Murrells Inlet, SC

Fri., Oct. 29, 2021 thru Tues., Nov. 2, 2021

We shed a few tears on Friday morning saying goodbye to Stacie, Johnny, & Niky. We will miss these three! They are a blessing in our lives. Big thanks to Stacie and Johnny for showing us once again why their slice of heaven is so special near the Emerald Isle coast in NC. Added bonus… we got our doggy fix with Niky.

We traveled 166 miles south mostly on US-17 to arrive at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, SC (near Myrtle Beach). We’ve stayed here before and it’s fabulous! I had a chance to walk part of their pristine white sand beach late in the afternoon. Delightful! 

Also today we were able to book our Covid booster shots for when we arrive in Florida in about a week’s time. We’re a few years too young to receive, them but I’m not feeling guilty since there is a great deal of vaccine available. Plus we have to protect ourselves since we’ll be traveling in areas where there are plenty of the unvaccinated. 

Saturday Gary and I biked 5+ miles around the state park. We also checked out “Alligator Alley” in the park and saw a few little gators. We walked part of the beautiful Grand Strand beach in the state park, visited their new Nature Center, and walked the marsh boardwalk. Such a beautiful state park. You could stay here for a week and never leave. 

Huntington Beach State Park also encompasses Atalaya (meaning watchtower in Spanish), the National Historic Landmark winter home of Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington. Construction began in 1931. It was built to resemble the Moorish architecture of the Spanish Mediterranean Coast. We toured their winter home on a previous visit. The rooms are now empty but the architectural details remain. Mr. Huntington was a philanthropist and Anna was a renowned sculptor. She continued to create large wildlife and figurative sculptures at Atalaya, and used live animals (such as bears, horses, and swans) as her models. There were remnants of cages still on the property. 

Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington not only founded Huntington Beach State Park but also founded Brookgreen Gardens which is located across the street from the state park. We visited on Sunday, Oct. 31st. It has the largest collection of American figurative sculpture in the country. All set against a backdrop of beautiful gardens and enormous live oak trees dripping in Spanish moss. As previously mentioned, Anna was a renowned sculptor. Her work is showcased in the gardens as well as the work of other sculptors. The gardens cover over 9,000 acres and includes a low country zoo. We’ve had the pleasure of visiting several times and always find something new. Since we hadn’t visited the zoo before, we made sure to do that on this visit.

In one of the buildings they were featuring an African American Fiber Art Exhibition entitled Sankofa. It featured 23 artists from around the U.S. who each created a piece of fiber artwork that incorporated Sankofa symbols which were first used by enslaved West Africans who worked as blacksmiths in Charleston and New Orleans. The symbols typically are an ornate heart shape design or a bird turning its head to place an egg on its back. This stems from a proverb “to reach back and get it” or “to use the wisdom of the past to aid one in the present moment.” A heart or bird was woven into every piece of art. Beautiful designs!

Brookgreen Gardens is extremely unique and one of the finest gardens we’ve ever seen. On this visit they had already begun setting up for their Christmas light display.

Once we’d had our fill of the gardens, we returned to our tiny home and later in the day did a bike ride to South Beach and then to catch sunset over the boardwalk at the marsh.

On Monday morning, November 1st, Gary & I walked over the causeway at low tide to get some photos of the birds wading. Fun to watch them. In the afternoon we walked the Nature Trail at the state park. Lovely hike through the native flora/fauna with water views on one side. Then we came back via the beach so I could have toes in the sand. Fun to see the pelicans diving, and the occasional Great Blue Heron or Egret. Gary & I hosted dinner for the six of us that night. It was a beautiful early evening so we sat outside for dinner. I made a creamy chicken stew. Pearl brought over a Rumchata (after dinner drink). That was dessert! After dinner we finished off the evening by moving inside to play Uno. 

I enjoyed the Nature Trail so much that on Tuesday (11/2) Cheryl & I did it again. We enjoyed good conversation and once again walked back via the beach to get toes in the sand. Then had to check to be sure we hadn’t walked past the entrance to the campground from the beach. Oy. We had not. We walk, we talk, and we forget to check directions. Happens to us all the time! Later in the afternoon before the sun went down, I did another bike ride around the campground. Gary had spent time packing up in preparation for tomorrow’s departure so decided to pass on the bike ride. 

Tomorrow we move on from here to Skidaway Island State Park outside of Savannah, GA.