Archive for the ‘Vacation Time’ Category

I have a secret.

Actually I vacillate from wanting to shout if from the rooftops, to not telling a soul. It’s our favorite vacation spot, Eleuthera. (Although we haven’t been since 2007.)

I hesitate to tell about it for 3 reasons:

1) We don’t want it to change.

2) I don’t want to sound snooty.

3) Everyone’s ideal of what makes a vacation great is different.

But I’m forging ahead.

(And for the record, I’m not snooty.)

Eleuthera is one of the out islands of The Bahamas. While it’s the next island east of Nassau, Eleuthera is worlds apart from the bustling, loud, touristy, cruise ship docking neighbor to the west.

Quiet and laid back you’ll find no amusement parts, little to no nightlife or mini golf on Eleuthera. Eleuthera is all about being in and around beautiful, crystal blue water that’s teeming with colorful sea life.

This is a giant starfish. Starfish, sea turtles and other creatures can be discovered all over the island.

Eleuthera is Greek for freedom – which is certainly what you feel when you’re there. We like to drive around and explore different beaches. For a small island Eleuthera offers quite a variety of things to see.

There are gorgeous coral and rock formations to explore on the windward side of the island.

A few minutes away by car you can be on the super calm leeward side with a completely different undersea vibe.

There’s everything from soft pink sand bottoms, to grass flats to pretty rock formations.

The people are wonderful too – friendly and eager to help you find those special fishing or snorkeling spots.

These gorgeous girls were friendly. Love those uniforms – they match the sea!

There’s very little crime on Eleuthera. The place has a real small town feel.

The crazy thing is for such a lovely place there are very few tourists.

You can drive your rental to one of the island’s most popular beaches, and if you see more than 10 people on a one mile stretch of pink sand, it’s a busy day.

Eleuthera is surprisingly affordable. We’ve found it to be less expensive or comparable to many vacation destinations in the U.S. And if you can redeem some of those airline miles like we did, all the better.

We’re hoping to get back to Eleuthera this summer. We’ll see.

And maybe I’ll run into you there as well. Hey, you never know, it’s a small world.

Do you have any favorite vacations destinations you can share? Do blue waters do it for you? Or do you like snow capped mountains? Maybe you like bustling city full of life?

Last April, while visiting my parents, we hopped in the car and drove to another world.

Nah, it wasn’t really another world, but it felt like it. Plus it sounds so dramatic to say so.

And I’m all into the drama of it all.

Oooooh.

Aaaaah.

Ohhhh.

Back to the point of the post.

Botany Bay on Edisto Island is like no other coastline I’ve experienced in South Carolina. And growing up in SC I’ve seen much of its coast.

Botany Bay is on the wild side. And that’s a good thing.

Beaches, maritime forests, salt marsh, tidal creeks, freshwater ponds and hammock islands make up the 4,630 acres of natural beauty to enjoy at Botany Bay. The land, formerly owned by the late Margaret Pepper, is now managed by the SC Department of Natural Resources and is open to the public for educational and recreational opportunities. Mrs. Pepper’s goal was to preserve the natural state of the land. And I’m glad she did. It’s beautiful.

We spent most of our time at the beach. Even though it was an unusually cold and windy day for April in the Low Country, we strolled out to the beach to wonder in awe at the view. It was almost shocking.

And while it looks like a war zone this cycle of erosion has been happening here for years as beaches are built up in some areas and washed away in others; to and fro, back and forth the land moves.

It’s a fun place to explore.

A perfect place for a game of hide-n-seek.

Everywhere I looked there were unusual pieces of wood, shells and trees calling out to be photographed.

Below is the underside of a tree trunk. Cool huh?

I could take pictures of shells everyday. I’d be happy with that.

A professional shell photographer I shall be, shooting shells by the seashore.

Botany Bay is definitely a photographers dream.

Can’t wait until our next trip. It’ll be neat to see how the beach has changed.

