The 24th is Nana’s birthday but since it falls on a Monday this year, we decided to celebrate over the weekend by spending the day in Beaufort. None of us had been down there before and Nana wanted to go for a “hike” as we use to when we all lived in Washington together. She picked Crystal Lake and Hunting State Park as the locations for the day.
Crystal Lake
We started at Crystal Lake. As we pulled into the parking space, I noticed Spanish Needles growing right in front of the truck and it was bursting with seeds. I jumped out of the truck and started collecting seeds. Nana came up and asked what plant I was collecting seeds from. I told her it was Spanish Needles and that I would love to have it at both our houses. She starts helping me collect seeds then we both realized we don’t have anywhere to put them. D saves the day by telling us he grabbed the baggies Nana gave him and they are in the truck if we would like to use them. Armed with about a dozen bags we start our walk.
As we get to the trailhead, I see Wax Myrtle and ask Nana if she remembers this plant, she doesn’t until I remind her of the hours, we spent stripping berries to boil for wax; “Wax Myrtle.” I realized I know many of these plants a little farther down the trail. Nana asks me what another plant is but this time I recognize it but can’t remember the name. She uses her app, and it says one of the names for Sea Myrtle and I’m good, I know this one.
I ask her if she would like me to give them an herb walk since I see many here, I know. I do warn her that I can’t remember the herbal actions of them all but that I can identify many of them and show her what to look for. She says yes and off we go.
Of course, we start with Sea Myrtle and Spanish Needles since they are right here in front of us. As we continue our walk to come to a Spanish Moss area that is amazing. I’m not sure why but for some reason how it is hanging from the trees and laying everywhere reminds me of snow. We all take a bunch of pictures playing in the Spanish Moss and then we continue our walk. (If you would like to join us on our walk you can find it in Herb Walk Notes; you do need to be an Herber to access that area.)
As we go, I continue to point out and identify the plants around us. As I start seeing ones, we have already covered I start quizzing everyone on what they are. By the time we get back to the boardwalk, everyone can identify at least a quarter of the plants we had seen so far. This is when our oldest son, J calls to join the fun since he could attend in person. We all talk to him for a bit and take a few pictures with him (he was on a video call with Nana), then off to finish the walk.
Now they are pointing out plants and naming them and I’m pointing out new ones. At this point, wildlife has drawn our attention. We stand there watching the turtles and birds play in the water. After a bit, we start walking again but in two groups, Nana and D watching the wildlife, Duncan and I watching wildlife and still pointing out plants we don’t know.
Food and Hunting Island
We get back to the truck and head over to Seaside Bar & Grill for food. The food was wonderful and very filling. We all decide we still have a bit of time and would like to see Hunting Island. We head over there and take the trail to the beach. This walk is amazing and feels like you are walking back in time. The palms are low and thick, the sun is low in the sky, and there is a cool breeze. When you get to the end of this trail you are at the beach, and it is littered with “dead” trees.
We hung out here for a bit until the nats got to be too much to handle. We headed back to the pier since it was almost sunset. We got there in time to watch the sunset, what I beautiful orange and pink sky. What an awesome day we all had.