Enjoying the Journey: September 2013

Edisto Island, where we are situated now, is an island bordered on the East by the Atlantic Ocean. One of the most visited places on the Island is Botany Bay. The Botany Bay Plantation Heritage Preserve and Wildlife Management Area is 4,687 acres and consists of two large plantations. It grew Sea Island Cotton, the most valuable cotton available and made the owners of these plantations very wealthy. The property was left to the State of South Carolina and is now managed by the Department of Natural Resources. It has one of the most interesting beaches I have seen anywhere and we love to go there. It is a photographer's Paradise, and I am going to share some pics from there. The beaches are totally natural and amazing. There are more shells there than I have seen anywhere else, and they are to be left there. The DNR volunteers will shake you down as you leave the beach, believe me!

Pretty Maids all in a row

Call me a romantic but I think it is shaped like a heart!

Edisto Island native Grandpa with grandsons

Tom looking for someone to talk to...

Yours Truly

Greetings from Edisto Island, South Carolina, one of the most beautiful places in the country. We arrived here on Sunday, September 1st and reported for duty as State Park Volunteers (aka workampers). We will be here for two months.

Edisto is a barrier island located about 45 miles south of Charleston, so we are only an hour away from home (although it is rented), so we can still visit friends and do things back home when we want to, However, once you drive over the bridge that takes you onto Edisto Island, the world changes. You drive into a land of waterways, marshes and Spanish moss-draped oak trees bigger than any you will see elsewhere. The island is the same as it has been for many, many years...no traffic lights, no hotels or motels, no drug stores, and NO WALMARTS OR STARBUCKS! Can you imagine such a place? It is quite and serene, no traffic jams or honking horns. If you want drinkable water you drive into the fire station and fill up your empty milk jugs. It really is Paradise.

Tom and I got our work assignments here at Edisto Beach State Park the day after we arrived. I will be working two five-hour days a week at the beautiful boat landing. I am the gal in the gatehouse that shakes the boaters down for money before they load their boat into the bay. I even have air-conditioning, which is great because it has really been hot. The people that come through are so nice and I love my job. Tom drives a little golf cart around the campgrounds and rakes up the campsites after people leave, may need to do some trimming of overgrowth and keeps the campsites looking neat. He works three five hour days a week. Oh, he also has a chance to talk to everyone he meets..imagine that! We are both off Thursdays and Fridays so we can do fun things in the area. The rangers are really nice and very flexible. I think this is going to be a fun assignment. Can't wait to go kayaking. There are bike paths throughout the island and so much else to do. Right down the road from us is Beaufort and then Hilton Head and then Savannah. The South Carolina coast is so scenic. Lots of picture opportunities.

Speaking of pictures, here are a few.