If you’re interested in visiting Botany Bay or learning more about it, here are a few links you may find helpful:

Botany Bay Ecotours

An article by South Carolina Wildlife (Department of Natural Resources)

Edisto Island Preservation Alliance – Botany Bay

Do you know of any natural preserves to visit that you’d like to tell us about? Please share.

Yep, it’s fall and while blue seas and beaches are the last thing on your mind, if you’re thinking of taking off next summer, now is the time to start planning. If you have airline miles to cash in on, you’ll want to go ahead and snag those free seats before they’re gone. Other discounts can be had by booking early as well. Plus you’ll have longer to save if you start now. And before you start cussin’ me, please know that we don’t vacation in places like St. John often (although, wouldn’t that be nice), we didn’t even have a vacation at all in ‘08. And we don’t have any plans yet for next year but I’m hopeful.

The night before last we watched Pirates of the Caribbean III – At Worlds End, again. The first Pirates of the Caribbean – Curse of the Black Pearl, is regularly reenacted in our home – sometimes the kids join in too. While watching the movie that night I was reminded of these photos and the day we charted our own seas. Well, sort of.

Our vacation this past summer to St. John, USVI was filled with many great highlights but I would have to say that our favorite was the day we rented a boat and beach hopped up the northwest shoreline. I use the term boat loosely. It was a dinghy. A cute yellow dinghy. It allowed us to visit many of the excellent beaches of St. John in a short amount of time.

We packed a picnic lunch, a boat load (tee hee) of water, our snorkel gear, sunscreen for the whole crew and set off on our adventure.

Look! Who goes there? Could they be pirates? Possibly The Yellow Pearl? Argh!

{This is where there was formerly a picture of my lovely 14 year old daughter, who, since she is 14 and doesn’t like the way she looks in any photos right now, because she is 14, made me remove it. Just imagine a beautiful young lady in an orange life jacket sticking her tongue out at her mom because, since she was 13 at the time, she didn’t want her picture taken.}

Just look at this view! Doesn’t it look exactly like a scene from Pirates? So dramatic with the mountains plunging straight down into the sea and from a boat it’s even more stunning.

Look! They’re gone. Tip: if you rent a dinghy, get one with a bigger motor. They left us in their wake. Those show-offy pirates!

See these hills? Massive hillside retreats are scattered along this stretch of shoreline. It is said that one Kenny Chesney owns an abode somewhere here on St. John. Hey Kenny! You up there? You think our little yellow dingy is sexy? Yeah, it is. I know it is.

This is a closer match for our budget but even this would be over-the-top expensive as it’s ocean front and probably historic too. I think I’d need a roof… and a door.

We skirted past all the beaches heading to Waterlemon Cay for our first snorkeling of the day. There we moored and hit the water.

Lunch time. Lay’s barbecue chips, you’re a welcome friend. What a cool snorkeling dude. Could you get any cooler? I’d say not.

After Waterlemon, we cruised through all the bays where we saw sea turtles (sorry couldn’t get a picture of them), kayakers, sailboats and other interesting scenery before stopping to snorkel more at Jumbie Bay.

Isn’t this the cutest little boy? He’s not mine but if he were I’d just have to pinch his chubby little cheeks! Many beaches on this side of the island are so kid friendly you can actually relax a bit as the little ones explore. Don’t forget the water shoes though.

While snorkeling to view the fishies and other creatures is always fun, I love hunting for sea glass. Our last stop was at Henley Key (or Cay?), a teeniny island (which is what a key is) off of Honeymoon Beach where we found a treasure trove of sea glass snorkeling along the rocky (but smooth rocks) shoreline.

My imagination tends to get away from me as I conjure up pirate ships gliding through those waters long ago, tossing their empty bottles overboard only for me to reap the bounty from their trash.

Please, no one tell me that the sea glass is probably from Bubba on his yacht littering a couple of years back. Leave my imagination alone! Let it be.

Our day trip on the high seas (okay, medium seas) was a fun filled adventure we’ll not soon forget.

Where are you planning your next vacation? Any place new? An adventure? Please share!