An Interesting Day in Charleston

I'm taking a break from the Bryson City series for a guest post written by a local author and the post below on Charleston, which is of a more personal nature. This past weekend, we traveled to the lowcountry for a wedding, and while there, we spent a few hours in the historic district. Just to visit, of course, but I also needed a few photos for a novella I'm writing.

It turned into one of the most interesting visits we've had in terms of people. In that short amount of time, we saw two bridal parties posing for photos, the Google Map car, a guy wearing a kilt, and we were asked to take photos of a trio that turned out to be a private guided tour for a cancer survivor. For once, the goings on in Charleston caught my attention more than the history and scenery did, which says a lot. So of course, I had to take pictures.

Bride #1 We spotted this group at a church on Meeting St, but while we were meandering around the Battery, they showed up in this great bus for more photos.

Also at the Battery, a guy in a kilt. This was shortly after the "No" vote for Scottish independence, so I jokingly suggested perhaps the lad was hoping to borrow a cannon from the folks who did manage to break from the crown.

As we were heading toward the only parking spot we found, we spotted the Google Map car. This is the second time we've crossed paths with it while in SC. The driver later showed up at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet. I maintain he uses mapping as an excuse to vacation in South Carolina.

I went to the Battery because I needed photos of the gazebo in White Point Gardens for my novella. In the story, a scene takes place there on a rainy, November morning. I'll have to make due with photos taken on a cloudy September afternoon.

I think I can live with that. Before we left, we took a stroll along the Promenade, where I managed to get a photo of one of the most photographed homes along the Battery with a horse and carriage out front. 

If only that car hadn't been parked there. After leaving the Battery, we made our way to the west side of the historic district to find the Old City Jail. A scene in the aforementioned novella takes place in this overlooked piece of history, which is being restored by the American College of the Building Arts. It's wonderfully creepy, so how in the world did I fit this into a novella? Once upon a time, executions were held in the courtyard. One particular (and fictional) hanging plays an important role in the story.

Another scene takes place in St. Michael's Church, which also plays another role in the novella. While taking photos that I hope to use for the cover, we spotted Bride #2 of the day, and another interesting piece of American History.

So sweet!

Children, this is called a "Pay Phone"

St Michael's steeple

During the drive to the wedding, I snapped off a few photos of Charleston from the bridge.

I love this town. It never ceases to mesmerize me.

Charleston's Provost Dungeon

The main goal of our recent trip to Charleston was to visit Boone Hall Plantation. But while in the Lowcountry, I took the opportunity to do a little bit of novel research. And to do that, we went into Charleston's Historic District to tour the Provost Dungeon and old Exchange.

It would be a short, easy tour. Just confirm a couple of points of my research and then find some Lowcountry cuisine.

Old Exchange

We parked behind the building--or perhaps it was the front. What is now the rear of the building once faced the marinas along the Cooper River, and the ships involved in trade. After walking around to the entrance on Broad Street, we climbed one side of the split staircase and went inside.

Once there, I received a bit of a research jolt. Since revolutionary and local planter Isaac Haynes had been hung by the British on the grounds in 1781, I'd hoped all hangings had been performed on the premises. As it turns out, this building, completed in 1771, was used as an exchange and customs house, and the low, arched-ceiling ground floor as a prison only during the British occupation. While the information put a snag in my research, it also threw me into the 1770s, and the American colonists' fight for independence, for as I soon learned*:

• The prisoners held there included three signers of the Declaration of Independence
• Tea seized during protests against the famous Tea Act was stored in the dungeon
• Upstairs in the Great Hall, delegates to the Continental congress were elected
• South Carolina declared independence from England on the very steps we used to enter the Exchange

There's more. So much, I'm on information overload every time I research the Exchange. We've passed this building numerous times during visits to Charleston, never knowing we were passing a huge chunk of South Carolina's, and America's, history.

More research for later. But for now, I had another reason for touring the dungeon on this trip. I had to see the wall.

During her early days of settlement, Charleston, then called Charles Town, was surrounded by a protective brick wall. The east bordered the Cooper River. The west, what's now known as Meeting Street, and the city stretched several blocks north and south of Broad Street. Maps of the original walled portion of the city hung in the dungeon. Click each photo to see a larger version.

