Here Come's The Morning Sun

6:57

7:01

7:02

7:03

7:04

7:07

7:11

Well, it's 7:25 and I just returned from the beach, catching another amazing sunrise.  I like the way it just pops up suddenly, from the ocean, and if you are not careful, you miss that initial, mind bending pop.  Where did this brilliant globe come from and tonight, where does it go?  Our ancestors must have marveled at this appearance and disappearance.  I also got two free cups of coffee from Bert's Market though there's a tip jar there...good business.

 Morning Five Mile Walk

Yesterday turned out to be a quality beach day, only an occasional wind marred a perfect day.  Not a cloud in the sky, just blue skies, sun, beach, ocean, and us and at least a thousand others, as it was an attractive day for locals as well as out of towners.  We relaxed in the morning until about 10:00, sipping coffee, writing the blog before we moseyed down to the beach.  It was not too busy yet, so we set down our crummy beach chairs (should have brought our own) and took a good five mile walk down and back the enormously wide beach at low tide.

Sunday Morning

Sunday Afternoon

Lots of others had the same idea, and the beach, miles of it, began to have bathers scattered along its shore, sun bathing, wading, a few swimming or surfing, mostly though, enjoying the sun and the feel of being on a great beach in April.

Resting

After our walk, it was beach time, mostly for Evie, swimming and sun bathing, occasional dipping our feet, reading and relaxing until around 3:30.  I lasted for an hour, then walked to Bert's, bought an enormous Italian sub sandwich, and came home and had it for lunch.  I then read some, took a brief nap, read some more and then went back to the beach around 2:00.  Evie was loving the weather and the beach was busy with families, teenagers, and of course, lots of retired snow birds like us, who seem to hardly move from their chairs the entire day.  We had enough by 3:30 after another half hour walk, started home and could not pass up a Corona at  Chico Feo's, the backyard bar.  We enjoyed our beers, sitting at the bar, watching Folly Beach's only 'grumpy bartender' reluctantly serve customers. We could have tipped him a twenty and he still would not have smiled.

For Our Friends, The Bergens

We then relaxed at home till around 5;30, time to take a shower and wash off all that sand from the day at the beach.  We got dressed up, shorts and a "Cash" tee shirt, and Evie was equally casual.  No airs at Folly Beach, no requirements except for shoes and a tee shirt.  We hoped to sit at Rita's Seaside Cafe bar and, miracle, there were a couple of open seats which we quickly scooped up.  It's a great place, busy, an outdoor patio with live music, and a 'friendly bar tender,' who tends to shake your hand and say thanks when you leave. We of course had a couple of beers and the best meals so far. Evie had shrimp and grits, with a great sauce, and I had the catch of the day, a spicy, grilled grouper filet on grits with asparagus. Both were exactly what we wanted.

Brian and Jacob, A Couple of Cool Guys

And, of course, we struck up a conversation with two great guys,  both work at the Folly Beach hotel and love the area.  We talked with them for at least a half hour, as they told us all about their lives here, the history of Folly Beach (it used to be called Coffin Island because it was where the dead slaves were buried), told us what to see, and were both 'gung ho' on Folly Beach. They said that in the summer, the island might have fifty to seventy thousand visitors a week.  Wow.  They also mentioned the town is trying to keep the old town feel of the place, with few high rises, a beach town vibe. And they mentioned the importance of Hugo, the Hurricane of 1989, which completed devastated much of the town, the pier, but the rebuilding revitalized the town and area.  When they left, they invited us to go to the Surf Bar, the bar I loved from the previous evening.  We said we might go later but we wanted to walk the beach at dusk.

Dusk On Folly Beach

There were only a couple of families on the beach when we walked at twilight, the western sky hardly lit, people mere silhouettes on the beach.  We completed our circle, of sunrise and sunset, took more photos, stopped in the lobby of the hotel and looked at some of the old pictures of what Folly Beach used to look like in the 1930's and 1940's when it was a venue for big bands.  It reminded us both of us of Chautauqua in that era, with the lake surrounded by hotels, the Casino a venue for Big Bands.

Last Stop

We ended the night at the Surf Bar and bought Jacob and Brian a round.  We stayed for one beer and went back to our cottage, as both of us were really tired from the sun, wind, walking, and four beers.  Yikes.  We are used to two beer days.  We went to bed round 10:00, too tired to watch any TV but it was a fun day at Folly Beach and we made two new friends.