South Carolina's Edisto Beach State Park is beautiful even on a rainy winter day.
Click each photo for a larger image
Just outside my campsite.
There's something about this place. Come have a look for yourselves.
Showing posts with label South Carolina State Parks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Carolina State Parks. Show all posts
Monday, January 12, 2015
Edisto Beach State Park in the Winter
Monday, November 10, 2014
Sadlers Creek State Natural Area, South Carolina
 |
| Campsite # 31 |
This is campsite # 31 at Sadlers Creek State Natural Area on the South Carolinia side of Lake Hartwell. Just about ideal. Beautifully leveled and maintained. I was able to get a few days of RV camping in while the leaves still have some color.
This is the view from this site. Lake Hartwell is down a bit now, but it's still beautiful. Sadlers Creek has to be included in the list of the best parks in the South Carolina system.
I'm using the Blogaway Pro app for the first time, posting directly from the smartphone. Hope it works. If it does it will save a lot of time.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
A New Disc Golf Course at Chester State Park, South Carolina
Yes, I know. Yet another article about Chester State Park. Well, it can’t be helped. This remarkable State Park, only an hour’s drive from Columbia, SC, just opened the South Carolina State Park System’s first disc golf course. Click the photo above for a larger view of the picture of the course taken from the new brochure.
Click here if your browser doesn’t play nicely with the video embedded above.
Last year Park Manager John Wells told me he planned to build this course. I was polite, but skeptical. The area he’d selected for the course was beautiful. Right next to the lake. But it was dense forest. Difficult to hike through, let alone play disc golf. Further, golf courses, disc or otherwise, require a lot of funding and person-hours to build. Both funds and personnel are quite limited at Chester State Park. They’ve got enough to do already, and little enough to do it with.
If you don’t see the video, click here for the YouTube iteration.
Have a look at the video above if you’re new to disc golf. Park Manager Wells introduces the game.
Chester State Park now actually has two courses. One a professional-level eighteen-hole course; the other a nine-hole beginner’s course. So aspiring players of any skill level or age can play comfortably.
If you don’t see the video, click here for the YouTube iteration.
Little in the way of equipment or clothing is required. Just pay the $2.00 Park entrance fee (cheaper for seniors!), rent three discs at the office for $5.00, and you’re in business. You can play all day! No tee times to worry about. No fancy equipment or clothing.
In this final video Park Manager Wells describes the new course and its relationship to Chester State Park in more detail. This is some accomplishment. Congratulations John and Brandon.
You’ll find more information about disc golf at the website of the Professional Disc Golf Association here. And at the Innova Disc Golf corporate website here.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The Lake Trail: Keowee-Toscaway State Park, SC
Click here for the first post in this series.
This morning, not long after daylight, I decided to walk the Lake Trail at Keowee-Toxaway State Park. “Walk” may be a better term here than “hike.” Since this trail too is so “accessible,” as the Park folks politely put it.
This is the newest of the Park’s hiking trails. I couldn’t find it on the Park hand-outs. In fact, it doesn’t yet even have a sign or map at the trailhead. As you can see in the photo below.
[click each photo for a larger view]
According to folks at the Park, it was a logging trail many years ago. So early loggers already had done much of the back-breaking work involved in building a relatively flat path through such rugged woods. Here and there the trail goes over hard-packed earthen bridges spanning impossible-to-avoid gullies. Imagine the sweat involved in hauling and packing down all of that dirt and stone! Of course, since the trail hadn’t been used in years, Park personnel still had a lot of work to do to get it into the shape you see below.
To enter the trail, walk down the ridge from the RV campsites, past the bath house, coming out just below the entrance to the tent site loop. The tent site area is just up the road to the right in the first photo. The trail meanders from there down the ridge to the shore of the lake. Coming out near the Park’s three-bedroom cabin I mentioned a day or so ago. I didn’t carry an altimeter during my walk. But according to Google Earth, the drop from the top of the ridge where the RV sites are to the lake shore is about 300 feet. Giving the trail plenty of character in such a short distance.
