Fall break at Edisto Beach

We booked this trip in the summer after we got back from Anna Marie Island.  It was the time of school for Oliver and Isaac that was fall break.  Due to Isaac changing schools, however, it was no longer his fall break, and we had to pull him out of school for 3 days.  They were informed of this holiday before he started, so the repercussions of unauthorized absences have not been too great so far....

We picked the boys up on friday, Isaac at lunchtime, and Oliver at school finish, which was a half day.  Seb was already off.  We hit the road quickly, stoping in Orangeburg for a Bo Jangles.

As we got nearer the coast, the rain started getting heavier and heavier.  The meteorologists had already predicted that hurricane Joaquin wasn't going to hit us, but the state of South Carolina was in for a 1 in a 1000 year rain event which was going to affect the whole state.

But we went to the beach anyway! The rivers in the low country were looking a little high already.

We made it to Edisto Island safely.  The topography is not dissimilar to Kiawah Island, it is only about 30 miles down the coast from there.  But Edisto is public, and has no hotels.  It has a few apartment complexes, and only about 6 restaurants.  It is very family orientated. 

In the background you can see our house.  This is the first time we have stayed in a single family home, on the beach.  It is typical beach style, with the living area in the middle, and the bedrooms off to either side.  It has 4 bedrooms, so the boys decided they would all have their own rooms.  

We settled in for the night.  I had packed enough food and beer, so we should not have to go out on the saturday.  Good job too.  The Friday night, the thunderstorms were so loud, as was the sea. Seb was in and out of our bed.  We didn't sleep particularly well, it was very warm, and the air con in the house was not very good!  I got up with the boys at 6.30 on the saturday morning, to watch the rain and the sea.  It was ferocious! 

But it was not cold.  We stayed in the house most of the day on the saturday.  High tide was at lunch time, and there were flood warnings galore across the whole state.

To say the tide got high would be an understatement.  We all had fun splashing in it though.  The water was warm! 

It didn't take long for the tide to come up under the house.  It ran all the way through to the road.  Judging by the shells around the front of the house, this was a regular occurrence. 

The kids loved it though, and we felt pretty safe.  Later that afternoon, once the rain had stopped, we took a little walk down the beach, in the direction the tide came from.  The debris was scary.  A house had lost all of its decking, and some of its foundations.  Another had a huge slab of concrete slammed into their stairs.  Scary stuff. 

After the initial rains on the saturday, it rained on and off all day sunday.

Didn't stop the boys though.  They had great fun playing in the surf, hunting for shells and sharks teeth.

We even found a star fish! First time seeing one of these on the beach.  We weren't sure if it was dead or alive, so left it where it was. 

Most of the time the water was warmer than the air 

This was always going to be a relaxing break.  We really didn't do much other than sit around, play, read books, play, drink beer.  We went out for lunch a couple of times which was nice.

On the Monday afternoon, the sun actually came out! Then  it was warm.  Like, really warm!!!  The boys went for a final play in the sea.  Edisto is an amazingly beautiful place.  We got talking to the guy staying in the house next to ours.  They had been going to Edisto from Kentucky for the last 25 years!  They love it so much

He was a real beachcomber, and knew exactly what he was looking for.  He gave the boys a couple of sharks teeth, and found this one morning, and left it on the step.

It is a horseshoe crab.  We have only ever seen these in aquariums, though they are prolific along the Atlantic coast.  Once we had seen this one, we spotted a few others too. Think the hurricane out at sea may haves killed a few off. 

All in, we had an excellent time in Edisto.  But we had to contemplate getting home.  The severe rain and flooding had closed down a lot of the roads across the midlands and low country of SC.  We were fortunate.  We were only diverted off the interstate once.  But this is what the road closures around Columbia looked like the day we drove home.

Sheer devastation.  They are only now starting to open up some of the roads.  The National Guards have been around Columbia for the last week, and will be there for a while longer still.  Charleston also flooded, but they are better equipped to handle it, as it happens more often.  With Columbia, there is no where for the water to go.  There is also run off form the mountains affecting them.  A lot of the water is now making its way down into the low country.  There are still a lot of flood plains there, but a lot of people live near those flood plains.  A lot of people still don't have any ruining clean water.  This rain event really did affect South Carolina, but the state has come together and helped each other out, which has been  awesome to see.