We returned today from a brief but pleasant visit with my father at his home near Myrtle Beach. We visited our favorite shops and ate entirely too much food at some of our favorite restaurants, including some new favorites (did I mention they were our favorites?). I had only one place I insisted we visit, since I’ve wanted to go for some time:
Brookgreen Gardens.
This former rice plantation is now a combination museum, zoo and sculpture garden. A friend and coworker who visited recently showed me her photos, and that convinced me that my father would enjoy the sculptures too. We went to the zoo first—surprisingly not at my suggestion—which held exclusively domestic species and native wildlife, mostly birds. Walk-through aviaries included vultures, owls and hawks, herons, egrets and ducks. Other exhibits held foxes, otters, eagles and turkeys. Unfortunately, we spent so much time at the zoo that we saw only a quarter of the sculptures. What we did see, however, was amazing. Some were figures from myth, like Diana or fauns; others were fictitious characters, like Don Quixote; others were animals, particularly dogs and birds. The centerpiece of the garden is a sculpture of the artist and her poet husband who owned the property and established the public garden in 1931; one of his poems is beautifully engraved on the reverse.
Next time, we visit we’ll go earlier in the day and see the whole sculpture garden--and then spend a second day at the museum devoted to the history of the plantation.
Of course, we couldn’t get this close to the ocean and not dip our toes in the water. Well, I couldn’t anyway. We found a quiet stretch of beach (where we could actually find a parking space) and walked out to enjoy the ocean breeze and the view. My father and husband stood back from the surf watching the parasailing while I rolled up my pants and enjoyed the feel of the waves and the sand. Then up the beach I heard the call of “Shark!” Of course I followed, and sure enough, there it was: a 2 ½-3 foot dead grey shark, covered in buzzing sand flies, near the lifeguard’s chair. Another family examining it took pictures and tried to entice a young child to touch it for a photo. Since I already was, the boy, who was probably 3 years old, touched its sandpaper skin too.
I was curious to know what type of shark it was, so I flipped it over to examine its teeth. Well, I didn’t get a positive identification though I think it was a type of sandbar shark which lives close to the shore. (If I’d had a better phone, I too could have taken a picture to use later, because I didn’t pay attention to whether it had an anal fin or a notch in its dorsal fin or exactly what type of teeth it had. I’ll be fixing that problem soon enough.) We did, however, determine cause of death, when we saw the gaping hole where a larger shark had taken a bite.
When we went to dinner shortly afterwards, I decided out of respect not to have a shark steak.
Otherwise, our vacation was a peaceful opportunity to catch up with Dad, soak in the hot tub in our room, and read Harry Potter. I finished reading it very early Friday morning, (after waking up with a severe case of heartburn). I’ll definitely give my impressions of this book later; I’ll just say for now that I enjoyed it immensely and I look forward to re-reading the series.
Now, however, it is good to be home with six cats who obviously missed their pet people.
This former rice plantation is now a combination museum, zoo and sculpture garden. A friend and coworker who visited recently showed me her photos, and that convinced me that my father would enjoy the sculptures too. We went to the zoo first—surprisingly not at my suggestion—which held exclusively domestic species and native wildlife, mostly birds. Walk-through aviaries included vultures, owls and hawks, herons, egrets and ducks. Other exhibits held foxes, otters, eagles and turkeys. Unfortunately, we spent so much time at the zoo that we saw only a quarter of the sculptures. What we did see, however, was amazing. Some were figures from myth, like Diana or fauns; others were fictitious characters, like Don Quixote; others were animals, particularly dogs and birds. The centerpiece of the garden is a sculpture of the artist and her poet husband who owned the property and established the public garden in 1931; one of his poems is beautifully engraved on the reverse.
Next time, we visit we’ll go earlier in the day and see the whole sculpture garden--and then spend a second day at the museum devoted to the history of the plantation.
Of course, we couldn’t get this close to the ocean and not dip our toes in the water. Well, I couldn’t anyway. We found a quiet stretch of beach (where we could actually find a parking space) and walked out to enjoy the ocean breeze and the view. My father and husband stood back from the surf watching the parasailing while I rolled up my pants and enjoyed the feel of the waves and the sand. Then up the beach I heard the call of “Shark!” Of course I followed, and sure enough, there it was: a 2 ½-3 foot dead grey shark, covered in buzzing sand flies, near the lifeguard’s chair. Another family examining it took pictures and tried to entice a young child to touch it for a photo. Since I already was, the boy, who was probably 3 years old, touched its sandpaper skin too.
I was curious to know what type of shark it was, so I flipped it over to examine its teeth. Well, I didn’t get a positive identification though I think it was a type of sandbar shark which lives close to the shore. (If I’d had a better phone, I too could have taken a picture to use later, because I didn’t pay attention to whether it had an anal fin or a notch in its dorsal fin or exactly what type of teeth it had. I’ll be fixing that problem soon enough.) We did, however, determine cause of death, when we saw the gaping hole where a larger shark had taken a bite.
When we went to dinner shortly afterwards, I decided out of respect not to have a shark steak.
Otherwise, our vacation was a peaceful opportunity to catch up with Dad, soak in the hot tub in our room, and read Harry Potter. I finished reading it very early Friday morning, (after waking up with a severe case of heartburn). I’ll definitely give my impressions of this book later; I’ll just say for now that I enjoyed it immensely and I look forward to re-reading the series.
Now, however, it is good to be home with six cats who obviously missed their pet people.