Speaking of character, this Lake Trail has very steep banks on one side for most of its length. As you can see in the photo above. Not a place you’d want to meander off the path for a closer look at an interesting tree or bush. Better to bring the field glasses! Or a rope and tackle to get back up! It doesn’t show up in the photo, but a small brook runs through the gully at the bottom. From time to time, its water rushing over rocks provides a welcome sound. Just faintly, though. The other side of the trail, of course, is as steep back up the ridge. All of this rugged terrain makes the trail more interesting. At least for me. It gives a greater sense of really being in the woods.
The photo above illustrates recent maintenance efforts. Modern chainsaws certainly beat the old-style cross-cuts we used until a few decades ago in the woods OverHome. But even chainsaws require more effort to operate than one might think. Try it sometime, on a log that size. Especially in a confined area like this, where footing’s limited, and cutting angles are bound to be difficult. Many of the trees here are huge!
Even after completion, these trails require lots of work to maintain their beauty. Even their accessibility! From beginning to end today, I didn’t encounter a single obstacle – rock, eroded soil, or downed tree trunk – blocking the path. In fact the only obstacles were planned. “Grade dips,” those bumps of hard-packed earth, built here and there into the trail to discourage erosion from down-rushing rain water. And all of those were smooth enough to walk over comfortably. I meant to take a photo of one, but forgot.
About two-thirds of the way down, crystal-blue Keowee Lake begins to flash through the trees from the west. A few more yards and it looks like the photo above! Incredible. Watch your step, though. The bank toward the lake here is steep! The water in this lake is incredibly clear. As is that in Lake Jocassee, to the north of Keowee. When boating, it’s possible to see clear to the bottom quite a ways from shore. More on kayaking Lake Keowee in another post.
This Lake Trail ends just below the Park’s single rental cabin. Cars were parked in front of the cabin, and I could see two people paddling a canoe just off the cabin’s private dock. So I resisted the urge to go closer for a photo. Instead, I walked the other way, toward the shore of the lake, on what turned out to be the remains of an old road-bed. At first I thought it was an abandoned boat ramp. Since the crumbled pavement led right into the lake. Later, the Park folks told me it’s the remains of an old road that led across to the other side of what now is the lake. Long ago flooded, with the rest of the valley, when the lake filled in. The roadbed is still clearly visible, they said, much of the way across.
This is the view to the north when standing on the edge of the old road bed. Notice those mountains in the background, and the natural sandy beaches along the shore. An incredible view! The photo doesn’t do it justice.
With more of the Park to see today, I decided to walk up the paved two-lane road that leads from the cabin to the Park entrance, rather than back up the Lake Trail. I’ll save that for another time. But even this paved road presents beautiful views around every turn. So it too is worth the walk.
The whole walk took me not much over an hour. All very slow and careful walking. With frequent stops to admire the scenery, and to take photographs. Not to rest, you understand. But to enjoy the scenery! This afternoon I hope to venture across Highway Eleven, to the other side of the Park. For a closer look at the Cherokee Interpretive Trail.
By the way, if you find any of this interesting, let me recommend a website that has it all, when it comes to enjoying the outdoors through your computer. You will find Tamia Nelson's "Outside Up North" at:
http://www.tamiasoutside.com/
Take time to click through all of the menu items at the top of the page: "Practical Cycling," "Outside Afoot," "In the Same Boat," and even "Help Turtles Cross Roads." Then look through the headings in the left-hand margin. Tamia is an experienced cyclist, canoeist/kayaker, and hiker. Even cook! Here's where you'll find all sorts of interesting advice on how to enjoy the out-of-doors. The writing and photography will keep you coming back day after day. Make it easier on yourself by subscribing to Tamia's blog. Just click the little RSS button on the left, near the top, for instructions.
Click here for the next post in this series.
This morning, not long after daylight, I decided to walk the Lake Trail at Keowee-Toxaway State Park. “Walk” may be a better term here than “hike.” Since this trail too is so “accessible,” as the Park folks politely put it.
This is the newest of the Park’s hiking trails. I couldn’t find it on the Park hand-outs. In fact, it doesn’t yet even have a sign or map at the trailhead. As you can see in the photo below.
