Cypress Gardens Canoe Ride

Click on the picture to enlarge it and you will feel like you are there with me!

When you go to Cypress Garden you HAVE to take the canoe ride.  It is included in the price of admission which is a bargain in itself and it is well, very exciting to canoe around the alligators!  Yes, you might see them as they really do live there but they stay away from you.  Just no swimming, OK?

Turtle in the Lily Pond

I am so embarrased that I haven't posted a picture in so long but to tell the truth, I haven't taken a picture in that long.  We were up in the Blue Ridge Mountains last week and I have posted some of those pictures on my other blog.  So, here we have a picture from last spring at Cypress Gardens.  Can you see the turtle?  If you can't find him, enlarge the picture and you will!  He was enjoying life!

Storm Damage

Our first Tropical Storm of the 2011 Hurricane season has arrived.  TS Bret is down in the Caribbean right now.  This is a picture of what storms do to our trees.  It just breaks my heart.

Atlantic Coastline

I am still not used to the difference in the beaches here as compared to the West Coast and the Pacific.  I love the grasses that grow and the soft rolling waves.  But I do miss the thundering crash of the surf on the Pacific.

Nature Trail at Pinckney Historic Site

 The nature trail at Charles Pinckney is short but delightful!

Charles Pinckney National Historic Site

Charles Pinckney National Historic Site is just a few minutes from my home but I had never been there until this past weekend.  I went early on a Sunday morning when no one else was around.  There is no admission fee and dogs on leashes are allowed.  It is a delightful place full of history and the south.  I don't know which I enjoyed more, the history or the nature walk.  It was all so beautiful!  I will go back!

Charles Pinckney was a principal author and a signer of the United States Constitution. This remnant of his coastal plantation is preserved to tell the story of a "forgotten founder," his life of public service, the lives of enslaved African Americans on South Carolina Lowcountry plantations and their influences on Charles Pinckney.

Door and Lantern

Arthur Ravenel Bridge

Here is a picture of the Ravenel Bridge from on the bridge! I love this bridge and think it is one of the most beautiful ever designed.

Marsh

Those of you who have been following me for a while will know that the marshes are my favorite, my weakness, my love.  When I lived on the west coast it was the mountains.  Here in the Lowcountry, the marshes and the tidal creeks own my heart.

Ravenel Bridge

Pitt Street Bridge

I had never been to the Pitt Street Bridge Park in Mount Pleasant and found a real gem right in my backyard.  I have added a picture of the history plaque at the end here but Pitt Street Bridge used to cross over to Sullivan's Island.  A new bridge has been built and the Pitt Street bridge has crumbled.  What is left has been converted to a small park on the water way.  The views are fantastic and include the Ravenel Bridge that connects Mount Pleasant and Charleston, Fort Sumter, Sullivan's Island and all the glorious marsh that I love so much.

I will add more pictures as the week progresses.

The Forest

The south is not all beaches and swamps.  We have so, so many forests and you can't even walk through them without something to clear your path.  Can you imagine what it took for the first settlers to clear the land and plant crops?