Red wolves are protected in the park.

This past Saturday we thought we’d do some exploring.  We began at the Sunflower Cafe.  Tony enjoyed his steak and cheese omelet, and Louisa thought the fried green tomato and crab sandwich was good – though next time she might go with the BLFGT (bacon, lettuce, and fried green tomatoes).  The restaurant itself is like a small town, Southern diner.  Which can be both good and bad.  However, if you want good diner food, with friendly waiters/waitresses and a few local regulars, this is the place.

Brown-Headed Nuthatch

After lunch we drove through Francis Marion National Forest.  Along the way we passed more than a handful, and less than a dozen, people selling woven sweetgrass baskets.  Most of the sellers were in the vicinity of the Boone Hall Plantation farm.  Apparently, making these baskets dates back to the days on the West African coast.  We continued driving until we found the Seewee visitor center.  The employees were very friendly, and suggested we walk the 1 mile nature trail.  The trail goes through a butterfly garden, and then up to a wolf enclosure.  Four red wolves (very endangered) are currently living there.  One of the young males stood up to examine us; he walked a few feet, decided we weren’t too interesting, and went to lay back down.  Of the four wolves, we were able to see three; the final one is apparently quite shy.  We also saw some fun birds, including about six very active and noisy brown-headed nuthatches.

Yellow flowers near the beach.

After the hike, we were more than happy to return to the car and air conditioning.  We did try to hike through one wildlife management area; however, Tony quickly decided to keep driving after he (a) almost walked into a giant spider web, and (b) got swarmed by mosquitoes. So, we continued on to Georgetown, SC.  Due to a traffic accident, we didn’t see the sign for the historic downtown section, but we did drive through some of the business areas.  By then, we were ready for dinner, so we went back to T.W. Graham’s Seafood Restaurant in McClellanville.  We parked in the dirt on the side of the road, and went inside.  The atmosphere is casual and rustic, and the food is wonderful.  We tried a clam, shrimp, and seafood chowder, blackened scallops and shrimp, blackened ahi tuna, hush puppies and sweet potato fries.  All of the food was fabulous.  However, we’d heard that the Key Lime Pie was as good as the pies down in FL.  We were intrigued.  The filling was similar to the Key Lime Pie that Louisa makes; the graham cracker crust was thick and buttery, and the just-slightly-whipped cream and lime zest were the perfect touch.  Yes, the pie really is as good as some of the pies down in FL.

We finished the evening with a walk on the beach.  There were quite a few jellyfish washed up the shore, so we didn’t go in the water as much as we usually do.  However, we still found a jellyfish-free spot to play in the waves.

Our new dining room.

Living room and balcony door.

Washers and dryers make laundry easy.

Well, we’ve been in SC for almost two months now, and officially moved out of our apartment in VA for over a month. We are definitely enjoying it down here, and appreciate the living space in our new place. Here are a few pictures.

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron

Swallow-Tailed Kite

These Osprey were fighting over a fresh catch.

King Fisher

In addition to these birds, we also saw various Herons and Egrets, along with a few Mississippi Kites.

This Mississippi Kite was hanging out outside our apartment this morning.

Another view of the kite right after landing on the tree.

Between Little Blue Herons and Kites, it was a pretty great morning for bird sightings right outside our apartment.  We think that we saw a Swallowed-Tail Kite as well, but didn’t get a definite ID on that one.

These outfits got us a free meal at Chick-Fil-A!

Today started out as a normal Friday.  Then lunch time came, and we headed over to Chick-fil-A for a quick date.  However, it was not just another Friday at Chick-fil-A… today was Cow Appreciation Day.  So, we dressed up like brown cows with white spots.  One random guy took a picture of us – he said he wanted to post it on Facebook.  A few Chik-fil-A photographers were also wandering around, and they asked to take our picture as well.  The employees also got a kick out of our outfits.  We had a lot of fun, and are planning on doing it again next year.

The blueberries were plentiful.