[click each photo for a larger view]
According to folks at the Park, it was a logging trail many years ago. So early loggers already had done much of the back-breaking work involved in building a relatively flat path through such rugged woods. Here and there the trail goes over hard-packed earthen bridges spanning impossible-to-avoid gullies. Imagine the sweat involved in hauling and packing down all of that dirt and stone! Of course, since the trail hadn’t been used in years, Park personnel still had a lot of work to do to get it into the shape you see below.
To enter the trail, walk down the ridge from the RV campsites, past the bath house, coming out just below the entrance to the tent site loop. The tent site area is just up the road to the right in the first photo. The trail meanders from there down the ridge to the shore of the lake. Coming out near the Park’s three-bedroom cabin I mentioned a day or so ago. I didn’t carry an altimeter during my walk. But according to Google Earth, the drop from the top of the ridge where the RV sites are to the lake shore is about 300 feet. Giving the trail plenty of character in such a short distance.
Speaking of character, this Lake Trail has very steep banks on one side for most of its length. As you can see in the photo above. Not a place you’d want to meander off the path for a closer look at an interesting tree or bush. Better to bring the field glasses! Or a rope and tackle to get back up! It doesn’t show up in the photo, but a small brook runs through the gully at the bottom. From time to time, its water rushing over rocks provides a welcome sound. Just faintly, though. The other side of the trail, of course, is as steep back up the ridge. All of this rugged terrain makes the trail more interesting. At least for me. It gives a greater sense of really being in the woods.
The photo above illustrates recent maintenance efforts. Modern chainsaws certainly beat the old-style cross-cuts we used until a few decades ago in the woods OverHome. But even chainsaws require more effort to operate than one might think. Try it sometime, on a log that size. Especially in a confined area like this, where footing’s limited, and cutting angles are bound to be difficult. Many of the trees here are huge!
Even after completion, these trails require lots of work to maintain their beauty. Even their accessibility! From beginning to end today, I didn’t encounter a single obstacle – rock, eroded soil, or downed tree trunk – blocking the path. In fact the only obstacles were planned. “Grade dips,” those bumps of hard-packed earth, built here and there into the trail to discourage erosion from down-rushing rain water. And all of those were smooth enough to walk over comfortably. I meant to take a photo of one, but forgot.
About two-thirds of the way down, crystal-blue Keowee Lake begins to flash through the trees from the west. A few more yards and it looks like the photo above! Incredible. Watch your step, though. The bank toward the lake here is steep! The water in this lake is incredibly clear. As is that in Lake Jocassee, to the north of Keowee. When boating, it’s possible to see clear to the bottom quite a ways from shore. More on kayaking Lake Keowee in another post.
This Lake Trail ends just below the Park’s single rental cabin. Cars were parked in front of the cabin, and I could see two people paddling a canoe just off the cabin’s private dock. So I resisted the urge to go closer for a photo. Instead, I walked the other way, toward the shore of the lake, on what turned out to be the remains of an old road-bed. At first I thought it was an abandoned boat ramp. Since the crumbled pavement led right into the lake. Later, the Park folks told me it’s the remains of an old road that led across to the other side of what now is the lake. Long ago flooded, with the rest of the valley, when the lake filled in. The roadbed is still clearly visible, they said, much of the way across.
This is the view to the north when standing on the edge of the old road bed. Notice those mountains in the background, and the natural sandy beaches along the shore. An incredible view! The photo doesn’t do it justice.
With more of the Park to see today, I decided to walk up the paved two-lane road that leads from the cabin to the Park entrance, rather than back up the Lake Trail. I’ll save that for another time. But even this paved road presents beautiful views around every turn. So it too is worth the walk.
The whole walk took me not much over an hour. All very slow and careful walking. With frequent stops to admire the scenery, and to take photographs. Not to rest, you understand. But to enjoy the scenery! This afternoon I hope to venture across Highway Eleven, to the other side of the Park. For a closer look at the Cherokee Interpretive Trail.
By the way, if you find any of this interesting, let me recommend a website that has it all, when it comes to enjoying the outdoors through your computer. You will find Tamia Nelson's "Outside Up North" at:
http://www.tamiasoutside.com/
Take time to click through all of the menu items at the top of the page: "Practical Cycling," "Outside Afoot," "In the Same Boat," and even "Help Turtles Cross Roads." Then look through the headings in the left-hand margin. Tamia is an experienced cyclist, canoeist/kayaker, and hiker. Even cook! Here's where you'll find all sorts of interesting advice on how to enjoy the out-of-doors. The writing and photography will keep you coming back day after day. Make it easier on yourself by subscribing to Tamia's blog. Just click the little RSS button on the left, near the top, for instructions.
