Nomad Feet: Hilton Head Vacation- June 2016, The Final Shots

As everyone can guess, I made it a habit all that week to get to the resort's beach house to watch the sunrise. This picture was taken Thursday with me walking farther out into the surf. Funny thing, about four pictures later when the water was up to my knees I stepped on some unlucky creature. Not exactly sure what kind of animal I stepped on since but given the smooth texture of its skin I can say with some certainty it wasn't a sand shark. By mutual agreement, we went our different ways after it wiggled to show its displeasure and I pulled my foot up.  

This is Disney's Hilton Head beach house which is about a mile away from the main resort. You can't walk to it but there is a bike path complete with an underpass that lets riders safely avoid the busy main highway. The beach house has its own pool along with a bar and small diner that serves lunches.   

My wife and I did the beach on Thursday going all out and renting an umbrella and two beach chairs. It was pretty expensive but since I didn't bring our own chairs or sun shelter tent we had no real choice. The people in the picture were our "neighbors", the guy is a retired judge from Pennsylvania and his wife is a doctor who works at a clinic in Philly. Nice people but the judge talked a little too much, my wife and I were trying to read but once he found out my lovely spouse is an attorney he wanted to talk shop with her.    

The fact that I didn't bring our own chairs or sun shelter tent didn't sit well with my wife. The biggest reason I didn't bring them was because the chairs are junk needing to be replaced and the sun shelter tent is far too small from two people to sit under. The orange and grey one in this picture would have been perfect for my wife and I. Okay, I also be honest and say I took this photo in a blatantly sexist attempt to try and get a picture of the knockout blonde wearing a thong bikini. Unfortunately, she walked out of the frame about a half second before I pushed the button. 

Friday we did the Coastal Discovery Museum located at the old Honey Horn plantation. Since the tour was arranged through the Disney resort it was free for us but there are more than enough activities to justify the price of admission.

It had a huge amount of information on the coastal environment and history of Hilton Head Island.

This is a diorama of an early 20th century oyster harvesting process. During this period South Carolina oystermen harvested about three million bushels of the delicious bivalves each year. Of, course as coastal development increased pollution has played hell with those numbers. In fact, there were several times runoff so polluted the oyster beds in Georgetown county all harvesting had to be stopped for a while.    

The museum had a small butterfly garden, always a favorite for my wife and daughter. Since I'm secure in my manhood I'll go ahead and admit I like the creatures myself. 

Took a good deal of effort to get this picture. Little buggers wouldn't stay in one place for more than a second or two.

If you look carefully you'll see a trio of fiddler crabs doing what I am sure is important crustacean stuff. If you somehow get the idea that their tiny muddy politics of domination and desire to attract mates isn't far removed from the ridiculous behavior of us humans don't worry, it's a sign of sanity.   

The museum even had its own bee hive. No, I didn't feel the need to get a closer shot of those industrious gals. 

Unfortunately, all vacations have to end eventually forcing us to return home Saturday and retrieve Sparky the Wonder Dog and his sidekick, Snickers the Overactive Canine from the kennel.