On the evening of July 6 we ventured down to Champney’s Farm to pick our own blueberries.  We’ve never picked our own fruit before, and thought it could be a fun (and interesting) experience.  We arrived, did not run over the beagle who was eagerly sniffing moving car tires, payed our $8 and were given two gallon pails.  One was lined with a plastic bag, and was for holding all the blueberries.  The other pail was to allow us to each pick our own blueberries, and then combine the bounty.  The woman who gave us the pails also gave Louisa a belt so she could stick the pale on it to simplify picking.  We had a lot of fun picking berries, and are now waiting for a blueberry crisp to finish cooking!

Considering how much I use the HDMI port (none), I’m kind of surprised that HTC didn’t provide an option to disable the port or use a cable detection algorithm to speed up graphics when HDMI output isn’t needed.

As an upside to the story, a few developers over at the XDA Developers Evo Forums have been working on a fix for this issue.

Source Story: Android Guys

Green lizards are plentiful in South Carolina.

Happy Independence Day!  On July 3rd we cleaned out our old apartment, so we are now officially moved to SC!  This also means we have driven much, much too much in the past 2 weekends.

Hanging out at Caw Caw Interpretive Park

Due to all the driving, July 4th was a bit of a rest day.  We also checked out Caw Caw Nature Preserve, and took a walk through the woods and along the rice marsh trail.  We got to walk through a swamp, and Tony laughed as I repeatedly freaked out over all the spiders who were sitting, with their babies, in webs along the trail.  Once we cleared the spider section, we were out in the open – which meant we got lots of sun, but no spiders (yay!).  We saw an osprey nesting (we think the same osprey also flew over our apartment complex).  The bird was quite vocal, maybe it didn’t like us being around its nest?  We also heard (but didn’t see) a gator crash through the brush about 10 yards from us.

Sunset before the fireworks.

We then enjoyed a dinner of shrimp scampi, black pepper pasta, cheesy broccoli and key lime pie before venturing out to Sullivan’s Island to got for a walk on the beach and watch some fireworks.  We were fortunate to be able to see a bit of the Sullivan’s Island fireworks, both downtown Charleston’s and North Charleston’s celebrations, various private fireworks, as well as the Patriot’s Point celebration.  What we did not anticipate was a 2 hour traffic jam to get home, as well as the sheer number of sand flees (think – many, many sand flees) that would all decide to make use their late night snack.  Next time, bug spray is a must!

Louisa, after a large wave hit.

July 5th was another beautiful (albeit itchy!) day.  We decided to explore Edisto Beach State Park.  The drive down to the coast was pretty, and not too crowded.  We were able to spend a few hours walking the beach, watching the waves and seeing groups of pelicans fly overhead.  They would occasionally hit an air pocket and be held up in a mid-air traffic jam, providing an abrupt halt to the train of birds flying by.

Sullivans Island at sunset.

After Edisto Beach, we went to Pearlz for an early dinner.  They have a great happy hour (4-7pm weekdays) and wonderful fresh fish.  After dinner we went back to Sullivan’s Island for more time playing in the water,  watching the sun set behind us and the sky and water change color.  We also spotted a few sand crabs popping up and digging back into the sand, a very sandy colored (larger) crab, as well as several cargo ships making their way out to the open water.

Until our next post, we’ll be busy enjoying peaches and watermelon from Georgia!

We walked by a few historic buildings on the way to Fast and French.

About a month and a half ago we traveled down to Charleston, SC, to do a bit of exploration and find an apartment.  Well, we found a great place and are in the process of getting settled in there.  On the trip we also had a chance to do a bit of exploration in the historic section of downtown Charleston, and get dinner at Fast and French.  Tony enjoyed a seafood dish and some iced Earl Grey tea, and Louisa tried the nightly special – chicken cooked with a variety of peppers, served over rice, with a side salad and a glass of house wine. 

The pelicans were enjoying the beach too.

The next day we headed down to Folly Beach.  We managed to get out early enough to beat the crowds, and enjoyed our time walking along the beach, watching the ocean and pelicans skimming along the water. Overall, we had an enjoyable weekend trip to Charleston, and are excited to explore our new state.