Click here for the next post in this series.
Monday, March 16, 2009
The Natural Bridge Trail: Keowee-Toxaway State Park, SC
Click here for the first post in this series.
Keowee-Toxaway State Natural Area boasts several hiking trails. As do most of the South Carolina state parks I’ve visited. Most facilities have both “accessible” trails and “more challenging” trails. “Accessible” here meaning that even less mobile Hiker Wannabes, like me, can enjoy them without too much strain. Just remember to wear stout shoes, and to carry a walking stick! Preferably one that also can help to steady your camera for those low sunlight pictures.
There’s usually a map of the trail around somewhere. Like the one in the photo below. But it’s best for less experienced first-time hikers to ask for more detailed information before starting out. I’ve found South Carolina’s Park Rangers knowledgeable and willing informants. Without exception. Sometimes maybe a little too cautious in their advice. But better that than the other way around!
[Click each photo for larger view]
The Natural Bridge Trail you see outlined in blue in the photo above begins just beyond the parking lot behind the Park office building. Most of the trail slopes gradually, and is clearly marked. It would be hard to lose your way. Just follow the markers! The photo below is typical of the trail’s early section. Note that it parallels Highway 11 for a ways. Until it turns left to begin the loop.
Now, I’m no trail design expert. But there must be a trade-off between improving trail surfaces for ease of access, and maintaining the sense of a “natural” environment that we’re all hoping to find when we venture out. This “accessible” Natural Bridge Trail manages to accomplish both. It has a fairly smooth surface for most of the way. And yet hikers can enjoy that soothing sense of being in the woods.
The trail soon turns sharply left [west] and begins its descent to a stream below. Here the trail becomes a little more challenging. Though, as you can see in the photos below, the designers have included steps here and there to make the descent and climb easier.
Like the rest of the trail, the sections with steps are well maintained. Making travel much easier for those of us who go along carefully and slowly. And free of trash. I saw only one piece of trash on the trail. A six-inch section of red tree tape used to mark trees for removal. It was so unusual I was tempted to take a picture! And this is a well-traveled trail.
Below is a photo of the most difficult part of the Natural Bridge Trail I encountered. It was steeper, and the roots you can see required careful attention.
Truth be told, though, even this section presented no real difficulty. Either up or down. I only had to make good use of my walking stick, and be careful where I placed my feet. This, with a left knee that’s about to be operated on! So, most anyone able to walk along on a flat surface should be able to navigate this trail. It’s certainly worth the effort.
About halfway to the natural bridge for which the trail has been named, I began to hear water running along in a small stream. What a treat! The sound became louder as I walked along. Until I could see the small waterfall pictured above. I went off the trail for a short distance to grab that photo, and just had to stand there for a while, enjoying the sight and sound.
Now, confession time. I failed to follow my own advice. I didn’t consult one of the Rangers before hiking the trail for the first time. Nor did I take a map! So, after an hour or so of very slow, careful walking, I turned around and hiked back the way I’d come. I missed the natural bridge. And I missed the rest of the loop you can see on the map at the top of this post. I was a little tired, and didn’t want to over-tax the knee. So, back up I went.
One of the Rangers later told me I was within 100 yards of the natural bridge and the bottom of the loop when I decided to turn around. Live and learn! Though the results of that decision weren’t all bad. I got to see the trail from the opposite direction. As you can see in the photo above. Quite a different sight. I got to see a very large brown bird – probably an owl – fly noiselessly away from the trail at my approach. I saw a bed of trout lilies, pictured below, that I’d missed on the way down. And, I have an even better excuse for hiking this trail again as soon as I can return to this part of the country! So the decision to turn back was hardly a loss.
All too soon I was back at the beginning of the trail at the rear of the Park Office. What a way to start the day! Remember, none of these photos do justice to the environment here. It is much more beautiful. I’ll certainly be back as soon as I can arrange the trip. And hope you can arrange a visit too.
