Folly Beach - 2017

Jan 4 & Jan 5

--Blogpost written by Bob

We are still in Folly Beach SC waiting for the completion of our sailboat's re-powering.  We continue to explore the area by car. (Our new transmission is scheduled to arrive by UPS on Friday, January 6--the end of this week!)

January 4 (Edisto Island)

Edisto Island is a barrier island located 42 miles southwest of Charleston--it took us about an hour to drive there from Folly Beach, mostly because it was not a direct route.  The name Edisto came from Edistow, a Native American sub-tribe of the Cusabo Indians, who inhabited the island as well as nearby mainland areas.  As European colonization occurred, the Native American tribes were decimated, like most other areas along the east coast of the United States.

This sign along Route 174 welcomes visitors
long before reaching the island.

The first tracts of land (plantations) were granted on Edisto Island before 1700.  According to Wikipedia, "Landowners first harvested timber and deerskins, planted indigo and some rice, and kept herds of free-ranging cattle to produce hides for the European market and salt beef for Caribbean plantations.  Cotton gradually became the principal crop, and after the American Revolution, Edisto Island planters became wealthy and famous from their production of long-staple Sea Island cotton."  (Bath & Body Works has a fragrance called Sea Island Cotton--now we know the origin.)

Route 174 comes right through town.  The houses on the left
are right on the beach and are elevated to protect them 
from storm surge.  There were no dunes 
between the houses and the beach.

Today, about 2,500 people live on Edisto Island, attracted by the beautiful beach and its lack of  of commercialization.  It reminds me of the Outer Banks of North Carolina except that it is smaller and more remote.  There are no traffic lights.  There is a small grocery store on the island which has a fuel filling station.  Near the southwest end of the island, there is a Wyndham Resort but it is not overly commercial--it blends in to the island's environment.

The Edisto Beach State Park has one of the prettiest
beaches we've seen in South Carolina.  There 
were lots of interesting shells on the beach.

The palm trees on the sand dunes in the State Park 
really create a tropical feeling 

here on Edisto Beach.

One of the few commercial enterprises we saw on the island
was a small seafood company with a large wooden 

shrimp boat, Sarah Jane, moored out back.

January 5

I decided to spend some time this morning improving my photography (my New Year's Resolution #4) by revisiting the county park at the southwest end of Folly Island.  I used my polarizing filter to get better colors in the water and the sky.

Everyday, the beach, the sun, and the sky are different. The tide may be at a different point in it's cycle.

I've taken photographs of these same dead trees multiple
times while we've been here in Folly Beach.  This time,
the tide was high and there was low-lying
clouds in the distance. 

I've also previously taken photographs of this drift fence.

This is an old wooden jetty that I recently discovered.  The
furthest wooden members were rotted out from
the repeated salt water exposure.

One of the things that one must pay particular attention to (in beach photos) is making sure the horizon is perfectly level--otherwise the photograph looks amateurish.  Since I can't rely on the grid in my camera's viewfinder to make the photograph level with the horizon, I generally level the photo during post-processing.

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After lunch at the cottage (meatloaf sandwiches), we decided to drive to Mount Pleasant and check out a store (Coastal Cupboard, a large kitchen store) that we noticed on Wednesday but didn't have time to stop.  Among the things we bought, was a small jar of (verde) Red Clay hot sauce made in Charleston--_I'm anxious to try it!

A 5 fl. oz. bottle of verde Red Clay hot sauce.
(Made in Charleston SC)

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