookgreen Gardens

Brookgreen Gardens, located south of Myrtle Beach, SC, is more than plants. It has many sculptures spread throughout the garden areas and in museum type displays. There is a Butterfly House (photos in an upcoming post) and opportunities to learn about the history of the area which was colonized as indigo and rice plantations.

We were too late for most of the azaleas and camellias but the iris were beginning along the edges of the water. There was lush greenery and the black masked squirrels abounded.  There was sculpture everywhere - sometimes as the center piece of the garden and sometimes almost hidden in foliage. My favorite was of a dancer with swirling skirts.

I found myself interested in the faces of the pieces and picked some of the best for the slide show below.

The tickets for Brookgreen last for a week and I found it was well worth taking more than one day to see the place.

Peacock Images

On my first day in South Carolina, I saw a peacock sculpture at Brookgreen Gardens - marking a path into the gardens near the visitor’s center. The sculpture captures the haughtiness of the real bird that I saw the next day at Magnolia Plantation & Gardens. The bird displayed for visitors standing in line to get tickets. The patch of grass and nearby fence was its stage. Periodically he screeched and was answered by peacocks elsewhere on the property. He seemed to enjoy the attention of people but needed the connection to others of his kin.

Peacocks must be one of the most dramatically plumed birds on the planet. Their feathers are long and lush with color and pattern. Did the idea for long trains of formal gowns (and the bustle that was fashionable at one time) come from the peacock’s tail (see the picture of the peacock on the fence at the right)? The color is structural rather than from pigment so it does not fade. I have some peacock feathers that are almost 30 years old and, while physically fragile, they still have their brilliant colors.

South Carolina Sunrise

Last week I was in South Carolina and managed to get up early one morning to catch the rise as the nearby beach - Surfside Beach, between Charleston and Myrtle Beach. We checked weather.com for the sunrise time the night before and got to the beach about 6:20 AM which was just before the sunrise. The moon was still out.

The sky was full of oranges and reds when we arrive but the sun  had not broken the line of the sea at the horizon. It was clear so the light simply filled the sky above the waves. The sun peeked over the rim of the ocean and the reds faded away to oranges and pinks.

We walked along the beach, picking up shells. The morning chill and damp kept us away from the water but the damp sand made walking easier.

There were other things to notice: the people surf fishing (they did have their feet in the water), walkers that briskly made their way along the beach, birds feeding at the boundary between sea and beach, pelican skimming the waves flight in formation toward the north, seagulls chattering, and at least one other with a camera there to capture the sunrise like me.

It was an excellent way to start the day.