July 30, 2013
I began an internet search for a place to get away for a
week last Thursday. I was looking for
any week before Roland needed to begin classes the middle of August. It looked like there was a place on Fripp
Island available starting on Saturday, in just two day! So Roland made arrangements at work to be gone
starting on Saturday for a week. Saturday
morning I was finally able to talk with a person concerning the unit on Fripp
Island and it was not available! On the
phone now, we were able to find a
3-bedroom beach house on Edisto Island. They gave us a last-minute deal on it since we
weren’t looking for a 3-bedroom, that was all that was available. For the owners, at least the rental wouldn’t need to sit
empty. We’d been to Edisto before so off we went!
We left in such a rush and confusion that I forgot my
swimsuit, walking shorts, toothbrush, soap, and hairbrush. I realized I had forgotten some of these
items when we were on the interstate near UT, but didn’t want to go back and
increase the time of confusion. So we
stopped along the way at a Walmart.
Because it is late July, the suits were on clearance and the selection
was very limited. I thought I might buy
my first tankini because it appeared that was all they had left. But there wasn’t a bottom that would fit and in
the end, I found one 1-piece suit. It
was my size! It wasn’t something I
usually would purchase because it was looked like it was a suit right out of
the 1950s. However, when I tried it on,
it looked pretty good, and I’m enjoying it.
We arrived Saturday evening around 8 pm, and headed out with
flashlight in hand to walk on the beach.
As we walked, the sound of the water hitting the beach and the gentle
breeze was like a balm of peace and calm upon us. We saw a sand crab and two little girls on
the beach and wanted to see it, too. It
had just dug its way down into the sand, so Roland dug it out and held it by
its pinchers for the girls. They were so
delighted! Roland had made their
day!
Our beach house’s name is “Among the Reids”. It is on the marsh side of the island, yet
only two and a half blocks away from the beach.
In our back yard is a dock and boat slip. The pictures below show the view in our backyard.
Roland found some crab nets in the garage and
is looking forward to crabbing off our very own dock later in the week. There’s a big screened in porch that extends
along the back of the house with a hammock, rocking chairs, and picnic
tables. And the view is beautiful with
the marsh and palmetto trees. The floor
plan is open and spacious, especially for just the two of us. We’ve put our clothes in one bedroom and use
it as a dressing room, and sleep in another.
Upon our arrival, we see that there are few other things we’ve
forgotten. Namely, sheets for our bed and
bath, kitchen and hand towels.
Fortunately, we were able to rent sheets and brought four beach towels. As I was using my t-shirt to dry my hands
after washing them, I decided I had brought an abundance of t-shirts, so I hung
them up to use as hand towels. I’d buy
more towels, but I really don’t need any more at home!
Our first morning, Roland awoke and wanted to go out shark
tooth hunting. And for some odd reason,
I didn’t want to walk on the beach, but on the bike path. I had a lovely walk, until the path took off
out of the shade. That was when I turned
around and headed back to our home. But
while in the shade, I loved seeing the marsh and the trees laden with Spanish moss. The quiet, with the sound of only the cicadas
and birds, was so lovely. It was on this
walk that I saw an unusual small bright, multi-colored bird. I didn’t know what it was until I saw a bird
identification chart. It was a painted
bunting. My, son, Brian, who is an avid
bird watcher, told me that he’s only seen one painted bunting in his life.
We stopped at Piggly Wiggly, the only grocery here at Edisto
and picked up a few things, but still our food is somewhat limited. But sometimes, simple is better. I’m sure later in the week we’ll do some
thing about more variety.
The beach house has a small dvd library and we watched a
comedy, mystery thriller BBC film, called Scoop. It’s really quite witty and has some really
funny lines in it. It stars Woody Allen,
Hugh Jackman, and Scarlett Johansson. I
want to remember to recommend it to anyone who needs a reason to laugh.
On Monday, we took off for Hunting Island and Fripp
Island. One of my friends, Jennifer,
from Weight Watchers recently returned from there and it isn’t too far from
Edisto. Actually, as the crow flies or
the dolphin swims, it would be 15 miles.