Original walled city located in the SE quadrant
of the peninsula now known as Charleson

"View" from the harbor along the Cooper River

In the center of the wall along the river's edge, a portion of the wall ballooned into the water. This "half-moon battery" is the present-day location of the Exchange and Provost dungeon. Thanks to archeology and preservation efforts, a section of the wall is visible inside the dungeon.

As amazing as it is in a photo, I was more amazed to stand on a catwalk over dank water, in a room where America's revolutionaries had been imprisoned in their fight for freedom, and stare down at the wall built by Charleston's founders. If you have the opportunity to visit Charleston, I highly recommend a tour of this historic site.

More more information on the Exchange and Provost Dungeon, go to:
*www.ccpl.org/content.asp?action=detail&catID=6055&id=15796&parentID=5750

If you're wondering if I eventually learned where criminals were hung, I did, thanks to our dungeon tour guide. Executions were performed on a gallows at the Old City Jail. The castle-like structure is the most ominous building I've seen in Charleston, and the perfect setting for the fictional hanging that occurs in my story:

It's currently closed to the public, but at the moment, visitors can tour the interior during one company's ghost tour. Next time.

Touring Charleston

When my daughter heard we were visiting Charleston, South Carolina again, she asked, in a voice tired of asking the question, "Haven't you seen all there is to see down there?"

Somehow, no. Though we've taken carriage and walking tours, read articles and field guides, and had long discussions with others familiar with the city's history, time and events that shaped South Carolina and the United States have packed so much into the settlement established in 1680, I can't learn it all despite my efforts to do so. But I keep trying.

How?

Tours

Visitors to Charleston have at their disposal, a variety of informative carriage and walking tours. Most companies offer several routes, so if I take a carriage ride in the morning and hop onto another later that afternoon, chances are I'll see a different side of the city. Different streets. Different buildings. More history. Some companies also offer architecture tours. Others focus on photography or Charleston's ghostly past.

Self-guided tours are also available. Whatever I choose, I know I'll learn about the city.

For a different perspective, I can also choose a guided tour of the harbor once blockaded by the British, Blackbeard, and then Union forces. Travel to Fort Sumter, or take a watery ghost tour to learn even more about the city that once aspired to become the Queen of the South.

Museums

As I mentioned in a previous post, Charleston has a creature called Museum Mile. On this occasion, we spent time in Stop 2: the Charleston Museum. The artifacts, reproductions, old photos, clothing, maps and more not only overwhelmed us in their number and explanations, they taught us more about eras we were familiar with—and some we weren't. I took notes and photos (no flash, please!) and said what every other visitor probably said as they walked through the exit doors: I need to go back.

There are fifteen stops in the Museum Mile in a one-mile range. And that's not counting the twelve churches located in the historic district. Just more to see on return visits.

Reference Materials

I also like to tour Charleston at home. On each of our trips, we make it a habit to peruse the regional section of the closest Barnes & Noble. While in Charleston, we also stop in the Waldenbooks located at the corner of Meeting and Market. There, I generally find books I wouldn't have known to buy. On this visit, to expand my Charleston collection and my knowledge of the Holy City, I purchased Charleston: Then and Now by W. Chris Phelps, Charleston Icons, and A Walking Tour of The Walled City (Kindle download). At the Charleston Museum, I bought The Scourging Wrath of God: Early Hurricanes in Charleston, 1700 - 1804.

No doubt, I'll buy more on our next visit. As I've learned, there's always something new to see in Charleston, and I love touring the city in Lowcountry style.

Touring the SC Lowcountry

Charming one-room houses with piazzas overlooking lush courtyards. Churches with columns, pediments, and soaring steeples. Buildings drenched with history. All and more were on our mind when we traveled to South Carolina's Lowcountry for a self-guided tour of Charleston.

Friend and new author Shannon McNear accompanied us on the excursion. Shannon not only sets her stories in the Lowcountry, she steeps herself in historical research, going as far as visiting archeological sites to get a sense of the layout. She also holds what artifacts she's permitted to handle to feel the weight and texture of the material. Her knowledge and resources enhanced our tour, as did her sparking personality and sense of humor.

Using Shannon's worn pamphlet, we began our tour at the open-air market on Market Street. Built around 1841, the market is filled with vendors selling hats, duplications of historical prints, famous "Sweetgrass" baskets and more. After purchasing a few items, we walked down Church Street to the first stop on our list, St Philip's.

