I'm Having So Much Fun!

 Reflection pool at midnight

 Huntress and fawn at sunrise

Sun rays after the storm

Charleston Daytrip

 We took a lovely day trip to Charleston....about 2 hours from Murrell's Inlet. I love this city, especially the historic district. We enjoyed just wandering around looking in every alleyway, small lane and other intriguing nooks and crannies. The packed in houses that face the sea instead of the street were built that way to catch the ocean breezes.....before the days of air conditioning. There are so many historic houses restored to their former beauty. In the past we have toured some of these houses and taken the carriage tours as well.

 We had lunch at Poogan's Porch, highly recommended by my son-in-law. We were not disappointed. The food was fabulous and atmosphere quaint. This house is reported to be haunted...but more about that in a future post.

 Fried Alligator on the menu...passed on that.

I had the Grilled pork chop with pineapple chutney and sweet potato hash......delicious!

 We couldn't resist wondering down a few lanes and found ourselves in a church yard/cemetery. I later found out that it is reportedly haunted...more on that later.

I call this the pineapple fountain.....don't know the real name but what a great picture with the cruise ship in the background....the same ship that we took last December on our cruise to the Bahamas.
If you have never been to Charleston, I highly recommend this beautiful city.....caution...boiling hot and humid in the summer.

Rainy Day, Cup of Tea?

Pontiac 1763

 This new plaque was to be commemorated later in the day.

 Today's American Indian Powwow commemorated Chief Pontiac calling a council of Indian Tribes on April 27, 1763, 250 years ago. Our camera class met, unofficially, to get some photos of this colorful event. We had an absolutely beautiful day. It was an interesting experience and I tried to picture the Indians there at Council Park before there were roads, houses and telephone poles, all riding in on their horses, setting up there tepees and listening to the words of a leader who was not their own but issuing wise words urging them to protect their lands. Well, I guess I had to use my imagination.

Beach Creatures

Beach walking is the most relaxing, mind-clearing exercise  that I can think of, although walking in the woods comes in a close second. Waiting for the next big wave or watching for a flock of low flying pelicans or just getting your feet wet....how much fun is that? It's interesting to look for beach creatures washed up by the tide. There are some very strange looking creatures that's for sure.

On Ed Piotrowski WPDE's facebook page (Ed is the renowned weatherman for Myrtle Beach) he frequently posts the tracking of Mary Lee, a 16ft. Great White Shark. It is amazing how close to shore Miss Mary Lee comes! When I'm strolling the beach I wonder if she is out there. It is fun to see how far she travels and where she goes. I'm more comfortable seeing a star fish or a other dead things on the beach ;-)

https://www.facebook.com/EdPiotrowskiWPDE?hc_location=stream

I Love Ducks

 My photographer facebook friends are always posting great pictures of ducks (wood ducks are my favorite). I found this great duck fountain at Brookgreen and fell in love with this guy. This is the same area (sorry to go on a birding tangent again) where I saw a lot of Eastern Towhees and also Thrashers.
Missing South Carolina and my family there and this great duck as well :-)

Rugby

Anyone know anything about Rugby? Not the great American sport by any means but my grandson, Mikey, stared playing this year. That's him in the picture carrying the ball. All I know is that they get into a scrum (?)  Now, I am intrigued . Love the white shorts....good luck washing those Mom. Hope to learn about the game and why Overland Park, Ks has a junior Rugby league.

Birding at Brookgreen

 Birding at Brookgreen allows you to search for birds in the most  beautiful of conditions...no tramping through the woods and underbrush or walking on muddy trails. Here, it's hard to keep your focus on birding because of the wonderful flowers, smells and beautiful sunshine.
At the back of the gardens there are two sets of steps that lead to the old rice fields. Sweeping down is a large grassy area then a marsh. Here, I found so many birds...I sat for hours watching their comings and goings.

I shot many pictures of the birds there but my lens lacks the scope to get any closer than I did. None-the -less you can see what a hive of activity was taking place. Besides the birds shown below there were numerous Cardinal couples and lots ( a crew ) of White-Throated Sparrows

 Bluebird

 Carolina Wren

 Purple Finch

Yellow-Rumped Warbler

White Throated Sparrow

Red Barn

 This is my favorite barn (so far) to photograph on the Wastenaw County Barn Tour. I love the patina on all of the out buildings and we had some great light to shoot in. This is a working farm and we all had fun photographing the cows.( they loved getting their picture taken as well )  Hope we get to go back there.The owner was nice enough to let us roam freely about the property. Wow, look at that sky!

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