We visited Folly Island, South Carolina recently and enjoyed a splendid respite.
I’d helped run a writer’s conference in Charleston.
The day after it ended, I needed to sit on Folly’s Island’s sandy beach and stare out to sea.
I was exhausted.
The May weather soothed my tired soul with just a touch of sea breezes and the blue ocean rolling in and out.
I don’t remember the last time I lounged on a beach under an umbrella.
Lovely.
Folly Island is more than the beach
Only a dozen miles from downtown Charleston, Folly Island felt much further away.
It’s a beach town, yes, but it also has a fishing pier and long stretches of empty beach in the early mornings.
I loved the early morning.
I saw only a handful of people when I left the Bed & Breakfast at 7 am.
My husband was still out jogging– I never saw him.
Instead, I savored the ocean views, shells, and birds.
Strolling the sand, I could think for the first time in a week.
I felt fresh and gloriously alive. Singing with the birds flying past made perfect sense that morning!
Morris Island tour
Along with enjoying the beach and resting, we wanted to see the flora and fauna of the South Carolina lowlands.
Early our second morning, we traveled with Charleston Outdoor Adventures and four women along the river north of Folly Island headed east.
We’d never visited an estuary like this before and it charmed us.
The boat stopped to visit with a shark fisherman–who showed us a freshly cleaned skull.
The only time I’ve heard of oyster beds was in Alice in Wonderful:
“Oh Oysters, come and walk with us!”
The Walrus did beseech . . . .
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head–
Meaning to say he did not choose
To leave the oyster-bed.
The Walrus and the Carpenter poem from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll
I got to see oyster beds as we sailed to Morris Island–they cluttered the low tide shoreline nearly the entire route.
We also saw crabs and lots of dolphins!
All sorts of birds wheeled overhead; pelicans perched on docks and gulls were everywhere. Reeds lined the waterway.
And yet, we were so near Charleston, we caught glimpses of the top of Ravanel Bridge in the distance!
Morris Island Lighthouse
The Morris Island Lighthouse, originally established after the Revolutionary War but rebuilt following the Civil War, once stood on the shore.
Time, waves, erosion and even an earthquake, have moved it a quarter-mile offshore, now.
The beach opposite is beautiful and strewn with shells.
The view is splendid.
Folly Island proper is just across a narrow river mouth.
Our eco-tour took two and a half-hours, with narration and plenty of questions (mine) answered.
In the summer, insects and tourists can be a problem.
But on a May morning, before the crowds arrived, we cherished our visit to Folly Island.
Tweetables
A visit to Folly Island, South Carolina. Click to Tweet
Oyster beds, dolphins, a shark and more on a Morris Lighthouse tour. Click to Tweet
Folly Island, Morris Lighthouse and the lowland’s flora and fauna. Click to Tweet
Myrtle Beach, where I almost fell in love. But I was young, and in the military. Easy to romanticize places and people, when you’re far from home.
So true, Sam. I’d never spent time on a southern beach before–and didn’t realize how delightful they are compared to the cold beaches of my Southern California childhood! We even saw it at Folly Beach–lovely and deserted at the eastern end on a Friday afternoon, yet a stop-and-go traffic town Saturday morning when we left!