A national landmark, St Philip's dates back to 1681. It's a favorite for Church historians and those photographing quintessential Charleston. On this occasion, our goal wasn't the building itself, but the cemetery on its grounds and across the street. Charleston's cemeteries are history books. One doesn't have to walk far to see the names Alston, Pringle, Pinckney and others who did much to shape Charleston, and South Carolina's history.

Though one does need to search for headstones in places they wouldn't think to look. We found markers embedded in sidewalks and running alongside the walls.

Across the street from the church, adjacent to the auxiliary cemetery, I spotted something we'd missed on earlier visits. A sign on a tall, black wrought-iron gate that read "Pirates Courtyard". A shadowed walkway so narrow, two could not walk down it side-by-side led to a grassy area barely visible behind the building. But was it public or private? That question kept us from stepping foot on the pirates' rest. I've yet to find an explanation on the web. However, this spot is listed on at least one ghost tour, so we'll check it out during our next visit.

For information on the history of St. Philip's, go to www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/charleston/stp.htm

We continued our tour of churches and cemeteries, houses and alleys, inspecting the interior of St. Michael's and the Huguenot church. The exterior of tenement houses built in the 1600s. The restaurant on Unity Alley where George Washington ate during his visit to the Lowcountry. The oldest homes in the city, noting stucco covering brick in some places, and where visible, the straight mortar between bricks that seemed to be too small for their slots.

At lunchtime, we stopped at Carolina's Bistro where we discussed history and storyline while dining on Cauliflower soup, truffle fries and pasta. Refreshed, we took up our tour again, and were soon reminded history is on every corner of Charleston, even in the people we encountered in the streets.

On our way back to Market Street, we met a man doing repair work on one of Charleston's historic churches. He took time to explain why the mortar joints of many homes and brick fences looked so straight (leveled with a razor) and that stucco covered some walls because the soft, oyster-shell-and-limestone bricks slowly disintegrate in the Lowcountry climate. A beneficial stop not mentioned in the tour book. Minutes later, we happened on another vendor selling the famous Sweetgrass baskets. Just one of many ties that bind Charleston's history to the present.

 

Shannon chats with a basket maker

For those unfamiliar, this particular art of basketweaving originated in African. The descendants of slaves who brought the art with them continue the tradition, selling them in the market, streets, or booths along Highway 17 as previous generations had, though many now sell their baskets online. The pricetag often shocks tourists, but the process is time consuming, often taking twelve to twenty-four hours depending on the size of the basket, and all baskets are handmade. It's interesting to note that a former missionary I once worked with gave me a basket she'd purchased in Uganda. It is worked exactly as some of the baskets Charleston weavers make today.

For more information on the history and cultural importance of these baskets, click here for an abstract. I also recommend Mary Alice Monroe's novel, Sweetgrass.

Hours after beginning our tour, we said goodbye to Shannon and headed up Highway 17, taking a quick detour at the Waterfront Park near Patriot's Point for a shot of the Ravenel Bridge.

But we weren't finished yet. When traveling between Charleston and Myrtle Beach, we love to stop at two jewels in the Lowcountry's crown: Pawleys Island and Murrells Inlet. Off season is a great time to visit "The Hammock Coast". Hotel prices are lower, camping spots more likely to be available, and more sand is visible on the beach. Though it appears bars have more of a presence in Murrells Inlet than they had in previous visits, Huntington Beach State Park, Brookgreen Gardens, the Marshwalk and your choice of seafood restaurants makes Murells Inlet worth the stop.
Note: if you're on a budget, check out the restaurant's menu before walking inside. On a recommendation, we ate at Lee's Inlet Kitchen. The food is great, and their hush puppies addicting, but at this writing, entrees range from $17.95 to $36.95.

A final note: We usually avoid Myrtle Beach. I prefer trail getaways to crowds and traffic. But since it is low season, we decided to explore on this occasion, and I found I'd been suffering from a case of not seeing the forest for the kitschy trees. In addition to numerous accesses to long stretches of sandy beach, Myrtle Beach is home to a lovely state park. It's now on our To-Do list. For more information, go to South Carolina's Myrtle Beach State Park site.

