While camping at Parris Island RV Park, we did a little sight seeing and swimming. Hunting Island State Park wasn’t too far away and Lila had been here before, so we spent most of the day at the beach. The waves were about 2 foot high and I caught a couple for some short body surfing rides. I was glad I had my water shoes on since there were a few oyster shells scattered around. Lila had cut her foot on an oyster shell at Elliot’s Beach the day before and I was being a little cautious. It’s nice to see healthy oyster beds in these waters. Had seen the same at Jekyll Island a couple years ago. This beach shows a lot of historic erosion. The tree roots make interesting driftwood but it’s sad to see the loss of sand.
It is a wide beach and the sand is soft and easy to walk on. We walked a long way south and saw lots of nice shells. Kept a conch and an angel wing. There was a protected loggerhead turtle nest on the beach and it appeared to have just hatched a few young.
After a pickup lunch in the Roadtrek, we headed for the lighthouse that is at the north end of the park. It is well interpreted and maintained. Learned about the various families that lived and worked the lighthouse. There were 3 lighthouse keepers at a time. The lighthouse keeper and 2 assistant lighthouse keepers worked 4 hours shifts round the clock. The night shifts dealt with keeping the light lit and the day shifts with maintaining the lighthouse and grounds. They had a cistern for drinking water. They kept a garden and small livestock and had to transport the oil for the light from mainland by boat then a short rail line powered by a hand car. Then had to hand carry the oil up to the light.
There was a lagoon behind the dune line at the south end of the park that was popular with kayakers and fishermen.
We left the park and headed back towards the campground but stopped for a great seafood dinner at Frogmore near St Helena Island. There are some good Gulla restaurants but didn’t seem to be open at dinner time. How strange. Maybe after Memorial Day? They were open for lunch, though.
It was a fun day and we returned to the campground full and tired. There was a nice sunset and a cool breeze.
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