South Carolina’s Huntington Beach State Park Next on the Itinerary

Table of Contents for This Series 

1. Park Introduction and route
2. Drive down, GPS travails, and first impressions of the Park
3. Views of park facilities, the beach, and boardwalks.
4. Interview with Park Manager Ms Brenda Magers.
5. Walk through the Huntington’s Atalaya mansion
6. Tour the Park’s Visitors Center

Reservations all set for a five-day trip with the Mobile Studio to South Carolina’s celebrated Huntington Beach State Park. Beginning on Monday. My first visit to that extremely popular site.

Click the screen clip above to visit the Park’s website on the official website of South Carolina’s state parks. The State Parks website has improved considerably over the past few years. Lots of useful information there on state parks and their surrounding areas.

And no, the Carolina Considered Project has no relationship, official or unofficial, formal or informal, with South Carolina’s Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism. Just one of State Parks’ many enthusiastic visitors.

Read the on-line reviews! Huntington Beach is one of the most popular Parks in the South Carolina system. And no wonder! Like Hunting Island State Park, with which it’s often confused, it’s right on South Carolina’s Atlantic coast. It’s said to have one of the State’s best preserved beaches. And the grounds are chuck-full, as we’d say OverHome, of walking trails and board walks. Bird watchers from all over flock [sorry … ] to Huntington Beach, binoculars in one hand, life lists in the other.

If you’re interested in birds click here to visit the Hilton Pond Center’s page on Huntington Beach State Park. Nicely written with excellent photos well presented. This Hilton Pond Center site, by the way, is another wonderful on-line resource for South Carolina’s natural scenery. Click here to look through their offerings. It’s based, I believe, in York County, South Carolina.

The ocean, birds, alligators, and board walks through interesting territory, aren’t the only attractions at Huntington Beach State Park. The Park’s grounds also include Atalaya Castle, the South Carolina winter home of Archer and Anna Huntington. Atalaya is open to the public, and is said to be quite a place. I look forward to wandering through and taking a few photos. Better take Andrew’s big camera along again for this one!

Here’s a link to a more detailed description of Atalaya and a labeled map of the house. With more than 30 rooms it must require a map to find your way around. Imagine living in a place like that!

Now, that’s not all. Brookgreen Gardens is within easy walking distance. Just across Route 17. Have a look at their website by clicking here. Brookgreen is an enormous sculpture garden. Filled with Anna Hyatt Huntington’s arresting sculptures. Indeed, after her husband’s death in 1955, Ms. Huntington moved her sculpture studio from Atalaya across the road to its current location.

We’ll have to wait for photos of Anna Huntington’s work at Brookgreen Garden. But here’s one from another location. A teen-aged Andrew Jackson astride a farm horse, “wondering what the future holds for him,” as the sculptor put it. The impressive statue graces Andrew Jackson State Park in Lancaster, South Carolina. Huntington completed the statue at the age of ninety-one! Her last work. But still! What a career.

And, as if that wasn’t enough to attract visitors to Huntington Beach State Park, Georgetown, South Carolina, is just down the road a piece. I most certainly hope to make my first visit to that beautiful and historically significant town during this trip.

Click here to enter the website of the Georgetown County Museum to get an idea of what we’ll be seeing. Don’t be put off by the music that begins to play automatically. Just click the little red button up near the right-hand corner of the home page and spend some time. This site is full of interesting photos and text. Even some video. And here’s another well-organized site with interesting photos and text devoted to Georgetown.

Well, that’s enough of a preview. There’ll be much more to see, to photograph, and to describe. So stay tuned.

Click here for the next post in this series.