Surfside Beach, South Carolina

We spent the week of September 23rd at Surfside Beach, which is a few miles south of Myrtle Beach.  We wanted to go to Emerald Isle, but when we realized it was about 2 1/2 hours farther away and 5 degrees cooler, we decided to go to the beach in our 'new' home state.  As you will see, the weather was beautiful the entire week we were there.

The condo we stayed at. Even though it was past Labor Day, we almost waited too long to find a place. Found this on Sept. 21st.  Caroline is under the umbrella to the left.

3rd floor looking west.

Looking east.

On the beach.

My favorite birds at the beach: sandpipers.

View from a pier looking north. That's Myrtle Beach in the background.

Our condo is the one on the right.

Went to Barefoot Landing, a shopping center in North Myrtle. They had a couple of these white tigers on display. I got the little girl in the photo for reference to the tigers size.

Had dinner there, also. I thought this was a pleasant scene.

Sunrise on the 27th.

Sunrise on the 24th (oops, got them in out of order).

Moonrise on the 25th.

Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, South Carolina

Brookgreen Gardens is about 16 miles south of Myrtle Beach and about 10 miles south of where we were staying in Surfside Beach.

It is 9,100 acres and was formed from 4 rice plantations.  2,500 acres of it are across US 17 as Huntington Beach State Park.

It was opened in 1932 by Anna and Archer M. Huntington.  Anna was a sculptor and many of her pieces are on display in the gardens.  With 1,444 pieces, it has the most significant collection of figurative sculptures in an outdoor setting by American artists in the world (there is a building with even more sculptures, but they did not allow photography).  The Gardens are also a National Historic Landmark.

The entrance on US 17

'Fighting Stallions' by Anna Huntington. It is the median between the entrance and exit road. 

An old man reading a newspaper on a park bench.  Just curious as to what he was reading.

'Circle of Life'There are 4 sculptures in this series (see next 3). This one is 'Creation'

  'Being'  

  'Transformation'

  'Dormancy'

  Live Oak Allee'

  Sampson and the Lion in the Palm Tree Garden. That's Caroline in the photo. 

Orpheus and Eurydice within the Palm Tree Garden.

Another view of the Palm Tree Garden.  

  'Ecstasy'

  There were several poems on granite slabs just like this one in the Palm Tree Garden. I like this one the best.

  Caroline in front of Diana.

  The Fountain of the Muses: The Poet, the Architect, the Musician and the Painter.

  From the other side of the pond (sorry, but I do not remember who the female figure is in the foreground).

  Pegasus. The largest sculpture (about 15' tall) and one that took the longest to complete (9 years).

  Entrance to a short walking trail.

  Female fox squirrel.

  Water hyacinths.

  A canal built during the plantation times.

  A bald cypress along another canal.

  'Riders of the Dawn'

  Alligator Bender.

  Dionysus

  Diana of the Chase

  Don Quixote and his sidekick Sancho Panza. That's Caroline in back of Don.

  'Time and the Fates of Man'

  About an 8' alligator

  Water Lily

  A mango tree

A variety of spider lily
  

Venus transiting across the face of the Sun

On June 5th at about 6PM, Venus began crossing the face of the Sun.  It was very cloudy at the beginning and I thought I would not be able to see it at all, but the clouds broke just in time for me to get a photo just as Venus made contact with the Sun.  The clouds came and went until about 7:15 when they ended the viewing for the day.  It would have ended at 8:36 anyway, when the sun set.

It took about 6 and 1/2 hours for Venus to cross the face of the sun. The farther west you went, the more you could see of the transit.

At least I got to see some of it.  The last time this happened was in 2004 and the next time will be 2117, so the 15 to 20 minutes I was able to observe it was better than nothing !!

Astronomically, it was a big event. 

This was a practice one I took 2 days before.  I wanted to see how well my simple point and shoot digital camera worked.  Not too bad. Quite a few sunspots, also. 

Taken at 6:06, just a few minutes after the transit started. You can just see Venus at the edge of the Sun at the 11:00 position.

Almost there.

The 'ink drop' effect: the small dark extension between the limb of the sun and the limb of Venus. As the clouds went by, it reminded me of those scary movies that begin with clouds racing across the moon and wolves howling in the background.   

The best of the 15 photos I took.

I like this one, too. The wispy clouds give it an interesting look.