On Saturday, we planned for a day trip to the beach. Initially, we were going to meet some friends at their house on St. Helena Island. But instead, we wound up going to Hunting Island. Neither me or David had ever been. The drive was only about 2 1/2 hours from the house. My friend thankfully told us about the Old Sheldon Church Ruins, which we stopped to check out on the way. But after that, we continued on to Hunting Island.
Hunting Island State Park
One of my co-workers had mentioned Hunting Island as a great place for a day trip. Since neither of us had been, we weren’t quite sure what to expect. Hunting Island is a state park, and it’s an absolutely beautiful place. The drive in winds through trees and you wouldn’t necessarily think you were heading toward a beach. We got there around 10:15 a.m. on Saturday morning. At that point, it wasn’t that busy at all. We parked and found a little spot to put our stuff down and immediately headed toward the water.
The beach is my happy place. And Hunting Island was just what my heart needed this weekend. The waves were perfect– not too strong, but enough to be able to float and enjoy that wonderful rocking motion. We spent some time in the water, with a few breaks. Thankfully, we’d packed stuff to make sandwiches, so we didn’t have to leave to find lunch. We made our sandwiches and then went straight back to enjoying the water.
Beach Day
It was a perfect beach day. The weather was great– not too hot, but not cool either. And the water was initially a little cold, but once you got in, it was perfect. I could’ve stayed WAY longer than we did. It has definitely been added to our “must visit again” list. It was perfect for a day trip. Even though it’s 2 1/2 hours, the drive wasn’t bad at all. If we hadn’t gotten stuck by the train in Yemassee or the bridge in Beaufort, it wouldn’t have taken us quite as long to get there.
Our friends were going to come to meet us, but unfortunately, by the time they headed over, the park was full. She said the game warden was out at the road and not letting anyone else in the park. I’m glad we got there when we did. And we know for future reference to get there early! In fact, we talked about leaving our house even earlier next time so we can get there early and stay longer!
Alligators!
On our way out, we went by the visitor’s center. I told David and Alexis that the pamphlet said you might be able to see alligators. Sure enough, as soon as we pulled in, there was an alligator halfway on the asphalt. David actually thought it was a statue at first until he saw it move! We got out to take a look. And we thought he was stuck in the fence. Upon further inspection, we realized another alligator had that one by the tail. It looked like the gator was already injured and he was missing a front foot. I walked around him to get a better look and he hissed at me! I thought, “If that gator lets go of him… we’re all in trouble!” I was worried about the poor gator because he was stuck laying on the hot asphalt.
We told the lady at the visitor’s center, and she notified the park ranger. They said they let nature take its course in those situations and don’t intervene. If a gator is in the roadway, they’ll come out to move it though. When we came out, a car stopped to tell us the gator was in the middle of the road into the parking lot. From the looks of it, the injured gator may have gotten away and the other tried to chase him, because the one on the asphalt there had all 4 feet! I was nervous walking back to the truck because he was kind of close. And once we were in the truck, he stood up and turned around… then walked right back to the fence, crawled through and went back down to the pond.
It was quite an interesting experience. While I wanted to see the gators, I never expected to see them trying to hurt each other! Hopefully the injured one got away though!
Another Day Trip
Hunting Island is definitely going to be a place we will return to soon! One good thing about it… we know there’s a limit to how many people will be out there! Also, there aren’t any buildings/hotels/houses. The view from the ocean is some palm trees with pine trees and more behind it. It’s so peaceful out there, and wasn’t too crowded even towards the end of the day. We didn’t get a chance to check it out on this trip, but they do have a lighthouse out there you can tour. That will be something we have to check out on our next trip… which I hope will be sooner rather than later!
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