The photos below are what we saw.
Our
first stop was the lighthouse on Hunting Island.
Interestingly, we dismounted from the truck and headed toward the
beach but could not see the lighthouse structure. It was
there, of course, but hidden behind the foliage. The beach
area was nice, but we did not go in the water.
The
foliage on the beach was a mix of Palmettos, regular palms and
pine trees.
Any
area that could be even remotely called a "dune" was fenced off to
prevent foot traffic.
Since
we could not see the lighthouse, we assumed it was some distance
away and got back in Thor and drove on. "Some distance"
turned out to be about 200 yards, so we parked again and got out
to see what was there. The structure was "classic east coast
lighthouse" in every way.
Unlike
some of the lighthouse structures we have seen, this one had an
iron skin on the outside. Note the bolts at the bottom of
the skin holding it to the concrete slab.
You
could, if you were willing to pay, walk to the top to see the
view. I was not willing to pay their toll, so we saw the
structure from the outside. Entry to the park was not free
however. It seems that you pay and then you pay.
The
sign says it all.
We
walked down to a different section of the beach and were
pleasantly surprised to see some locals that were not obese.
Given our recent experiences, this was a rare event indeed.
And while these individuals would be deemed unnoteworthy by our
standards, it was a refreshing change from the local norms.
Her
squint proves that the white sand beach had plenty of glare.
The
glare was bright enough that you could not stand the light for
long without reaching for the sunglasses.
I
have no idea where these folks are from; we did not speak to
them. Interestingly, there were homes on the beach in the
area south of Hunting Island State Park. Just to the south,
there was another bridge that takes you to a gated island.
All the homes on that island are private and they are right on the
beach. This would be an interesting fantasy right up to the
time of the first hurricane; then fantasy turns to
nightmare. All coastal areas here have "hurricane evacuation
route" signs. But, the geography is such that to get out of
harm's way may require a drive of hundreds of miles to reach land
that is sufficiently above sea level to be immune to storm
surge. The locals refer to the area as "the low country"
because of the near-sea-level elevation.
We
stopped for lunch at a bar near Hunting Island. During
lunch, our waiter noticed our truck and told us that there was a
"similar vehicle" near another restaurant in the Beaufort
area. So, armed with that knowledge, we set out to find the
truck. We did find the vehicle, but never located the owner;
he may have worked in the marina, but was not associated with the
restaurant. This truck is a "Hanomag" and appears to be
German.
The
item on the front bumper is a spare spring stack. But,
compared to Thor, this was a very, very wimpy spring stack.
Whoa!
Imagine our surprise to find that this fellow has a Northwest
MogFest sticker on his truck. And the date indicates 2006
and Kathleen attended that 'fest. So, it is likely that she
saw the truck there.
Ever
wonder where the large tire carcasses you see on the freeway come
from? The answer is large trucks like the one above.
In my mind, this fellow was highly irresponsible. We had to
try hard to catch up with him to signal him that one of his
trailer tires was bad. Using hand signs, he signaled that he
knew and just continued on the surface street and onto I-95.
The tire was literally smoking. Indeed, it was the smell of
burning rubber that drew our attention to the situation in the
first place. The driver was just too lazy (or schedule
driven) to address the problem. So, this story ends with the
tire self-destructing at-speed on the freeway and spraying tire
debris on the road and into the windshields of other cars.
Where are the cops when you need them?
More
on-the-road follies. Have you ever noticed the large number
of derelict mattresses on the side of roads? Ever wonder
why? The reason is because folks transport mattresses w/o
sufficient tie-downs and the force of the wind rips the mattress
off the roof. In the case above, there are minimal tie-downs
and these folks are using the "arm strong" method instead.
We
headed through Charleston, SC and then over the river to Mt.
Pleasant for a supply stop. En route we got a nice view of
the high-tech bridge that spans the river.
This
is a very graceful structure and has to be high enough to allow
passage of large cargo ships.
From
the elevated roadbed of the bridge, we could see the docks of
Charleston. There was a large ro-ro (roll on, roll off) car
carrier there delivering cars from overseas. Note the
parking area at the far right of the photo.
The
structural elements of the bridge produced interesting patterns.
From
the bridge, we could see the aircraft carrier museum on the Mt.
Pleasant side of the River. We visited this are on our last
trip to Charleston a month prior to our departure on this
trip. See this link if
interested
We
traveled north along the water and crossed another significant
river at Georgetown. From the bridge, we could see some of
the local infrastructure associated with the International Paper
mill in town.
The
far building part of the paper mill plant.
On
the other side of Georgetown, we got a view of the local marina.
After passing
Georgetown, we continued north along the beach. We were
lucky enough to get one of the last campsites at Huntington Beach
State Park. The camp was nice; right next to the beach but
far enough away to block the noise of the surf.
Next morning, we
headed north through the Myrtle Beach area and then north-west to
visit our friends in Chapel Hill. Our plan was to stay in
Chapel Hill for several days.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2012, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.