Category Archives: Things To Do

A New Page of a Different Sort


You may have noticed that I have a new page listed on my menu bar, Post-Apocalyptic Foraging, that doesn’t seem to quite fit with the rest of the content of Part-Time Local and the focus on Hilton Head Island. Well, as you all know, I really enjoy sharing my love of nature on the island, but I also do this thing of mine in Ohio too, just with Ohio nature (alas, no dolphins in Ohio). So where is this going?

My home up north, Hamilton, Ohio, is participating for a second year in One Book, One City, a community reading initiative, and as part of this program many organizations throughout the city participate in activities related to, or inspired by, the reading selection. This year’s selection is Station Eleven ,a post-apocalyptic novel by Emily St. John Mandel, and I have partnered with Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park & Museum to lead a nature walk inspired by the book.

I will be leading this walk and talk on four dates in October 2018 (the 6th, 7th, 13th, and 14th) and wanted a place to be able to share more information with the participants, and anyone else who might be interested, so, the new page. Please check it out, and if you are close to me in SW Ohio, you can check out the event link here.

Beach Walk, July 26, 2018

Mitchelville Beach (Fish Haul Beach Park), looking left to the west.

Yesterday I waled west from Mitchelville Beach for a mile and a half, until I reached the sea wall in Hilton Head Plantation. As you may or may not know, all beaches on the island are “public”, whereas the property that lies behind them is likely private, so when I do this walk (a regular for me) it ends at the wall. If you would also like to make this trip you will need to plan it to start and end within a couple hours of low tide as there are a few tidal creeks to cross and make sure you wear shoes.

Although I always have my eyes open for interesting critters and treasures to collect, I take this route more for the beauty of the walk itself, and the small boneyard beach found at this eastern end of the sea wall.  Continue reading

Beach Walk, July 21, 2018

 

On Port Royal Sound, just west of the heel of the island.

My wanderings are guided by whatever catches my eye.

What you see on a beach walk on this beautiful island can vary so greatly, depending on which beach you start from, the season, the tides, and whether there has been a recent storm to churn things up. I love taking folks out to see what we can discover on the beach, but formal programs cover so little of my time exploring this island so I thought I’d add a virtual beach walk and share what I find. Let me know what you think of this feature in the comments.

It has been raining for days and I was getting stir crazy, even this reader can only read so much. Finally we got a break in the weather today and I headed out this morning just after low tide. I had not actually been to the heel of the island in a few months (terrible!!), so I knew that was where I was going.  What follows are photos of some of the things I saw today and some information that I might have shared if we were exploring together.

Continue reading

Mitchelville Beach Walk, March 26, 2016

039

Oysters and muscles nestled in the Spartina Grass.

I hope y’all had a wonderful Easter. I spent the day waiting for the rain to stop. And it didn’t. On the upside, I spent a delightful evening with a friend and her three granddaughters “playing beach collection.” It was like a beach program, but with my living room floor filling in for the part of the beach. I hope I didn’t bore them too terribly, but they seemed happy when they left with their bags of goodies. Continue reading

The best for last…

052-768x1024It’s here, spring break is finally upon us and I cannot wait to be back on the island tomorrow. This will be the last weekly featured page in honor of Spring Break 2016 and for this occasion I have saved the very best. Read about Mitchelville Beach and then come join me at my favorite place on the island. AND, if you happen to be on the island between March 24  and April 2 give me a shout.