Kayaking with Clark

This morning was one of the highlights of our southern adventure. Clark, Carmen's husband, is a certified kayaking guide and is extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable. To add to his list of accolades he furnished us with taxi pickup and return delivery service.

While Clark sorted out preliminaries, we took a stroll along the boardwalk over the surrounding marshland before signing away our lives on disclaimers, donning life jackets, and joining the rest of our group, a family of four, for brief introductions and basic safety talk from Clark. A dolphin bobbed above the surface beside us as we clambered into our kayaks and slid into the water.

Clark led and the rest of us unskillfully followed from the harbour into Shem Creek, a narrow and shallow waterway full of abundant nature. Battalions of fiddler crabs paraded in little armies all along the water's edge and scurried off into the marshland grasses as we floated past. Herons majestically posed at intervals before flying away, a number of huge storks soared above us on the thermals, and at our level various wading birds strutted in the shallows seeking their various prey. Clark pointed out the ones we hadn't noticed, named them all, described their different lifestyle habits, and enthused about the surrounding landscape. The water of Shem Creek became ever shallower, so we retraced our steps (our strokes?) before venturing out into choppier waters towards Castle Pinckney a protected bird sanctuary teeming with incredibly loud avian activity. A huge cacophony of shrieking and squawking provided the soundtrack as dozens of different types of seabird swooped in or out or scrabbled for their selected spot on the island. We cruised around the island as dozens of brown pelicans either flapped over our heads or glided gracefully just above the surface between our kayaks.

The time was too short. Mike and I could have lounged in our kayaks bird watching for the rest of the afternoon but we had already exceeded our time so reluctantly we returned to shore.

 

Charleston is a food town. Judging by square mile or number of residents there are more restaurants than in any other city we have visited. Every local will make recommendations based on the chef and the menu. Those currently at the top of the popularity list require reservations weeks in advance. Although we were flatly refused a table by the top two, we had three memorable dinners. Tonight at Magnolia we dined on crab cakes, flounder, and pecan pie at a spacious table in an unhurried quiet atmosphere. If I had to pick a favorite, this would be it.

 

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