When we visited Charleston back in 2021, Botany Bay was one of the places that we happened to stumble upon during our adventuring but everyone loved it and agreed that it was certainly a place that we would go to again. So on Thursday we packed up our car and grabbed some things for lunch and then we headed out to Botany Bay, which is part of a protected preserve on Edisto Island.
It really does feel like you are driving out in the middle of nowhere and then you turn at the sign and go down a really long dirt road with the Oak Alley covering it until you reach the first parking lot inside the preserve. That is where they ask you to sign in and register.
After registering our vehicle, we continued down the dirt road until we came to a fork in the road. At that point, we could turn off to the right and park our car in another dirt parking lot. We sat there and ate our lunches and while we were eating, a park ranger came by to warn us that the reptiles were really active since the sun was finally shining so to watch out for three different venomous snakes...and she also said that due to the high winds that were sticking around all week, the tide was really high so they recommended that we not swim there at that beach. We thanked her and then we began the walk down the pathway that leads through a small section of trees before coming out over the dunes and to the water.
Although I have been here before and knew what to expect, I was still overcome with awe as we came up through the dunes and got our first view of the water. 'Just something about seeing the boneyard full of all of the dead trees just takes my breath away. 'Not sure why as it's not really beautiful in the traditional sense, but it is still quite the sight to behold. The ranger was not exaggerating when she said that the tide was high as we couldn't even find any dry sand to walk in or to sit. We literally had to take our shoes off at the top of the dunes and then walk down into the water right away. We did manage to walk in shallow water for a while to make our way further down the beach and then we found a couple of fallen trees where we could put our things.
As you can see, the water was coming up so high and it was dragging shells up with it so every time that a wave came in, sharp and broken shells would come overtop of our feet, sometimes scratching or cutting into our feet. We definitely took our time making our way across the sand.
There were some really large and neat shells, but don't dare remove them from the beach as it's a $450 fine for each shell that you take with you!
Nolan was being so careful at the beginning because he knew that he didn't bring a change of clothes so he needed to stay dry, but the longer that we were there, the more daring that he became. In his defense, he did tell me that this would be a great place to take his 13 year pictures and since he doesn't readily agree to pictures, I was certainly going to take advantage of it. Even if that meant that he was going to climb out on the wet limbs and stumps and possibly get soaked from head to toe. LOL Besides, after many trips to the beach, Noel and I know that we will take a soaked boy home with us so I had come prepared by sneaking towels and dry clothes into the back of the car before we left.
And that's when the "totally unexpected" happened and we heard a splash and saw Nolan coming up from the water after he fell off of the tree that he had been climbing on. At least he added a little flair to his fall and dramatically made his way back to the shore!! LOL
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After a long and amazing day at the bay, we dried off and headed back to the car and made the drive back to the Charleston area. We decided to head back to the Park Circle so that Nolan could play at the park for another hour or so and then we stopped by "Big Billy's Burger" to grab some dinner. The kids and I ordered burgers made out of beef, but the wild game of the day was ostrich so our server talked Noel into upgrading to the Ostrich burger and then he also talked us into ordering milkshakes to go. (Quite the salesman, for sure!!)
Anyway, all of the burgers were absolutely amazing, including the ostrich burger and we all left happy with our choices!
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Our Thursday ended with a relaxing night reading books, solving Rubik's cubes, and playing cards together. By the looks of the forecast, it was finally suppose to get into the 70's on Friday with a day full of sun, so we made a plan to head to the beach at some point on our last day and then we all headed off to bed for a good night's sleep.
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