Stop Nine on Charleston's Museum Mile

Charleston has a wonderful creature they call Museum Mile. It is as the name implies: a one-mile section that contains a series of buildings filled with history as rich as the food on a Lowcountry plate. I'm a little embarrassed to admit we'd yet to step into one of these treasuries—the haint blue roof we prefer to stay under is generally the sky. But we abandoned that policy on our last visit to check out a place I learned about in 2004, but couldn't enter because it was closed to the public. It recently opened, so my husband and I drove south on Meeting Street, then traversed the uneven cobblestones on Chalmers to reach what was once a showcase of human flesh. No, not a closed strip joint. Charleston's Old Slave Mart.*

If you're like my husband, discomfort just crawled up your spine. Though I'm what my daughter calls whiter-than-bright-white-copy-paper, I'd passed that stage long ago while doing research for my first and, unfortunately, badly written novel—you have to start somewhere—about a young woman subjected to a life of forced labor and personal rejection by virtue of her birth. Part of the story takes place in Charleston, and one scene occurs in the Slave Mart. Though I have no plans to revise the story (you can't fix broke) I had to get inside, to see if reality matched what I'd envisioned, and to learn about the auctions that once took place there.

"Come on," you might say. "Of all the neat places in Charleston, why focus on that one? It's not even an attractive building. Are you just trying to be politically correct?"

The only PC I like is my laptop. But like so many places around the world, Charleston and slavery are inextricably linked, and while we went in expecting major condemnation, we found a sorrowful, but surprisingly evenhanded and informative look at the history of slavery, and the old mart's role in it.

We weren't permitted to take photos inside, so I can't give you a glimpse of the narrow interior (basically the width of the facade you see in the photo) that was once part of a four-building complex widely known as Ryan's Mart. The building on Chalmers, pictured above, served as the "showroom", not the caged holding area I wrote it to be. On display there now are placards and relics that taught us how the mart was run, how the slaves were brought in, and about the people involved on all ends including the "free blacks" who purchased slaves of their own. They even offer near-ancient audio recordings of interviews with former slaves. It was the beginning of the broader scope presented, and though the admission price is $7.00/adult at this writing, (but we are talking Charleston's Historic District), I highly recommend this stop, as well as the remainder of Museum Mile, for all who long to know Charleston more intimately.

For more information on the Old Slave Mart, go to
www.nps.gov/nr/travel/charleston/osm.htm

For more information on Charleston's Museum Mile, go to
www.charlestonsmuseummile.org/Home.html

And since I mentioned it, I should include the Slave Mart scene that I originally wrote. And I will, as soon as I figure out where I hid the file.

-------------------------

*Not to be confused with the covered vendor area known as the Slave Market on the corner of Market and Meeting.

Copyright 2009. All Rights Reserved. Do not use or distribute

Charleston, South Carolina

By looking at this blog, you'd never know Charleston, SC is our favorite city. We first visited that stately town shortly after moving to the Carolinas five years ago. We go back every chance we get.

What we love about Charleston--beside the architecture, the history, the scenic location between the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, and the convenience to nearby barrier islands--is the proximity of activities in the Historic District. Park on Market Street and from there, take a carriage ride, (which I highly recommend) a guided walking tour, or a ghost tour (I don't believe in ghosts, but it's a lot of fun.) Or shop in the Slave Market where you'll find the famous baskets made by third and fourth generation basket makers (note, the baskets are quite expensive because they're handmade. If you buy one, ask what it's made of. Sweetgrass is getting harder to find and basket makers are using other materials. The vendors have been up front about it when I ask, so don't hesitate.) And all this from Market Street!

What do you in the Historic District depends on what subject you want to explore. Pick history one day and after you learn about Charleston's role in the Revolutionary War and the War Between the States, search for the graves of Stede Bonnet and other pirates hung at White Point Garden, then take a boat to Fort Sumpter (note: the island visible in the near distance from the Battery is the abandoned Castle Pinckney, not Fort Sumpter.) Or learn about the great fire of 1861, or the great earthquake of 1886. Don't forget to visit the Citidel, both old and new. Older is more interesting (to me) because it's now an attractive park in the Historic District.

Choose architecture the next day and take tours of the Miles Brewton house, where Mary Pringle (Mary's World) lived, then head to Rainbow Row, the Battery, the Old Exchange, St Micheal's Church and a plethora of other homes and houses of worship. You'll see two- and three-story Italianates. You'll also spot One Room houses, which the original owners built sideways on the lot for tax purposes. Piazzas (verandas) with wrought iron balustrades are everywhere, and add to the city's charm.