Click here for the next post in this series
Keowee-Toxaway State Natural Area boasts several hiking trails. As do most of the South Carolina state parks I’ve visited. Most facilities have both “accessible” trails and “more challenging” trails. “Accessible” here meaning that even less mobile Hiker Wannabes, like me, can enjoy them without too much strain. Just remember to wear stout shoes, and to carry a walking stick! Preferably one that also can help to steady your camera for those low sunlight pictures.
There’s usually a map of the trail around somewhere. Like the one in the photo below. But it’s best for less experienced first-time hikers to ask for more detailed information before starting out. I’ve found South Carolina’s Park Rangers knowledgeable and willing informants. Without exception. Sometimes maybe a little too cautious in their advice. But better that than the other way around!
[Click each photo for larger view]
The Natural Bridge Trail you see outlined in blue in the photo above begins just beyond the parking lot behind the Park office building. Most of the trail slopes gradually, and is clearly marked. It would be hard to lose your way. Just follow the markers! The photo below is typical of the trail’s early section. Note that it parallels Highway 11 for a ways. Until it turns left to begin the loop.
Now, I’m no trail design expert. But there must be a trade-off between improving trail surfaces for ease of access, and maintaining the sense of a “natural” environment that we’re all hoping to find when we venture out. This “accessible” Natural Bridge Trail manages to accomplish both. It has a fairly smooth surface for most of the way. And yet hikers can enjoy that soothing sense of being in the woods.
The trail soon turns sharply left [west] and begins its descent to a stream below. Here the trail becomes a little more challenging. Though, as you can see in the photos below, the designers have included steps here and there to make the descent and climb easier.
Like the rest of the trail, the sections with steps are well maintained. Making travel much easier for those of us who go along carefully and slowly. And free of trash. I saw only one piece of trash on the trail. A six-inch section of red tree tape used to mark trees for removal. It was so unusual I was tempted to take a picture! And this is a well-traveled trail.
Below is a photo of the most difficult part of the Natural Bridge Trail I encountered. It was steeper, and the roots you can see required careful attention.
Truth be told, though, even this section presented no real difficulty. Either up or down. I only had to make good use of my walking stick, and be careful where I placed my feet. This, with a left knee that’s about to be operated on! So, most anyone able to walk along on a flat surface should be able to navigate this trail. It’s certainly worth the effort.
About halfway to the natural bridge for which the trail has been named, I began to hear water running along in a small stream. What a treat! The sound became louder as I walked along. Until I could see the small waterfall pictured above. I went off the trail for a short distance to grab that photo, and just had to stand there for a while, enjoying the sight and sound.
Now, confession time. I failed to follow my own advice. I didn’t consult one of the Rangers before hiking the trail for the first time. Nor did I take a map! So, after an hour or so of very slow, careful walking, I turned around and hiked back the way I’d come. I missed the natural bridge. And I missed the rest of the loop you can see on the map at the top of this post. I was a little tired, and didn’t want to over-tax the knee. So, back up I went.
One of the Rangers later told me I was within 100 yards of the natural bridge and the bottom of the loop when I decided to turn around. Live and learn! Though the results of that decision weren’t all bad. I got to see the trail from the opposite direction. As you can see in the photo above. Quite a different sight. I got to see a very large brown bird – probably an owl – fly noiselessly away from the trail at my approach. I saw a bed of trout lilies, pictured below, that I’d missed on the way down. And, I have an even better excuse for hiking this trail again as soon as I can return to this part of the country! So the decision to turn back was hardly a loss.
All too soon I was back at the beginning of the trail at the rear of the Park Office. What a way to start the day! Remember, none of these photos do justice to the environment here. It is much more beautiful. I’ll certainly be back as soon as I can arrange the trip. And hope you can arrange a visit too.
Click here for the next post in this series
Friday, February 20, 2009
Edisto Beach State Park, South Carolina Interpretive Center
Click here for the first post in this series.
Well! Even Edisto Beach, South Carolina, was chilly this morning. Outside temperature dropped to the mid-30s by 4:00 a.m. or so. Though, fortunately, without yesterday's strong wind. This cooler weather sure inspires gratitude for the strong electric heaters in the Park's bath houses. And for the generous hot water in the showers!
