Hilton Head Residency Part 8: Last Days on the Island
Sometime earlier in the trip, on a date unrecorded by me but I think around the 25th or 26th, M and Birdie had gone to Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge and wandered around. The biggest story to come out of that was that Birdie thought (and still thinks) that the word "mockingbird" is absolutely hilarious. For several weeks she would bust out giggling any time someone said "mockingbird" and she'd throw it out there sometimes herself and start laughing all over again. Anyway, our dolphin tour went by part of the refuge as well, and on Sunday, January 29, all three of went and checked it out.
Pinckney Island is between Hilton Head and the mainland, and adjoins the same Skull Creek that we ate alongside a little more than a week previously. We went from the parking lot and followed the gravel pedestrian/bike trail (really, more of a road, although cars were not allowed) a little more than a mile to a small pool of water called Ibis Pond. Ibis Pond is so named because the ibis's nest on the trees that rise out of the little island in the middle of pond. They do this because the alligators in the water dissuade most predators from trying to reach the nests. Of course, the occasional baby ibis does fall in and get eaten, but it's all about tradeoffs. We circle Ibis Pond (no alligators were seen) and then moved on. We took the Shell Point Trail past Starr Pond and through a lovely wooded area, then took the Wood Stork Trail back to the main gravel trail and headed all the way back.
Many, many birds were seen. Most weren't terribly unique or unusual to our experience, but quantity has a quality all its own. Birdie dragged a dead palmetto branch for a substantial distance, and we ended up having to "forget" it near the car when it was time to load up and go home. All in all, it was a pleasant walk on a nice day. I'd like to go back with a bike and ride all the way to the end of the island, a rather substantial distance.
On Monday, January 30, I was back at work. M took Birdie to The Sandbox Children's Museum, which was right near the pirate-themed Adventure Playground that we'd visited several times previously. Naturally, they visited the playground one more time after wrapping up at the museum. They also swung by the giant statue of Neptune; Birdie advised M that the trident was a "broom."
Tuesday, January 31 was a beach day for Birdie and M. The photographic record indicates that Birdie got very, very sandy and wet and had to be thoroughly washed up upon her return.
And then it was February. I worked on February 1 while we did some cleaning activities around the condo to ensure the return of our security deposit (we got it all back). Then I took the car to the car wash and used the free vacuums to thoroughly remove every piece of sand that I could find. Since Birdie and M went to the beach a bunch of times without me and a few more with me, this was a lot of sand. Birdie's car seat and the seat of the car she climbs on to enter her car seat were both covered, as was the trunk area where the beach toys (came with the condo) were carried and many other parts of the car. It took me a solid hour to thoroughly remove all the sand from the car that I could reach with a vacuum. I felt extremely accomplished when I was done.
With that, we worked to eat up all the food we had in the condo and packed up. On February 2, it was time to head home.
Pinckney Island is between Hilton Head and the mainland, and adjoins the same Skull Creek that we ate alongside a little more than a week previously. We went from the parking lot and followed the gravel pedestrian/bike trail (really, more of a road, although cars were not allowed) a little more than a mile to a small pool of water called Ibis Pond. Ibis Pond is so named because the ibis's nest on the trees that rise out of the little island in the middle of pond. They do this because the alligators in the water dissuade most predators from trying to reach the nests. Of course, the occasional baby ibis does fall in and get eaten, but it's all about tradeoffs. We circle Ibis Pond (no alligators were seen) and then moved on. We took the Shell Point Trail past Starr Pond and through a lovely wooded area, then took the Wood Stork Trail back to the main gravel trail and headed all the way back.
Many, many birds were seen. Most weren't terribly unique or unusual to our experience, but quantity has a quality all its own. Birdie dragged a dead palmetto branch for a substantial distance, and we ended up having to "forget" it near the car when it was time to load up and go home. All in all, it was a pleasant walk on a nice day. I'd like to go back with a bike and ride all the way to the end of the island, a rather substantial distance.
On Monday, January 30, I was back at work. M took Birdie to The Sandbox Children's Museum, which was right near the pirate-themed Adventure Playground that we'd visited several times previously. Naturally, they visited the playground one more time after wrapping up at the museum. They also swung by the giant statue of Neptune; Birdie advised M that the trident was a "broom."
Tuesday, January 31 was a beach day for Birdie and M. The photographic record indicates that Birdie got very, very sandy and wet and had to be thoroughly washed up upon her return.
And then it was February. I worked on February 1 while we did some cleaning activities around the condo to ensure the return of our security deposit (we got it all back). Then I took the car to the car wash and used the free vacuums to thoroughly remove every piece of sand that I could find. Since Birdie and M went to the beach a bunch of times without me and a few more with me, this was a lot of sand. Birdie's car seat and the seat of the car she climbs on to enter her car seat were both covered, as was the trunk area where the beach toys (came with the condo) were carried and many other parts of the car. It took me a solid hour to thoroughly remove all the sand from the car that I could reach with a vacuum. I felt extremely accomplished when I was done.
With that, we worked to eat up all the food we had in the condo and packed up. On February 2, it was time to head home.