For the kids, visit attractions such as the SC Aquarium (ask if you can have a tour of the sea turtle hospital) or spend time at nearby Waterfront Park.

Outside of the Historic District, the plantations including Boone Hall and Magnolia Plantation and Gardens are wonderful spots to visit:

Check for entrance fees before you go. If you're in the mood for sand and waves, visit Folly Beach. While there, go to the tip of the island and see Morris Lighthouse. Sullivan Island has a lighthouse as well (though not as attractive.) Eco-tours are available on the Isle of Palms, stomping grounds of author, Mary Alice Monroe, one of the many sea turtle volunteers on that island.

Hungry? Eat at Sticky Fingers, whether in Mount Pleasant where Boone Hall is located, or downtown on Meeting Street. We always eat at A.W. Shucks on Market Street or--just for fun--Bubba Gumps, also on Market. Some folks love Jestine's Kitchen, but Charleston and the surrounding area is flooded with good restaurants serving great Lowcountry food.

One sight we've yet to see is the Angel Oak on John's Island. Click on the link to see a picture of the old oak tree, which has captured the attention of thousands: www.scangeloaktree.com/

Just another excuse to return.

For more information on Charleston and the surrounding area, check out the following links:

Charleston www.charleston.com/
Folly Beach www.follybeach.com/
Boone Hall boonehallplantation.com/

Charming Coastal Towns in SC

A reader recently found my blog while searching for charming coastal towns in SC. One would think that given the time I've spent on NC destinations, SC is now off my radar. Not so! South Carolina is my first love, and even as I type this post in my NC home, I'm looking at South Carolina books and a nice, toasty warm throw embroidered with SC's palmetto tree logo. My attention has been focused on the northern half of the Carolinas only because we recently moved here and I'm trying to get acclimated. The attempt to find info on South Carolina was the kick in the pants I needed to focus on the state I call my home.

So here it is, my picks for charming coastal towns in SC:

First pick: Charleston, hands down. Once referred to as The Holy City, this southern mecca sits on a peninsula where the Copper and Ashley Rivers meet the Atlantic Ocean. With its architecture; history (Colonial, Christian, Southern, Gullah, Revolutionary War, War Between the States, etc); Aquarium; culinary delights including Lowcounty cuisine; Sweetgrass baskets; carriage rides and walking tours; shopping and strolls around the famous Battery including the Promenade overlooking Castle Pinckney and Fort Sumpter, Charleston is the place to go for a taste of all that is good in the South Carolina Lowcountry. From there, you can travel to Mount Pleasant to visit Boone Hall Plantation; barrier island (Isle of Palms, Sullivan Island, Folly Beach); Magnolia Plantation and Gardens near Summerville; Cypress Gardens in Moncks Corner, and more. It's grand, it's beautiful, and it's a must see when visiting South Carolina.

Second on my list of charming coastal towns is the place I go when I want to unwind and get away from it all: Beaufort, SC. Pronounced "Buford" in SC (Bo-ford in NC), the tidal marshes, golden sunsets, and long, tattered moss fluttering in the sea breeze give this slightly remote island an exotic feel. Stay in one of the many historic homes, now serving as bed and breakfast inns. Take a carriage ride around the historic district. Sail along the river or kayak in the tidal marshes. If you're in the mood to explore, travel to the surrounding barrier islands including Hilton Head (not my favorite place, thank you. Too crowded), Hunting Island, Picnkney Island, Bear Island Natural Wildlife Area, Lady Island, Parris Island, and more. Beaufort is just an hour and a half from Charleston, an hour and a half from Edisto Beach, and about an hour from Savannah, GA, so it's a great place to headquarter if you plan to visit those cities during your stay.

My remaining picks for charming cities are, in order: Murrells Inlet, Georgetown, and shabby chic, Pawleys Island.

In other words, if you're looking for a place to visit this summer, South Carolina has a lot to choose from. I know. I lived there for four years and though I tried, I couldn't experience everything this wonderful state has to offer.

SC Aquarium, Sunset on Folly Beach, and the ACE Basin

My husband grew up on the Texas coast and spent the majority of his weekends fishing at Padre Island. Consequently, he has a love for the water and everything inside of it, a love that he passed on to me. Because of this, we often visit aquariums to catch a glimpse of life under the sea.

