1984 East Coast: NC-SC Coast (2/21/1984)

Tuesday, February 21, 1984

We left at 8:00 and Kathy was feeling much better and she drove. After breakfast at McDonald’s, we got back on US 70, then NC SR 24 to continue along the Croatan National Forest. Much of what we saw was residential, mostly trailer homes. We did see a bear (actually a big black dog!), a black swan (actually a silhouette against the sun in an inlet), and flamingos of all sizes (lawn decorations!). A lot of the homes had porch swings! We noted the bunches of tall grass with pale seed heads, like they have in Switzerland, too (Pampas grass). We saw a St Mildred Catholic Church. Who knew there was a St Mildred!

We turned south on SR 172 to visit the Marines (ha!) at Camp Lejeune Marine Base. A sign at the gate said we could only enter with permission. The guard let us in easily enough (we just needed his permission?!), but gave us a huge piece of paper, a one-hour pass, to drive on SR 172 through camp. We were sent off with just a warning to watch for tank crossings! We drove through forests past signs like “field firing” and “impact area.” We noticed birdhouses in the trees at regular intervals along the road. Suddenly we saw a hawk swoop down and grab something out of a ditch! A little later we saw a tank sitting at the side of the road. When we left the camp, we had to give up the pass. We crossed a bridge over an inlet and saw several pelicans perched on pilings. We hopped out to take pictures on this lovely sunny day!

Pelecanus occidentalis/Brown Pelican

Brown Pelicans on a pier

We got back on US 17 South, called the Ocean Highway, although there was no sign of the ocean anywhere! Here the road kill was always possum. We passed through Wilmington, getting a glimpse of the USS North Carolina. There was an old man chewing tobacco driving his pickup truck next to us. We stopped for gas and let the attendant put in a quart of oil. He noted the low coolant level and did not accept it as this car’s normal. He had been in this business for thirty years, and if he was wrong… Poor man!

We entered South Carolina and arrived in Myrtle Beach. Another Sunset Strip with motels and eateries, with an occasional golf course country club, and lots of mini-golf courses, many with jungle themes. One golf course has a gondola cable car to it over a waterway! We passed through the city and went to Myrtle Beach State Park, driving through the woods until we reached the dunes. We walked a bit on the beach, but it was barren and the tide was too high for beachcombing. We snuck up on a woodpecker and tried to peek in at two birds in the bush! There were neat umbrella like evergreens over the picnic tables, probably stunted by the ocean winds.

Stunted Quercus virginiana/Live oak trees

I started driving as we drove past the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base where we saw two jets zooming around. After lunch at Wendy’s, we continued south on US 17. Suddenly Kathy yelled stop, and I did my best. Had to back up to where Kathy saw an opportunity to collect giant pine cones of the Loblolly pine.

Pinus taeda/Loblolly Pines

More than a handful pine cone

We entered the Francis Marion National Forest, which also seemed commercialized. At McClellanville, we turned down a road towards the ocean to Romain National Wildlife Refuge. We stopped at a Ranger’s Station for information. A man was busy in the back, so we just looked at a map. There were no roads into the refuge and no way to walk to Cape Romain. We drove back into McClellanville with a street lined with trees full of Spanish moss, and old houses that could pass for haunted mansions!

Live oaks with Spanish moss line the street

Spooky United Methodist Church

At the water’s edge was a pier with barnacles and shells on the pilings, and a pelican floated by.

We continued down US 17 and saw another sign pointing to Cape Romain, so we turned in. Woods and homes. We saw a hawk, and then identified some towhee birds, by their song (“Would you like, tea?”)! We were noticing billowing clouds of smoke throughout the south, plus all those forest fire lookout towers. Here we saw small fires and bits of flame flickering in the underbrush. The road took us around in a circle back to US 17. We continued to Mt Pleasant. Then turned again towards the ocean to go to Sullivan’s Island. We took SR 517 to the Isle f Palms and looked for a parking spot. We walked over to a nice wide beach and the tide was low! Good timing! We walked toward the pier. We saw pieces of sand dollars and hoped to find whole ones. There were lots of other kinds of shells, and many air holes. Near one the sand seemed to be in the process of being displaced, so I dug in with my toe and was startled to come up against something hard that looked like a neck. It turned out to be a conch shell with the animal still inside.

Kathy with the conch shell

It was a beautiful shell and after only a little discussion, we decided to throw him back in the sea.
The pilings of the pier were covered with shells.

Pier pilings

Sudsy surf

A lady came along and offered us a sand dollar she had found. Wow! Kathy soon found another. We combed the beach further, walking quite a ways. We saw a couple sandpipers. We turned around and saw a lovely sunset behind the pier.

Sunset

Then I found a whole sand dollar! It was dark by the time we got back to the car.

We drove on US 17 through Charleston and looked for a hotel on the other side of the city. We stopped at the Lord Ashley Motel and asked to see a room. When we left to check the room, the clerk asked us to wipe our feet, since we had tracked sand into the office. Sorry! We decided to take Room #67 and paid the $33 plus tax. We went to Pizza Hut for dinner, and brought leftovers back to the motel.

Pizza Hut receipt