Easter and Paddle Boarding

This weekends weather

Woooo We are open on Easter Sunday!! The weather is looking beautiful for this Easter weekend. I love a sunny day that isn't super hot yet. Even more exciting is that my mom is coming down from NY.  She will just barely be escaping winter storm Virgil, and keeps telling me how 60 degrees is going to feel like a sauna to her. She's a master gardener and scientist extraordinaire so come on down to meet her! The schedule is still very open, so definitely call to book a tour or rental! Which leads me to paddle boarding.








Paddle boarding rules.  Simple as that.
You are on a super sturdy board, which are all the new 2013 models since COA only offers the best. This means that you start out very well balanced, and with a bit of core and keeping your weight in your toes you are cruising across Folly Creek! Don't worry though, you begin on your knees and get the hang of your paddle first. In fact, if you don't feel comfortable you can stay on your knees as long as you like! This past Sunday, on my day off, I ended up on Bowens Island anyway and took out a paddle board. In West Ashley it was beautiful, sunny, and warm.  On Bowens it was beautiful, sunny, warm, and windy.  Wind is something you want to be careful of when you decide to take out a paddle board. I went out anyway but stayed on my knees the whole time since paddling standing up with the wind was too hard.  Still super fun and a great work out.  I made my way into one of the back creeks where I was out of the wind and just laid out in the sun.  I highly suggest this for any deep thinking or relaxing on vacation.

I want to take YOU out on a paddle board tour.  Don't worry if you've never done it before, you'll get a lesson before we go out and then I'll go at your pace. Check out that weather again for this weekend.  Not too windy! Call me up!!

-Anna, Your active adventurous naturalist

Charleston Outdoor Adventures Days part 1

Folly Beach Sunrise

I woke up extra early this morning (which was easy because I somehow fell asleep at 7 last night) and made it all the way to the Folly Beach Pier to catch the sunrise.  It was a beauty. Cloudy enough so the pink really came through at dawn.   Luckily, the weather only went down to 50 last night, so it was nice sitting out with my travel mug of coffee. This was a great sign for the morning in front of me, as today was our annual Adventures Days.  I stopped at the Lost Dog Cafe for an awesome sausage, egg, and cheese croissant to go and some delicious coffee on my way to Bowens Island.

My favorite picture from the day

Casey from Tides

Monty looking excellent.

This year, our Adventures Days is really special because it was almost like a grand reopening for us.  "Bigger and Better" is a true statement after the fire last August.  We have more kayaks, more paddle boards, and a new 12 person charter boat to go with our current 6 passenger boat.  The Tides and Vendue Inn each sent a few of their front desk and concierge personnel to come on their own tours with us. COA likes to give back to the community, and especially those who help the visitors of Charleston find out about us and place reservations. By nine o'clock we had 6 people on our dolphin boat tour with Joe, 5 on our kayak tour with Tripp, and 2 on our stand up paddle board tour with Little Bill.

I was just kidding that your smile would break the camera...

I went out on the kayak tour with 4 guys from Vendue, and Brian from The Tides. We swung by the old shrimp boat, cruised past the dock, and landed ourselves in King Flats.  The tide was super high so we didn't have to worry about knocking into oysters and could see clear over the spartina grass. The weather continued to be great too. It was finally warm enough to work up a sweat, but still comfortable with the breeze.  The water was like glass and we just coasted on top.

All smiles here! This was just before you went dolphin chasing

On the way back in we were finally graced with the presence of dolphins.  Swimming right in front of us and then under us. We caught up with Will and the paddle boarders right before heading to the landing.  At the same time Joe was pulling in with his charter.  Apparently, "dolphins had been following us from the beginning", Joe said, they were "cruising right for us". Next time I better keep my ears open from the get go!

We all came back together just before the dock

Even with the early start, I thought today was fantastic. I'm excited for Part 2 tomorrow!!

Thanks for coming out Tides and Vendue Inn!

-Anna, your most bubbly naturalist

Twilight Paddle with Mike and Louise

 At four o'clock Mike and Louise got out on the water to begin their sunset kayak tour being led by Will.  Barely leaving the landing we were suddenly accompanied by a pod of at least 5 dolphins swimming just to the north of us.  Their tails were coming high out of the water which means that they were diving deep to eat some delicious fish. We were able to drift with them for a bit and watch as their skin glistened off the late sun every time they came up for air. 

We made our way across the glossy water over into King Flats Creek where we paddled upstream so that we could take the current home. Mike and Louise are quite the pair.  Mike was a 7th grade science teacher for 35 years and Louise has been in pharmacy for 50+ years.

All the way from Southern Wisconsin, this was their first time visiting the south east coast, staying at the Residence Inn for 5 days before going down to Hilton Head to stay with friends. Louise raved about the breakfast that the Residence Inn offered every morning. They thoroughly enjoyed walking around downtown and the tour they took of one of the downtown mansions. Their favorite restaurants so far were Hominy Grill and Fleet Landing. 

They were an excellent couple to paddle with.  Being a retired science teacher, this was the perfect birthday present for Mike.  At 65 years young, Mike strolled the estuary while asking great questions so we were able to really delve deep into Will's expertise of the three cohesive eco-systems that we are surrounded by. 

 

 
 With the breeze at our backs, we easily paddled in as the sun set low under the clouds.  It may have been only 50 degrees on the first day of March, but it was certainly nice paddling weather.