Medford, Massachusetts, USA

The Mystic River winds its last few miles through Medford, Massachusetts before emptying into Boston Harbor.  Today's blog is from Macdonald Park, part of the Mystic River Reservation and located only 4 miles from downtown Boston.  It affords visitors a nice change of scene amidst the metropolitan urban setting. On this late winter day, the last day before daylight savings time starts, the first hints of Spring are seen - long shadows later in the day, damp and soft hillsides from the recent snow melt, gloveless hands and hatless heads.........

.........dogs taking their humans for a walk.

The park has a sturdy observation platform.

And this is the view from the platform - Boston's Back Bay skyline is on the horizon - the Hancock building (on the left) and the Prudential building (on the right) are Boston's tallest structures at 790 and 740 feet respectively.

Hope springs eternal - its not too early to set up the volleyball net even though the area might still get more snow before this year's season ends - these two optimists hope otherwise.



Conway, South Carolina, USA

Conway is one of the oldest towns in South Carolina and was originally founded in 1732 as the village of Kingston. Conway is currently home to more than 13,000 residents and is the county seat of Horry County. Conway has been designated as a Tree City USA for 24 consecutive years. It is part of the Myrtle Beach metropolitan area and home of Coastal Carolina University. The photo above was taken on their Riverwalk along the Waccamaw River.

It's a town where the flowering pear trees bloom in winter at the end of February.

It's the kind of town where leaving a majestic live oak tree standing in the roadway is more important than cutting it down for the convenience of cars.

It's the kind of town where spanish moss hangs from the trees......

.......And houses are set back a little from the road but, not too far that you can't say hello to folks siting on the porch.

And it's a kind of place where tulips are planted at a simple corner just because they are beautiful.  It's the kind of town that strolling about one would say, "I could live here."

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA

Think what you will about the often maligned gull but, it is still a majestic and beautiful flier.

Strong winds were common this week and helped in photographing the gulls.

In fact, it got so windy here that this building was turned upside down!  You can see the workers on cranes trying to figure out how to turn it back right-side-up.

But otherwise, life continues on normally - the sun shines, shadows exist.  But danger lurks everywhere.......

All appears calm and normal - until a meteorite splashes in the ocean near here.  When such an event occurs, the resulting tsunami should be more than sufficient to knock down the "tsunami zone" signs the city erected on the beach.  (See this blog on 3/1/11). Perhaps the city should replace the "tsunami zone" signs with "meteorite zone" signs? Hmmmmm? 

Grand Strand, South Carolina, USA

Sea oats (real name uniola paniculata) waving in the sunrise.

Is this sign really necessary?  How many Tsunamis have ever occurred along the South Carolina coast?    Perhaps we should put up signs at the beaches saying, "Danger - sunshine may cause skin cancer." Or, "Danger - stepping on sharp broken shells may cause foot damage."  Maybe we should require footwear for all beach goers.  Maybe we should require full length clothing covering all skin to keep the sun away. Maybe we should stop acting like a bunch of idiots by expecting towns, cities, and governments to legislate common sense.  Whatever happened to personal responsibility anyway?

Look at all the footprints - must be all the people running from the Tsunamis!!

Meanwhile, a touch of sanity (?) and unselfish commitment is displayed elsewhere by Worldguy.  Erik Bendl and his trusty dog Nice had just walked from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida over the past two months as part of his ongoing effort to raise awareness for diabetes. Like he says, would you walk up to a strange man with a dog and start chatting with him?  Probably not, but a strange man with a dog walking a six foot diameter globe - that's a whole different story - everyone walks up to him and chats and he gets to share his concern about diabetes.  (His mother was a victim of diabetes).

Elsewhere at lunch in a local Ethiopian restaurant, tourist Amy is attempting to cure her hiccups by drinking from a straw while plugging her ears - not sure it worked - I think the laughter of her tablemates at this visual spectacle may have been the real cure.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA

This morning it rained buckets.  But it stopped at midday, the sun came out, the wind came up, and the temperature rose to 70 degrees F - pretty great for a winter day according to my New England blood! 
 

The storm brought a favorable surf for the surfer dudes - even though the water temp was still only in the upper 40's F.

Surfers weren't the only ones enjoying the after-storm activity, this river of fresh water runoff on the beach became the preferred bathing spot for hundreds of gulls. 

Don't they look just sparkling clean and fresh now? 

But the day passed quickly - a lone gull stood in the waning golden light just before sunset.

And in the immortal words of Elmer

Fudd, "uh.....that's all, folks!"

Grand Strand, South Carolina, USA

The Grand Strand refers to a 60-ish mile arc of beach beginning at the North Carolina/South Carolina border and stretching southward.  This scene is in Myrtle Beach.

This scene is at the northern end of Cherry Grove Beach.

The houses on this canal in Cherry Grove Beach are only a block or so walk to the ocean to the East and, via the canal, also have access to the intracoastal waterway and tidal marsh areas to the West - truly the best of both aquatic worlds.

This scene is in North Myrtle Beach - not that the gulls really care what the humans call the place.

This scene is at the saltwater marshland of Murrells Inlet.

Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, USA

Brookgreen Gardens is the extraordinary legacy of  Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington.  Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this 9000 acre former site of four separate rice plantations, showcases more than twelve hundred American sculptures throughout its gardens.

Live oak trees draped with the epiphyte Spanish moss line walkways through the gardens.  Many of these majestic trees were planted more than two hundred years ago.

The few photos that follow are but a very small glimpse of the hundreds and hundreds of works of art.

Charleston, South Carolina, USA

It may still be February but that doesn't stop the cherry trees from blossoming along Meeting Street in downtown Charleston. Charleston is the oldest city in South Carolina dating from the late 1600's and receives many accolades for its charm.

White Point Gardens at the Battery.

Decorative iron work is commonplace - the horse drawn carriages not so common.

White Point Gardens.

One of the old mansions with curved windows.

An inviting alleyway between two houses.

Street view along East Bay.

The tourist's eye view of a backyard garden.

Another private alleyway between houses.

A city that embeds street names in bronze on the corner is clearly a city that doesn't get snow in the winter.

Green grass in February? Yep.

And of course the city lawyers always get their say - but at least they don't get to say "no wading" like most cities probably would.  The sign seems a bit tongue-in-cheek - I hope that was the intent.