An Interesting (?) Day At Folly Beach

Life Is A Beach

7:09

7:10

7:12

7:13

7:15

It's 7:30 and I have been up for an hour.  I just got back from Bert's Grocery, free coffee, and taking photographs of the sunrise.  This is the first morning where there have been clouds in the sky,  off in the eastern horizon, so I had to wait an extra 10 minutes for the sun to rise above the clouds.  It's a chilly, windy morning of 55º on the beach, fewer early risers than the previous couple of days. Today looks to be partly cloudy, with a high near 70º, not bad considered snow is forecast for Chautauqua Lake.

Shore Birds Welcome The Sun Rise

Bert's Grocery, For My Morning Coffee Fix

Yesterday did not have a great start to it and it only got worse.  I got up a little late, but made it down to the beach to take photographs of the sunrise.  I came home and Evie was up too so we relaxed with coffee and I went into charge my camera and phone and a few minutes later, the Wifi went off.  We were not sure of the cause, called the owner, who suggested a few things but I decided to walk five minutes down the block to the Laundromat which has free Wifi so I could finish my blog, which I did.  When I got home, we figured out that when I charged my camera, I pulled out the plug to the modem, thinking it was to a lamp. Idiot.  So we plugged it in and had Wifi.

Good Samaritan Folly Beach Residents - Hill, Gregory and George

Our plans were to leave late for Morris Island, on the north end of Folly Beach, to walk the sand dunes and see the Lighthouse out in the middle of the bay.  So we left around 11:00, low tide not being until 12:30 so it was a good time.  As we headed down the street, however, I heard a bump and then a bump bump.  I quickly pulled over, stopped the car, looked at the front wheel, and a three pronged trowel was sticking out of my front tire, the tines deeply embeded in the rubber.  It must have been sitting in the middle of the street because it was my left front tire.  Anyways, we could not have had it happen at a better place.  Evie went up to the house where we were stuck, to tell them we might have to call AAA and apologize for being on their property but the owner, his son, and friend came out, pried the trowel out of my tire with a shovel, then proceeded to change the tire for us, even telling us who the Firestone Tire Dealer was in Folly Beach, and where it was.  They were amazingly helpful and nice, even wanted us to come in for a coffee when it was over.  Great people here at Folly Beach as we have said everyday in our blog.  The owners grandfather bought the house they live in for 1500 bucks many years ago, and he remembers, when he was a boy, swimming out to the Lighthouse with friends.

The Desolate Empty Quarter Of Folly  Beach, Lighthouse Point

So, we called the dealer, made sure they had a new tire and made an appointment for Wednesday at 4:00 to get it done.  We then headed off finally to Morris Island, off the east end of Folly Beach, parked out car, and walked down a sand road to the beach, the outlet which leads to the lagoons and across the bay to Charleston.  If you want an isolated beach, this was it.  Huge sand dunes on one side, a vast low tide beach on the other, with occasional outcroppings of what might have been buildings, docks, detritus left over from previous time periods.  Sadly, the wind was strong, making it uncomfortable to walk for too long.  So we ended up following the bay out about a mile and back because it was just not fun. It's too bad because it is a great spot, the Lighthouse out in the middle of the bay, an almost desert like feel to the landscape except for the bay on the other side.

Afternoon  Fun At Folly Beach

We were home by 12:15, quickly changed and were down at Folly Beach by 12:45, still windy but bearable.  I lasted an hour before heading to Bert's for another gigantic sub sandwich for lunch.  I brought it home, ate half, read some and took a great power nap.  If you take a power nap of less than 30 minutes, you wake up energized according to the Sleep Council or some silly group like that.  A half hour or more, and you are logy for awhile but your memory improves.  Around 2;45, I walked down and browsed the local Surf Shop, filled with high priced surfer shorts and tee shorts.  I passed and headed down to the beach to join Evie for the last couple of hours.  We read, sunned and took another mile walk before coming back to the cottage around 5:00, the end to an interesting day, sort of.

We were not sure what our evening would bring, as we wanted to do something different, perhaps eat a little later than usual since I did not have lunch until 1:45.  Evie came up with the idea of going to the Folly Hotel and having a beer at their outdoor bar, a great idea.  First, we stopped at one of the many tee shirts shops and actually found a couple of Folly Beach tee shirts we liked, not too obnoxious. When we go to the Folly bar, they had propane heaters at the bar and around the patio because of the wind and chill.

Wild Surf

Surfer Dudes

We both had a beer and watched the surfers try to catch waves, as the wind pushed them down the beach.  When the bartender began to pack up the booze, moving it inside, we decided to walk out on the pier, despite the wind and watch the sun set behind the hotels.  It was cold and windy, everyone in hoodies, except for the guys trying to catch fish.

Our View From Folly Beach Hotel Bar

Dusk

We stayed out only until the sun began to sink and hurried off the pier, looking for a nice warm place. Propitiously, I found one, The Folly Beach Crab Shack, one of the top ten fish restaurants in South Carolina according to Southern Living magazine.  We found two seats at the bar, next to the locals only table (yes, they have a table reserved for locals). We quickly struck up a conversation with a guy next to Evie, Harry, a local since 1969.  He was fun to talk with, recommended what we should order, and was able to tell us about life at Folly Beach over the years.  We had two great meals; I had a whole flounder, deep fried, with red rice and Charleston caviar, corn, black beans and black eyed peas.  Evie had fresh flounder stuffed with crab meat with red potatoes and coleslaw on the side.

It;s Always Beach Time

What a great way to end an otherwise frustrating morning.  We left the restaurant around 8:45, tired enough so we did not even stop to consider a final beer at the Surf Bar.

It was good to get back to our cottage, to get into warm clothes and relax before going to bed, tired from the sun, wind and walks.