Another Visit To Vereen

Good thing I went to Vereen Historical Memorial Gardens again because I missed half of the park. There was another whole section that extends on boardwalks out to the Little River. This horse shoe was found on the road during construction of the paved path. They estimate it is from the 1800's. President George Washington visited this site which is on the Broad Road from Boston to Charleston. A Vereen ancestor showed the President how to wait for a low tide to take his horses over the wet, packed sand. 

This is the mother of the man who donated the land to the county.

This is the father of the man who donated the land.

At one spot along the river people hang oyster shells on the tree for good luck. I couldn't find a shell with a hole in it and I had nothing sharp to make a hole. So I picked up a shell and stuck into a crack of a missing limb. 

 

These Is My Words

I read a book by Nancy E. Turner called These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine; 1881-1901.  The story starts out when Sarah is 13 years old. She lives with her brothers and parents at a homestead cabin. Her father decides to move west into the Arizona territories. He hopes his family will have more success there. Along the way they are attacked by Native Americans, robbers and illness. Her  younger brother dies from a snake bite. Her father is killed by a gun shot. Sarah journals all these events and tries to keep her family together. Eventually Sarah does find success and love. This is a fascinating story inspired by the authors family memories.

 

Heritage Shores

Yesterday I drove to Heritage Shores which is near Cherry Beach in North Myrtle Beach. I had to pay $4.50 per hour to park which is extremely frustrating. I found a fairly large nature preserve among all the housing developments. I walked across five board walks and on sandy paths. Where the sandy paths were low and wet I saw the many round holes signifying a fiddler crab lives here. Fiddler crabs dig their homes straight down. When the tide comes in they plug the entrance to their home with a ball of sand. To see fiddler crabs you generally have to look at the path ten to twelve feet ahead of you. When the fiddler crabs hear me coming, my foot steps shaking the sand, they disappear into their homes. Once in awhile I will see a fiddler crab under me and I wonder if that one is deaf. 

People are not allowed to fish or take crabs at this nature preserve. The tide was low on this visit and I saw something incredible. Oysters, shown in the picture above, were spitting a stream of water 8 inches into the air at regular intervals. This is only visible when oyster is still in water but the water isn't very deep above them. I watched the oysters spit for a good 15 minutes while laughing gulls chuckled at me. Oysters are cleaning the water when they spit like this. Ocean creatures are incredible.

 

The Last Days Of Lilah Goodluck

I spent some time at the county library today. On the shelf of new fiction I found this quick read called The Last Days of Lilah Goodluck. Written by Kylie Scott, the story is about Lilah. We start out as she is walking home from her friend's birthday party. The birthday girl had hired a psychic to tell fortunes. On the corner a car runs a red light and nearly runs over the psychic. Lilah saves the life of the psychic. In return the psychic quickly gives Lilah six predictions. Over the next week we find out how many predictions were accurate. I guess this would be considered chick-lit but it was fun to read. 

Vereen Historical Memorial Gardens

I walked a couple of miles to the Vereen Historical Memorial Gardens. 

They have a mile long paved road lines with azaleas that are in full flower. On either side of the paved road are sandy paths wandering through the woods. This was a lovely place to visit.

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I walked up to a bale of turtles.

This turtle charged up to me. What, was it expecting a free handout of hamburger?

 

Green Swamp

Years ago I went to a class about carnivorous plants. The speaker said there was a swamp near the North Carolina/South Carolina border. I wanted to visit the swamp ever since. Since Myrtle Beach is near the border I decided to drive 40 miles north to visit Green Swamp Nature Conservancy.

I saw about 80 of these swallowtail butterflies during my two hours at this swamp.

I met a couple of hikers and I asked them what they saw. They said they saw a couple Venus flytraps and sundew but they were very low to the ground. I came upon these yellow pitcher plants that were as high as my knee.

And they were beautiful.

The Nature Conservancy does periodic burns here to keep up the place.

I am glad I came to visit the swamp.

 

Beach Music

 As long as I was in Charleston I thought I would read a book written by a writer from Charleston. I enjoyed books by Pat Conroy before and I enjoyed Beach Music. This book spans 3 generations and takes place in  Charleston, South Carolina and Rome. A troubled man escapes to Rome to recover from a tragic, upsetting event. Eventually he returns to Charleston and figures things out. The book is full of colorful characters and crazy situations.