But it’s a two-hour drive. We drove out to Fripp Island, and as I
thought, it was private. So we went back
to Hunting Island. By this time I was
anxious to get out and play! The beach
was real nice. It had a gentle
slope. The tide wasn’t coming in while
we were there, so no waves to be caught, but we could see there was great
potential at the right time. Because of
erosion on there are areas where there are trees that have come down. Roland, ever the adventure seeker, wanted to
take off and climb through and around those downed trees. I agreed and off we went. It turns out that we weren’t quite as
adventurous as I first thought. Shortly
after we had begun, four young girls, no older than 10 or 11, passed us running
and climbing over the trees. I imagine
to them they were simply nature’s jungle gym!
Well, Roland and I haven’t had the chance to play on jungle gyms for a
while, so we just weren’t quite as agile.
We made our way through the trees, and hiked some distance until we
reached beach where people were able to play in the sand and water. While at Hunting Island, we also enjoyed a
Marsh Walk, the pier, and nature center.
July 31, 2013
Yesterday morning, Roland slept in and I enjoyed a morning
walk on the beach on my own. I walked to Edisto State Park beach before
deciding the sun was getting high and it was time to turn around. My walk was a
slice of heaven! Below are beach view pictures. So much of the time we had to beach to ourselves!
How restful.
After lunch, Roland and
I went back and played in the water. Our
afternoon also included lunch at
beachside café, window shopping at souvenir shops, and a grocery stop at Piggly
Wiggly. When we came out of Piggly
Wiggly, we discovered we had a very flat tire.
We filled it up and headed out to JJ’s Auto Repair. It was now about 6:30 pm and we were
concerned that we might not be able to get it fixed and that all the air would
seep out once more. Though JJ had
already gone home, someone who lived near his business called him, and JJ
returned to fix our tire. A nail had
punctured it. What a nice, nice guy to
return to fix our tire!
This morning (Wednesday), we drove over to Edisto State Park
and took a walk on the beach. Roland found
several really nice shark teeth. And I
found an abundance of clam shells. A
couple of them were bigger than the palm of my hand. I also found a really pretty welt shell. When I showed it to Roland, it saw that a
hermit crab was living in it. No wonder
I felt something tickling my hand as I was carrying it. Here's the picture we took before leaving him to enjoy his beach life.
In the afternoon, we headed out to see the work of the local artists
where they gather on Wednesdays to sell their work. I found a pretty print of a painted bunting
to take back to Knoxville to enjoy. Then
it was time to enjoy the waves at the State Park. We had the best waves there thus far. Upon our arrival back at our beach house,
Roland went to our dock on the marsh with some chicken meat for bait to do a
little crabbing. He caught the biggest
one he’s every caught! However, it only
has one claw so that’s less meat. He
still has his net down, so maybe he’ll catch more.
August 2, 2013
Did Roland catch more?
After a nice, long walk on the beach (3 hours for me, and Roland stayed
out for 4), I came home and enjoyed a four hour nap, while Roland went out on
our dock and caught a bunch of crabs! He
had a great afternoon and just couldn’t stop when they were biting. I was really hopeful that I would be able to
help him eat them, but found once more that eating seafood that isn’t disguised
really takes all the pleasure out of it.
I have a hard time slurping meat out of shells. It probably took Roland as much time to eat
them as to catch them!
He was plenty
tired by the end of it and ready for bed.
Since I had a four hour nap, I wasn’t ready for bed at 10 pm and relaxed
with my Kindle and computer.
Today we woke up and enjoyed our morning walk on the
beach. It looks like Roland’s shark
teeth collection will have to be complete with about 80 sharks teeth. My mission was to collect olive shells this
beach trip. Together we found seven, two
of which I found. But I found lots and
lots of clam shells and other shell fragments.
I just get too easily distracted to find one kind of shell!
After our walk we went out for a seafood meal at a “trailer
restaurant”. Roland had scallops and
steamed shrimp and I had a crab cake sandwich, deep fried. Good seafood and my crab cake was place on a
real nice roll. For me, the bread is as
important as the content of the sandwich!
We went out to catch some waves for the last time this
trip. They weren’t too good for
catching, but good for washing over us and good at disrupting our conversation.
What a fine week!
We’re thinkin’ we should do a beach trip—just the two of us—every year!
