Low Country Adventures

This will be a brief post because I could not do my typical adventuring on our trip to "Low Country" last week. Two weeks ago, I was out on a 6 mile trail run at Umstead State Park and badly sprained my ankle and foot. Our trip to Edisto Island was scheduled for the following week, so I was in no shape to even walk, let alone run, like I normally would on my beach vacation.

This is the fourth winter in a row we have spent some time on Edisto Island. It's a super laid back island without a resort and with a great campground right on the beach. Much of the island is marshland, which means the bird watching is incredible. We always see a ton of pelicans, egrets, and herons. There are alligators too, but we never see them in January when we are there.

On my 250 yard walk on the beach. Crutches on the beach were not super enjoyable!

Lovely sun rays from the car

Edisto Island is not super easy to get to. It's about an hour off of I-95 on back roads that I highly advise you stay off of at night. It's about an hour south of Charleston and two hours north of Savannah. It's a perfect spot to feel disconnected from the hustle and bustle of "real life" and connected with nature. And if you are needing something more than reading, walking, or running on the beach, then there are plenty of options for day trips.

Because I sprained my ankle, we didn't do much. However, we did adventure out one day to the cute town of Beaufort, South Carolina (pronounced bew-fert). I've read just about every Pat Conroy book since moving to the South, so was excited to check out the town he has lived in and written about. Also, several movies, including Forrest Gump, The Big Chill and The Great Santini were filmed in this cute historic town. I just wish I could've walked more, because it is full of incredible antebellum homes and tons of great photo opportunities. I was limited to taking pictures from the car and on the couple of blocks of Bay Street that I hobbled around.

 Spanish Moss covers low country

 A crazy thunderstorm came in while we were there. Was kind of fun to watch it from under an awning on Bay Street. 

 So many cool homes! I wish we could've walked around all afternoon. We'll have to make a trip back someday!

On previous trips to Edisto, we've done quite a bit right on Edisto Island. Botany Bay is one of my favorite spots for a walk on the beach. We've also rented kayaks and explored the marshes for an afternoon.

Boneyard at Botany Bay

For eating, I recommend getting some locally caught fish from the Edisto Seafood Market and cooking it at your place. If you feel like driving, The Old Firehouse Restaurant has some great southern food (make sure you get a side of cabbage. Seriously, you won't regret it.) I've also heard the Old Post Office Restaurant in Edisto is great, but we've never been because they are always closed for the month of January. On our way home this trip, we stopped and ate lunch at Hominy Grill, which was recently written up in Food & Wine as having some of the best biscuits in the country (and I love biscuits!!!) These biscuits did not disappoint and they had a great veggie plate with really unique and southern options, like mashed sweet potatoes, grits, braised cabbage, and squash casserole.