Tag Archives: shells

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Do you think the other trees are jealous?

March 12, 2024 Rivergirl 15 Comments

When you’re in Edisto Beach, South Carolina one image looms large.

It’s the one lone tree that stands in the surf at Boneyard Beach in the Botany Bay preserve.

Admittedly it’s a fabulous tree.

Silhouetted against the sky…

All by it’s lonesome surrounded by plouffe mud.

It’s certainly the most photographed tree there.

But it does make me wonder if the other trees feel left out.

No one prints postcards of them…

And some of them are fabulous too.

Such a strange and amazing place.

I never would have thought dead trees could be so appealing before visiting here.

But they were.

And as much as I would have loved to spend the entire day here, our last few hours in South Carolina were running out and we had to move on.

Past some live trees that were decorated with shells.

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Shelling amidst the bones.

March 11, 2024 Rivergirl 13 Comments

Walking the relatively treeless section of Boneyard Beach, it was all about the shells.

All the beautiful shells it was illegal to remove.

So of course most of them were perfect.

It was hard not to slip a few into my pocket.

There was no one around and they were so pretty.

But I chose to do the right thing and did what others do.

Found a perch and left my favorite (look at those colors!) for future beach walkers to enjoy.

And then it was back to the trees.

Those marvelously twisted…

Skeletal trees.

Needless to say it was against the law to remove the driftwood as well.

A driftwood selfie was the best I could do.

❤️

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Bones, burls, swirls and above all… wood.

March 10, 2024 Rivergirl 15 Comments

Yes, it’s another photo filled post of Boneyard Beach at Botany Bay preserve.

I’d say I can’t help myself, but I could. I just don’t want to.

We loved this place and I want you to love it too.

It was truly one the weirdest natural wonders we’ve ever explored.

The husband insisted I take this next picture.

Clearly size is important to men.

Some of the wood was gnarly, some dried out and some twisted.

But this piece was marvelously swirled.

As we walked farther down the beach the trees were really piled up.

Each weirder than the last.

As we rounded a bend we found areas where shells had been strategically placed.

It’s illegal to collect and remove things from this beach so people get creative.

It’s a wonderful way to conserve the beauty but this treeless stretch had some amazing shells that were hard to leave behind.

My husband, not caring about shells… found something else photo worthy.

I can’t imagine why.

🤣

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Pre storm morning beach walk… part two.

February 19, 2024 Rivergirl 21 Comments

You could feel the drop in barometric pressure, the storm was moving in.

But we walked.

With me lamenting the fact that we flew instead of drove to SC because there were some shells worthy of collecting.

So many shells…

And the starfish!

Man, they were everywhere.

And much larger than what we have in Maine.

The farther we walked from the resort, the darker it got.

Naturally my husband found the only other person on the entire beach and started a conversation as it began to rain.

She was collecting dead starfish.

But as much as I love beach strolling, I don’t love doing it in a downpour so we ran back to the condo.

Not soon enough judging by my hair.

🥴

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Cape Cod Day 3…. Plymouth harbor, The Rock and finally, some food.

January 1, 2020 Rivergirl 25 Comments

So the lovely path through the park brought us to downtown Plymouth and the harbor.

It’s a pretty spot.

And at low tide you get a really good view of the rock retaining wall.

There were more scallop shells…

And piers..

And a statue of the Governor who spelled Plymouth with the ‘i’ that drove me crazy the entire time we were touring the Plantation.

Seriously… it was painful.

But then…

In the distance…

In the middle of what appeared to be a mausoleum…

Surrounded by pillars and wrought iron gates….

And guarded by a Ranger was…

Are you ready for what everyone who visits Plymouth Massachusetts has to see?

Brace yourself.

Here it comes….

The one, the only….

Plymouth Rock!

Yup.

That’s it.

I can’t say I really even knew what I was expecting…. but I’m pretty sure it was more than this.

To be honest, it was a rather bizarre experience. You know you have to find it, you know you have to see it, you know you have to photograph it (though I resisted the selfies some people took) …. but when you finally sidle up to the railing and look down?

Okay, it’s a rock.

And we all know I have a soft spot for rocks, but…

But alas, that’s all there was.

The Ranger told us they had to protect what was left because for years people would come and chip and chisel pieces from it for keepsakes. My first thought was, you should have started sooner.

So there you have it.

We came.

We saw.

We photographed the most famous rock in America.

YOURE-WELCOME

Plymouth, Massachusetts.

They have a park…. for a rock.

Ya gotta love this country!

And now… for my oh, ~~not~~ so patient food photo people.

Liquid refreshment at the East Bay Grille in Plymouth.

A wonderful restaurant with a view, potent cocktails and seriously good food.

I started with Risotto Balls.

And as balls go? They were top notch.

After a pomegranate martini, I went for the Autumn Punch. It sounds sweet, but the tart cranberry and acidic orange juice cut it perfectly.

The husband went with some kind of saucy fish…. blame the martini, but I don’t remember which…. brown rice and grilled butternut squash.

While I…

Can you guess?

Cognac cream sauce?

Ooh la la!

And yes, of course we had dessert.

New York style cheesecake for the hubs.

And a mouthwatering mountain of Tiramisu for yours truly.

It’s a shame we were only in Plymouth for one day because I could easily have eaten there every night.

Vacation Day 3 officially over.

Only 5 more to go!

No worries, at this rate it will only take a few more weeks worth of posts.

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Cape Cod Day 3… Plimoth Plantation grist mill and some (literally) corny jokes.

December 30, 2019 Rivergirl 23 Comments

The tickets we purchased at the Plantation were actually in 3 parts. The site itself, a grist mill off site and a replica of the Mayflower down at the harbor. Three different locations for one price, how could we lose?

Apparently very easily as it turns out….because after we bought them, we found out the replica Mayflower wasn’t even in the state, but in Mystic, Connecticut undergoing an overhaul for the 400th year anniversary they’ll be celebrating next year. Thanks for that. It would have been nice knowing before I paid to tour it.

And the grist mill?

While attractive…

Turned out not to be so historic after all.

Yes, the Pilgrims eventually built a mill in 1636 after 10 years of grinding corn by hand. And yes, it was somewhere on Town Brook in Plymouth, though no one knows exactly where.

The mill pictured here was actually built in 1970 with many of it’s parts coming from a salvaged mill near Philly. How’s that for historical accuracy?

But we paid our money so here it is… upstairs, big stones.

And downstairs, big wheel. I won’t bore you with the more technical details on the inner workings.

But I will share the picture and video of this poor girl sifting cornmeal. The mere thought of having to do that all day makes me appreciate the little blue Jiffy box I use to make muffins soooo much more.