On Sullivan's Island

My older brother, Ron, and I differ on many things. One of those ways is that whenever I read about someplace in a book I really like it makes me want to visit the locale in which it is set. My brother is just the opposite. He says, "I've already read the book. I don't need to go there." In other words, the author has described the place so well that Ron has already been there in his mind. (I do the same - but I still want to see the place with my own eyes.)

Sullivan's Island was Dorothea Benton Frank's first book in her 'Lowcountry Tales' series. I loved that book and all the succeeding ones. I became infatuated with Ace Basin - the large estuary region of the Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto Rivers around Charleston, SC.
Further reading of Anne Rivers Siddons books set in the same area and Laura Child's Tea Shop Mystery series fanned the flames of my desire to see that part of the country for myself.

Of course I knew in order to go from Charleston to Sullivan's Island we'd be crossing yet more bridges including this one. Not a good picture, but you've probably seen it numerous times already.

The Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge seen in many Charleston pictures. (After reading about this guy, I don't think he deserves having a bridge or anything else named for him, but then I'm not from the South.)

The bridge over to Sullivan's Island is the Ben Sawyer Bridge. Luckily it has received $40 million in repairs since being damaged by Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

View from the bridge as we approached Sullivan's Island from Mount Pleasant.

Here at last! I'm actually ON Sullivan's Island! So happy. Check another one off the bucket list. The last name of one of my best friends in high school was Sullivan, so this picture got posted on Facebook with the notation: "This one's for you, Ellen!"

A quick drive by and picture from the outside of Fort Moultrie. It would have been nice to visit the museum and visitors' center while here, but that weather was getting closer.

In one of the books I read, the 'taco place' was mentioned. So, of course, that is where I wanted to eat. We sat on the patio at Taco Mamacita's and had the best food. Have I already mentioned that one of the foods I wanted to try on our trip was a shrimp po boy - which I got to try in Marianna. It was good, but not nearly as good as the shrimp po boy taco I had. We also split an order of sweet potato fries, my first. Christine had told us about them. They were as good as advertised!

After lunch we headed for one of the public beach accesses. When we parked the car in front of a house near the boardwalk, a man came out and asked, "Are you going to be here long?" We were sure he was going to tell us we couldn't park there. Instead he said he had just heard that they were under a tornado warning. I asked, "Where do you go in case of a tornado?" He replied, "I don't know."

The beach with some type of freighter in the middle distance. We did not tarry long.

On the way back to the car we admired the beach homes and played 'pick'. This is the one I chose as my favorite on that side of the Island.

Leaving Sullivan's Island, we crossed over to the Isle of Palms. Large scale residential development of this barrier reef island began with the building of low-cost housing for WWII veterans. I'll bet those same houses aren't 'low cost' now.

Back across the intracoastal waterway to the SC mainland heading homeward bound. It wasn't long after this that the rain hit. We angled across South Carolina heading toward North Carolina driving in heavy rain the whole way. Thank goodness, no tornadoes.