It soon warmed up enough for a walk on the beach. Sun shining, porpoises fishing near the shore, and this pile of rocks that caught the eye.
[Click each photo for a larger view]
The first Mobile Studio Travels blog entries are up and running today. As you can see, it's definitely a work in progress. I've been posting blog entries now for a while. For the weekly Japan Considered Podcast. But I hope to make the Mobile Studio Travels blog somewhat different. More frequent entries that include photos, and maybe even links to short audio files. Though the photos alone provide enough of a challenge now. Google's "Blogger" makes it simple, they tell me. But "simple" for the modal computer user, and "simple" for the aspiring ElderGeek, are two quite different degrees of complexity.
Ms. Karen Carter, proprietor of The Edisto Bookstore, kindly provides a reliable WiFi cloud that's accessible from the parking lot in front of her store. Drop in the store and have a look around if you connect here, though. You'll be amazed by the layout, and by the skill with which the books she offers for sale have been selected. The store is right on Route 174, just a mile-and-a-half from the State Park's main gate. Can't miss it. A few purchases here are sure to enrich your Edisto experience.
After a couple hours of learning, and another ten minutes or so of actual posting, I finally got the first three or four MST blog entries up and running. Is really is simple, once you get the hang of it, as we'd say OverHome. Getting said "hang of it," however, takes time.
The Edisto Bookstore, now, is right down Route 174 from Main's Market. You remember Main's Market. With Larry Main's daily grilled and barbequed meats, and Ms. Etta's everything else you could imagine. Well, considering how long it would take to drive from Columbia -- let alone Atlanta or Washington, D.C.! -- to have lunch at Main's Market, it made excellent sense today to drive the short distance necessary to enjoy lunch there. Even economical sense. Considering the price of gasoline these days!
Anyway, that's where I ended up for lunch. And what a lunch it was. Perfectly prepared Boston butt, with sides of tomato pie, collards, and red rice. Washed down with iced tea, of course. I won't try to describe any of it. How Ms. Etta manages to prepare dishes that at once are so tasty and so healthy is beyond comprehension. But she does. Ms. Etta is as serious about healthy eating as she is about flavor. Just ask her! And she manages to combine both in the dishes she offers at Main's.
Now, lunch at Main's Market is no "fast-food" experience. It takes a while. Not to get served. But to eat! Food this good simply mustn't be gulped down. Also, any visiting outsider interested in Edisto Island can learn a lot just listening to the animated conversations of the locals sitting at other tables. It's quite a place. But be sure to arrive hungry!
Back out on Route 174, today's destination was the Edisto Interpretive Center. Driving toward the beach, turn right on Palmetto Road. Then, after a mile or so, bear left onto Oyster Row Lane. It's a hard-packed dirt road but well maintained. You're sure to see the Interpretive Center signs on the right. As noted there, the Center's open Tuesday through Saturday, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., year-round.
This Center is one of several within the ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge. Situated on State Park land, it opened in 2004 with the support of South Carolina's Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
Center programs rely heavily on a small paid staff, and a team of dedicated volunteers. They do everything, from answering telephones, to maintaining walking trails, to guiding evening turtle walks on the beach. They're personable. They're dedicated. They know their stuff. And they're eager to help visitors learn about the natural environment of Edisto.
Speaking of visitors, the Interpretive Center's program is designed to inform all ages of visitor. It's neither a children's museum nor an adults' museum. Its exhibits explain the environment of the Edisto area in ways that appeal to learners young and old. Now, that's not easy! But somehow they manage.
Every Saturday, even during the off-season, Interpretive Center Manager, Andrea Grabman, and other members of the staff, offer hour-long programs that introduce visitors of all ages to the wildlife of the region. Programs such as shark dissection, and opportunities to handle -- under strict supervision intended as much to protect the creatures as the human handlers -- fierce-looking crabs and other creatures in the Center's "touch-tanks." The Center also sponsors an evening lecture series designed for adults.
Click on this link to view some more photos of the Edisto Interpretive Center and its surrounding grounds. Better yet, come by and see the place for yourself!
Well! Even Edisto Beach, South Carolina, was chilly this morning. Outside temperature dropped to the mid-30s by 4:00 a.m. or so. Though, fortunately, without yesterday's strong wind. This cooler weather sure inspires gratitude for the strong electric heaters in the Park's bath houses. And for the generous hot water in the showers!
