The Best of the Beach Summer 2024

Now that Labor Day has come and gone, I’d like to share my favorite photos from several enjoyable Charleston area beach visits (with Alesia and a couple times with our son Joseph). 

From my comfortable beach chair I watch the world go by. On a hot summer day there’s nothing better! On Sullivan’s Island we usually set up near the old Sand Dunes Club at Station 17 or 18. 

I have called Sullivan’s Island the intersection of commerce and recreation. These photographs show you what I mean. 

Folly Beach “Lifer” Bird!

 I wasn’t expecting to add a “lifer” bird during Sunday’s Folly Beach outing. But that’s a neat part of the birding hobby- expect the unexpected! 

Meet the Sandwich Tern. What’s with the sandwich you ask? This shore bird was “discovered” and documented in Sandwich, England in 1787 by ornithologist John Latham. 

The species has a distinctive yellow tip on its bill. That’s the mustard on the sandwich (I read somewhere). 

This tern type is a lifer bird for me, an unexpected bonus to our first visit to Folly Beach since August 2021. 

The Folly Beach Fishing Pier re-do is featured in my two years ago post. It has been completed but we were not close enough to see it in this August's visit. 

I saw this mixed group of shorebirds as we walked toward the inlet so we could see the venerable Morris Island Lighthouse. 

I’m a longtime member of the “Save the Light” organization that has helped repair and preserve the tall brick light that dates to 1876. 

This is a Ring-billed Gull that may have been also feeling the hot, humid temperatures. 

Long-legged Willets are common sights on our area beaches. 

To follow are other Folly Beach scenes.

New Folly Beach Pier Update

 

Our first visit to Folly Beach in about a year found the big fishing pier replacement project looking that much closer to the image in this rendering. 

When we saw the construction last Sunday it looked like around 50 percent of the old wooden pier had been replaced. You see in this photograph the new gray concrete base extending out to sea. Shipworm infestation became a problem with the old wood pilings that date back to 1995, necessitating a redux.

The new $14 million pier is expected to be finished in Spring 2023, according to Charleston Parks and Recreation officials. 

Idyllic Labor Day Weekend at Folly Beach

 We looked for sharks teeth and other fossils at Folly Beach the day before Labor Day. No luck with the fossils but the weather and water were great, and the vibe was relaxed and family friendly. 

Folly Beach Fishing Pier Update

 

We hit Folly Beach on Friday of the long Memorial Day weekend. It was our son Joseph’s birthday and he came down from New York City to spend his special day with us. 

I also wanted to see what was going on with the landmark fishing pier that opened in 1995. What’s going on is that it’s coming down. 

Charleston County Parks and Recreation, which oversees the pier, announced last year that the structure would have to come down. But the good news is it will be replaced by a better pier with concrete pilings and other improvements and amenities. 

The current pier's wooden pilings are not in good shape. They've been infilitrated by destructive little critters called shipworms or marine borers. 

Folly Beach- Fun on the Edge of America

Nicknamed “The Edge of America,” Folly Beach is friendly, fun and a little funky. The Charleston area has so many special places and this is certainly one of them.

And to be able to catch some rays in early October was pretty special too.

We parked near what is still often called the old Coast Guard station off the main road where parking is still free.

Temperatures were in the low 80s with winds light to heavy at times.

Beach Visits in Review!

I didn't get to the Charleston area beaches too often this summer, 3-4 times maybe. But whenever I go, I always take my camera. You just never know what you may see there!  And often there are neat, unusual and/or interesting things and people to photograph.

This presentation features Sullivan's Island and Folly Beach.

Using Kizoa, a fun and easy (and free) program for creating slideshows and videos, I produced this three minute presentation.  Click below to view. If that's not playing properly, click here. Enjoy!

                                           The Beach 2017

The music used is courtesy of my go-to free music site, Incompetech.com. I found the song titled, "Parsail" among the Ambient music offerings. 

My Pix in Post and Courier Magazine!

I was excited this morning to read Charleston's newspaper, the Post and Courier, which included the latest edition of its magazine, My Charleston. Photographs in the issue included those submitted by readers in its weekly photography contests, which cover a wide variety of topics.

Well, I was thrilled to read it this morning and see not one, but two of my photographs in the magazine!

Caption (partial): "Patrick Harwood had a 'locked eyes' encounter with a deer while on the Boynton Trail at the Donnelley Wildlife Management Area in the ACE Basin, south of Charleston.

Caption: Patrick Harwood found this busy colorful scene under the Folly Beach Pier." 

Cover of the Post and Courier's special magazine that came with the newspaper on Saturday, August 27.