Nehalem Bay crabbing

For readers not in the Pacific Northwest, this has been one of the most spectacular fall seasons in recent memory. Until today we hadn't had rain for approximately eighty days. We decided to take advantage of the good weather and sneak in a trip to the Oregon coast before the fall rains began.

Crabs live in the coastal estuaries and they like it when the salinity in the water is high. Because of the dry fall, the bay waters were perfect for crabs. We recruited some co-workers and left home about 4:30a to be ready to go at dawn. It was cold but clear and we were successful rustling eight yummy crabs!

We cooked our catch and took it to a nearby park to enjoy a crabby lunch and a walk on the beach. All of us agreed it was worth getting up at such an early hour!

Tee/Tea time

Today we went our separate ways. Mr. Snootypurse has a co-worker residing in South Carolina. They met for a round of golf at Charleston National Golf Club. Although play was slow the weather was perfect. Mr. Purse enjoyed getting out on the golf course for the first time in about six months.

Meanwhile, I plotted an adventure in the countryside for myself and my Aunt who drove up from Pawley's Island to spend the day with me. We started with a visit to the Angel Oak Tree. This 1500 year old Live Oak tree is over 6 stories tall and shades 17,000 square feet. It was too large for snapshots but an Internet search should bring up some pictures for you.

Our next stop was lunch at the Tomato Shed Cafe.This was Low Country cuisine prepared in a healthy way with lots of local vegetables. It was one of the best lunches on the trip. The metal chickens were sitting in front of the cafe and caught my eye but I resisted bringing one home.

We wrapped up the day with a tea time of our own at the Charleston Tea Plantation, America's only tea garden. We took the trolley tour of the grounds. One of the stops was the computer-monitored greenhouse pictured above. The computer takes care of the baby tea plants by opening and closing the blinds for light, watering them, humidifying the air, and cooling them if necessary with the black tubes running under the plants. The most interesting factoid we learned is that Argentina is the world's largest producer of tea. My Aunt and I shared a fun day and I'm grateful she drove up to help me escape the city.

We are reluctantly heading home tomorrow afternoon. They are predicting snow again. Ugh! We have the morning here so we may try to visit the Charleston Museum before heading to the airport.

Our day began with a drive across the bridge to Patriots' Point in Mount Pleasant to catch a boat to Fort Sumter. This is a picture of Fort Sumter as the boat pulled in. What you don't see are the dark storm clouds rolling in behind us... The tour schedule allows for about an hour at the fort. Fifteen minutes after we arrived the heavens opened and rain chased everyone into the small museum. It was unfortunate because there were several interesting exhibits scattered around the grounds that we missed.

These are the six flags that flew over Fort Sumter as it changed hands a few times before, during, and after the Civil War. Fort Sumter was held by the Confederacy until near the end of the Civil War making Charleston the only seaport for the Confederacy during the war.

Patriots' Point offers other naval history exhibits including an aircraft carrier, the USS Yorktown, but we headed back to Charleston after our return due to the weather.

We took the last carriage tour of the day from Palmetto carriage tours. It was still raining so we got a little damp but enjoyed the narration of Charleston's history. This Roman villa is thought to be the inspiration for the Tara plantation house in Gone With the Wind. After the tour we drove down to the Battery to stroll along the seawall and gawk at the fanciest homes in the city.

Family photos

We ran out to the beach one last time before leaving Pawley's Island. I am standing with my Aunt, our hostess with the mostest. We made our way down to Charleston where we took a  Low Country cooking class at Charleston Cooks! The class was twice as large as I am used to at home but it was nicely set-up with a large video monitor. We learned about the basis of Low Country cooking and got a good recipe for fish or chicken.

We wandered around downtown Charleston afterward and it was crazy! Not sure if it is always like this on Saturday or if it was due to St. Patrick's Day. The bars were filled to the rafters and the action spilled out onto the street. Nonetheless, we savored the sunshine as we looked across the harbor at Fort Sumter while eating gelato. We ran into a student from the Citadel from Portland at dinner. He was thrilled to see Mr. Purse's Sunriver Hot Dog Company t-shirt! So I showed him some ankle with my Portland Running Company socks!

