Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge, Beaufort County, South Carolina, USA

Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge is a 4000 acre preserve in Beaufort County near Hilton Head Island. Much of the refuge is composed of salt marshes and tidal creeks. It is a beautiful place that showcases much of the "low country" habitats.

This photo needs to have dinosaurs in it. The image reminds me of reading a book to my son when he was young and obsessed with dinosaurs. Perhaps a few Compsognathuses skittering about would do it......

A carriage path from a different time.

Pines and palmettos.

Fluffy fuzzy stuff.

A late Fall look in winter.

Observations, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA

Wearing tight red pants against the blue ocean background will always attract attention.

Any dog that won't chase a tennis ball into the water is not a real dog.

Likewise, any dog that won't chase a frisbee into the water is not a real dog.

Anyone who buys and rides a bike in these colors is not meek of personality - either that or perhaps color challenged.

This is either where ice cream sundae "jimmies" are created or, where all the little pencil leads go that fall out of your mechanical pencil or, something else entirely.........

Absence of light can be as useful as presence of light.

A blue heron who raises his hand is probably not asking a question.

Is an undulating uvula ubiquitous in ungulates or unusual or uncommon unless used under an umbrella?

I'd better stop after that one.

Random Sights, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA

A view through a catamaran resting on its side.

Normally, I think of kite flying as a restful activity but........

.....flying this paraglider-styled kite in a 20-30 knot wind gave this vacationer from Belgium a full-body workout.

A beach access walkway.

Evidence of the rare "waffle-backed sand dollar" burrowing in the sand. (Or something else entirely). 

Even in winter there is always some bright green growth to be found.

I thought people knew this at a gut level - I guess not.

Pelicans at sunrise.

A sea-themed Christmas tree along the beach.

I'd love to know the back story behind this street name.

A beach walker at low tide at sunset.

Sights of Savannah, Savannah, Georgia, USA

This Savannah home hints of New Orleans to me.

The most iconic tree of the south, the southern live oak, adorns most parks and squares.

Cool kids, candy, and cobblestones on River Street.

Old stone and wrought iron fencing.

A paddle-wheel boat on the Savannah river.


One of the 22 squares in downtown Savannah. All were designed in the 18th or 19th century. Each is roughly 200x200 and provides welcome green space in an urban environment.

Candy of Savannah, Savannah, Georgia, USA

French settlers in New Orleans are reputed to have brought pralines to America.  Folks in the South used pecans instead of almonds and also added milk or cream and thus was born the well known praline of today.  They make them here in Savannah (and give out free samples).

Scooping out the warm mixture to cool and harden on the marble slab.

Ready for sale.

Pralines with a nice big blob of dark chocolate.

And they make taffy, too!  It was soft and smooth - not like the nasty hard tooth-filling-pullers I remember from my youth. The machine that shapes, cuts and wraps the pieces shown here was

99-years old and still cranking out the candy.

Piggly Wiggly, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA

Piggly Wiggly is "America's first true self-service grocery store, and was founded in Memphis, Tenn. in 1916 by Clarence Saunders" according to their website. "In grocery stores of that time, shoppers presented their orders to clerks who gathered the goods from the store shelves. Saunders, a flamboyant and innovative man, noticed that this method resulted in wasted time and expense, so he came up with an unheard-of solution that would revolutionize the entire grocery industry: he developed a way for shoppers to serve themselves."

A pig keeping watch over the shelves.

A popular southern product.

Speaks for itself........

....likewise.

And of course, they sell Piggly Banks.

Their website says that today there are more than 600 Piggly Wiggly stores serving communities in 17 states. All Piggly Wiggly stores are independently owned and operated, and are located primarily throughout the Southeast.  But - who would ever guess - that Piggly Wiggly corporate headquarters is in Keene, New Hampshire!!  I like Piggly Wiggly - big business with a sense of humor.

Christmas Morning, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA

Winter Solstice, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, USA

Winter began early the morning of the 22nd.  Days are getting longer - Summer is on the way!

Bush palmetto in the 605-acre Sea Pines Forest Preserve.

Hard packed flat beach sand at low tide makes for smooth pedaling.

Spanish moss weeps from the trees in the Sea Pines Forest Preserve. Spanish moss is not a parasite but rather an epiphyte that draws its nourishment from air and rain.

Patterns in pelican feathers at the Sea Pines South Beach Marina.

If you need it to seem more like winter, pretend the sand is snow and the water is ice.