Our 44th Wedding Anniversary began bright and early with a stunning sunrise over the Atlantic. We had started getting up early enough to catch the first light of other sunrises once we realized we would usually have the whole beach to ourselves for a good long while with beautiful views in all directions. Since we'd only be at the park for another week or two we didn't want to miss this great chance to watch the world wake up. It was chilly most mornings, sometimes only in the high 30s so we made sure to bundle up. It also gave Foster a chance to be off his leash and run along the water's edge with no other dogs around.
To celebrate the rest of our anniversary, we went into Beaufort mid day for lunch and then a lovely carriage ride all around the beautiful neighborhoods. Our driver pointed out the numerous houses and locations of the many films made in this very sweet southern town.
The following day we took our bikes over to Hilton Head island and Sea Pines resort area for an afternoon of riding on the paths
and stopping for a refreshment along the way
Using the map we received at the gate we wound around the area and found the beach access openings
and a chance to ride our bikes a good long distance on the hard sand. It was such a perfect day, warm and sunny and not too crowded.
The flowers and rocking chairs were everywhere.
As we drove back into our park I stopped to take a photo of our entrance sign which was surrounded by marsh lands.
I loved getting more and more early photos of the light each morning on the beach.
One of our last set of duty days was not spent greeting new campers at the entrance but three days of campground clean up, which we loved. We worked from 10-2 just walking the park looking for any trash left in the campsites and getting a wonderful chance to visit with so many people along the way. It was surprising how even little pieces of bags or bottles soon filled our bags and it would be time for me to ride a basketful to the dumpster at the other end of the park.
My favorite day was when we decided the park was plenty clean and we should clean out the fire pits as well. So, once we had it raked, Paul would set up his little pinecone sculptures for the incoming campers. The more he did, the more creative they became, too fun for us both!
Since we had most of the afternoons free that week, we had a chance to spend time just hanging out at the beach.
The dunes and grasses kept us protected from the cool ocean breezes.
It was now our morning custom to walk to the beach for sunrise with coats and hats, and Foster ready for some leash free time.
As we came over the knoll of the path we saw this group already there. I loved the look of these five friends sitting on the log this early in the morning waiting for the start of the day. I caught a few snapshots of them, then met up with them and got an email address to send the photos a bit later. They were college students on swing break from Ohio. What a surprise!
We were now down to our last week at the park and as often happens when time is running out, these beautiful mornings became even more special to us both. Getting out of a warm bed to walk out in the crisp morning wasn't so easy…but it was so worth it!
No comments:
Post a Comment