Brookgreen Gardens

We arrived at Brookgreen Gardens only planning to spend a few hours but ended up staying the whole day and STILL not seeing everything. The background of Brookgreen is similar to Hobcaw Barony: Wealthy individuals, Archer and Anna Huntington, bought and combined multiple former rice plantations for recreational use. However, the management and use of Brookgreen is quite different. Much of the property is highly manicured and serves as the setting for the largest collection of figurative statuary in the country. 

We took a pontoon boat tour of the canals on the property that were originally built when it was a rice plantation. This provided a chance to sit down while cruising on a beautiful day and hear some history about the plantation. The most interesting part was seeing several alligators along the way like the photo on the right. They were along the shoreline sunning themselves. Alligators go into a form of hibernation in the winter when they stop eating. Woe to the shorebird that miscalculates and walks by on the first day they start eating again.

There is also a small zoo on the property with local animals. We spent quite a bit of time in the marshland aviary watching the birds play as they were quite active. Perhaps a bit too much time as Mrs. Snootypurse caught a bird bomb from above on her left shoulder. I wonder if it's good luck like it is in Italy? The zoo includes a river otter exhibit where you can watch the frolicking above and below water. And frolick they did!

Murrell's Inlet and Myrtle Beach

Today we ventured north to Myrtle Beach pausing along the way in the small town of Murrell's Inlet. We strolled along their Marsh Walk and pier, watching pelicans and dispensing free advice to the dock crabbers. We saw one keeper after it was caught. It was much smaller than the dungeness crabs we catch at home.

We enjoyed an inexpensive, tasty low country buffet lunch at Prosser's BBQ. We got to try most of the Southern favorites including collard greens, meatloaf, black-eyed peas, pan-fried oysters, and peach cobbler. If you're ever in the area, don't miss this place! Then it was on to Myrtle Beach where we tried to push through our Prosser's-induced food coma.

We spent most of our time at Myrtle Beach near the boardwalk but the hotels, restaurants, mini golf courses, and beach shops stretched on for miles. We boarded the Skywheel in Myrtle Beach for panoramic views of the surrounding area. I'm not usually a fan of amusement park rides but this one was pleasant with air conditioning and a comfortable seat.

 

We wrapped up our visit with a round at Mount Atlanticus Minotaur Goff. No, this is not a typo. The course has seen better days but it runs up and down over 5 stories and was different our flat courses in Oregon.

We continued to be blessed with amazing weather and are enjoying the little things like falling asleep with the window open and eating meals outside.

Hobcaw Barony

It was snowing when we left Portland to escape the grey Pacific Northwest winter for a week. The local weatherman tells us we can look forward to a week of sunny weather in the mid-70's in coastal South Carolina. Works for us! We are staying in Pawley's Island with Aunt Snootypurse for a few days. We spent a good portion of our first day touring Hobcaw Barony, a 17,500 acre wildlife refuge between Pawley's Island and Charleston.

It's hard to describe this tour because it covered a wide variety of subjects. Hobcaw Barony was owned by Bernard Baruch and his daughter, Belle. Mr. Baruch was a powerful businessman during the Roosevelt and Eisenhower administrations so the most interesting anecdotes were those of the powerful people who stayed at the Barony during the WWII era. The Barony's is currently used as a research site for Clemson and USC. That's the University of South Carolina for readers from the West coast.

The top picture is of the saltmarsh where the universities are conducting research on sea-level rise and climate change. The middle photo is of the slave village. The Barony was originally a series of plantations and many of the "slaves" stayed as employees of the Baruch family. These small cabins had no electricity and it wasn't uncommon for up to a dozen people to share one. The final photo is the main lodge or Mr. Baruch's "hunting cabin". We saw a bedroom occupied by FDR just prior to his 4th presidential election.

We wrapped up the day with a visit to Georgetown, the 3rd oldest city in South Carolina. This is a pleasant town with several restaurants, shops, historical homes, and a walk along the inlet.