It soon warmed up enough for a walk on the beach. Sun shining, porpoises fishing near the shore, and this pile of rocks that caught the eye.
[Click each photo for a larger view]
The first Mobile Studio Travels blog entries are up and running today. As you can see, it's definitely a work in progress. I've been posting blog entries now for a while. For the weekly Japan Considered Podcast. But I hope to make the Mobile Studio Travels blog somewhat different. More frequent entries that include photos, and maybe even links to short audio files. Though the photos alone provide enough of a challenge now. Google's "Blogger" makes it simple, they tell me. But "simple" for the modal computer user, and "simple" for the aspiring ElderGeek, are two quite different degrees of complexity.
Ms. Karen Carter, proprietor of The Edisto Bookstore, kindly provides a reliable WiFi cloud that's accessible from the parking lot in front of her store. Drop in the store and have a look around if you connect here, though. You'll be amazed by the layout, and by the skill with which the books she offers for sale have been selected. The store is right on Route 174, just a mile-and-a-half from the State Park's main gate. Can't miss it. A few purchases here are sure to enrich your Edisto experience.
After a couple hours of learning, and another ten minutes or so of actual posting, I finally got the first three or four MST blog entries up and running. Is really is simple, once you get the hang of it, as we'd say OverHome. Getting said "hang of it," however, takes time.
The Edisto Bookstore, now, is right down Route 174 from Main's Market. You remember Main's Market. With Larry Main's daily grilled and barbequed meats, and Ms. Etta's everything else you could imagine. Well, considering how long it would take to drive from Columbia -- let alone Atlanta or Washington, D.C.! -- to have lunch at Main's Market, it made excellent sense today to drive the short distance necessary to enjoy lunch there. Even economical sense. Considering the price of gasoline these days!
Anyway, that's where I ended up for lunch. And what a lunch it was. Perfectly prepared Boston butt, with sides of tomato pie, collards, and red rice. Washed down with iced tea, of course. I won't try to describe any of it. How Ms. Etta manages to prepare dishes that at once are so tasty and so healthy is beyond comprehension. But she does. Ms. Etta is as serious about healthy eating as she is about flavor. Just ask her! And she manages to combine both in the dishes she offers at Main's.
Now, lunch at Main's Market is no "fast-food" experience. It takes a while. Not to get served. But to eat! Food this good simply mustn't be gulped down. Also, any visiting outsider interested in Edisto Island can learn a lot just listening to the animated conversations of the locals sitting at other tables. It's quite a place. But be sure to arrive hungry!
Back out on Route 174, today's destination was the Edisto Interpretive Center. Driving toward the beach, turn right on Palmetto Road. Then, after a mile or so, bear left onto Oyster Row Lane. It's a hard-packed dirt road but well maintained. You're sure to see the Interpretive Center signs on the right. As noted there, the Center's open Tuesday through Saturday, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., year-round.
This Center is one of several within the ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge. Situated on State Park land, it opened in 2004 with the support of South Carolina's Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.Center programs rely heavily on a small paid staff, and a team of dedicated volunteers. They do everything, from answering telephones, to maintaining walking trails, to guiding evening turtle walks on the beach. They're personable. They're dedicated. They know their stuff. And they're eager to help visitors learn about the natural environment of Edisto.
Speaking of visitors, the Interpretive Center's program is designed to inform all ages of visitor. It's neither a children's museum nor an adults' museum. Its exhibits explain the environment of the Edisto area in ways that appeal to learners young and old. Now, that's not easy! But somehow they manage.
Every Saturday, even during the off-season, Interpretive Center Manager, Andrea Grabman, and other members of the staff, offer hour-long programs that introduce visitors of all ages to the wildlife of the region. Programs such as shark dissection, and opportunities to handle -- under strict supervision intended as much to protect the creatures as the human handlers -- fierce-looking crabs and other creatures in the Center's "touch-tanks." The Center also sponsors an evening lecture series designed for adults.
Click on this link to view some more photos of the Edisto Interpretive Center and its surrounding grounds. Better yet, come by and see the place for yourself!
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