We love Charleston. We love aquariums. So why haven't we gone to the South Carolina Aquarium before now? We haven't seen it. We thought about it on several occasions, but upon arriving in Charleston, history, architecture, food, or landmarks snagged our attention from the attraction one has to look for to find. We remembered to do so on this occasion (since it was our destination) and though we had to make a few turns to get there, after turning east on Calhoun Street and passing the Holiday Inn that sits on the spot where John L. Girardeau ministered to the slaves at Zion Presbyterian Church, we found it.

The top floor of the aquarium houses the majority of the exhibits and, if I caught this correctly, the exhibits focus on either South Carolina, or the Carolinas as a whole. We visited "The Mountains", "The Piedmont", "The Marshlands", and "The Coast" displays. We also went outside on the observation walkway that overlooks the Cooper River. The lower level plays host to the "Secrets of the Amazon" exhibit, the gift shop, and the Great Ocean Tank, a two-story exhibit that allows one to see marine life ranging from snappers to sharks in a simulated natural environment. I also hoped to see the sea turtle hospital housed in the basement. So after paying admission ($16.00/adult at this writing) we went inside and discovered Kelly, the director of the hospital and the person we needed to speak to, was somewhere on the ocean releasing Lighthouse, the turtle who came back to shore after his initial release.

Yay for Lighthouse, drats for me. We enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

We still had plenty of day left after we finished touring the aquarium, so I suggested a trip to Folly Beach to watch the sun set. The majority of the beach crowd goes home around five, so when we arrived shortly after that, we immediately found a parking spot in one of the small beach access parking lots built between two rental houses. After paying the parking piper, we planted ourselves on the sand.

I love the mountains, but I love the beach a tad bit more. I love to stick my toes in the sand and watch the roaring waves tumbling toward the shore. I love the feel of salt air brushing around me, and watching sea gulls and pelicans float above the water. I love the beach houses lining the beach, the sea shells littering the sand, the primrose growing on fenced dunes, and the feeling of peace I get when I'm blessed enough to have the opportunity to enjoy it all.

And when I remembered the turtle nests, I loved it even more.

Each May, countless people hold their breath in anticipation and wait to see how many sea turtles will pull themselves from the ocean and lay their eggs in one of the remaining dunes on the South Carolina shore. Loggerheads (Caretta Caretta), Green Turtles, on occasion, Kemp Ridley's, and according to the SCDNR Marine Turtle Conservation Program, the ancient leviathan known as the Leatherback turtle all find their way back to the beaches where they hatched, and continue the cycle by laying over a hundred eggs in the dunes above the tide line. When I remembered this, we pulled ourselves off the sand and took a walk along the beach. Within minutes, we spotted the telltale posts and orange tape that indicated the presence of a nest. I couldn't contain my excitement when I saw the sign: Caution! Loggerhead Nest

And then we saw another one!

Turtle teams on the Isle of Palms and Sullivans Island are keeping an eye on seven nests, and nesting season just began last month. The incubation period for loggerhead turtle eggs is around fifty-five days, so beginning in July, hundreds of tiny turtles will break through the sand and start the scramble. Some will perish on the roads after following forgotten lights on beach houses. Some will become a meal for birds or ghost crabs. Others will actually make it to the water where the chance of survival is just about as high as on the shore. I've heard that only one or two turtles from each nest will survive to adulthood. But twenty years later, those turtles will return to South Carolina to lay their eggs in the dunes. Let's hope the dunes are still around for them to find.

And so ended the day. We slept well, and after we checked out of our hotel, we made a few pit stops on the way home. The first was the Edisto Unit of the ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge. FYI, it's closed on Sunday (I don't have a problem with that, but next time I'll check operating hours before we go.) We tried to look at the plant life under the trees lining the road, but the mosquitoes finally found us. I took a couple of pictures and jumped in the car. The skeeters dived bombed the Durango. We did this little routine several times as we traveled back to 174. Then we decided to go to the Basin's Combahee Unit, located off Hwy 17. A sign pointing to Bear Island caught our eye. We turned and drove countless miles south, past trees and marshland. Talk about solitude! Finally, we arrived at Bear Island. It was closed.

Oh well. We found lots of neat flowers, saw lots of neat critters, and had a great time overall.