Marco Paulo: A Week at the Beach... in October

A few weeks ago we spent a nice six days at the beach. One of my favorite spots in all of SC is a beach side town that some friends introduced us to a few years ago. It's called Folly Beach and it's only a few miles from historic Charleston.

We rented a house this time. We weren't right on the water but we could certainly hear it. We were just across the street and a short walk to one of the many public beach access points. We went with the LeBlanc/Vachon clan and definitely had a great time.

On the first few days we got rain and the leftovers of a hurricane, but that just meant big waves. I took the boats, of course, and did a little surfing. The new boat was pretty good in the big water and I even surfed my first tube. For those of you who don't know, that's the tube of air that gets formed when a wave breaks on itself. It was cool to be inside a pretty big wave if just for a few seconds.

The week got better as it went on with warmer temperatures and more sun. The rain didn't stop us though and we were among a small number of people on the beach on Monday and Tuesday despite the wind, some rain, and relatively cool temperatures.

On Wednesday (or maybe it was Tuesday?) we headed into town as the weather cleared and did something I had wanted to do for a long time. The displays at Patriots Point have been on my list for a while and I finally had someone who wanted to go with me. Yohann, Jean-Christophe, Isabelle, and I toured the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown and saw everything from the kitchen to the post office. In between there was sick bay, the brig, the machinist's shop, the flight deck, the control tower, the bridge, and the dentist's office. The best for me was the aircraft display on the main flight deck. I saw a F-4 Phantom, an F-14 Tomcat, an A-6 Intruder and all sorts of other cool aircraft. (Meanwhile, the girls went shopping and explored Charleston.)

Here is the view of Cooper River Bridge, also called the Arthur Ravenel Bridge, from the lower deck of the Yorktown.

The kids playing under the A-6.

In front of the submarine USS Glamagore. That was a tight fit for me, walking through its passageways.

Isabelle in front of the Yorktown.

The beach time was excellent and much appreciated by all. I really do miss the beach. There were lots of sand castles and sculptures. Some had long walks and hunted for seashells. We all swam and played in the waves too.

The construction was serious at times.

Here is the diva herself on the beach taking a break from boogie boarding.

Mummy and the girl smiling for the camera.

The last few days we put lots of time in the beach. We did get out for a short bicycle ride but some technical difficulties cut that short. We did a few geocaches too and discovered a neat little park called Sunrise Park with a great view of the the harbour and Charleston. We watched some crab fisherman as they used poles and lines to catch crab. Some were using a throw net to catch shrimp for bait. When we got back to the house I also introduced Yohann to kayak surfing.

The rental was very nice and it was sad to leave. It was decorated the way I think i would decorate a beach house. It also had lots of space but was cozy too. Maybe we'll get to go back someday.

On the trip home we stopped at Congaree National Park near Columbia. It was neat to see some of the only old growth forest left on the east coast right in the middle of the state. The trails were neat and very kid friendly. We did one that was very easy and had a lower and upper boardwalk. There were lots of cypress trees and loblolly pines. I never knew that there was so much to the midland swamps in South Carolina. We all learned lots about the swamp and how it works, including the knees you see here at the bottom of the tree. No one is really sure what they do but you can look here for more explanation on the cypress trees and their knees.