1287 October 16, 2025 Gem In South Carolina

My walk this morning took me by Atalaya, the house built by the Huntington family in 1931.  The family donated this land that was to become Huntington Beach State Park in the 1950’s.

I also walked out to the beach.

The park was to preserve the habitat of wildlife; birds, turtles, and alligators.  The Huntington’s had created two manmade ponds for fresh water species.  In addition, the property sits on a salt water marsh and has miles of ocean beaches.  There is maritime forest as well.  Migratory birds use this place as a rest stop.  More species of birds have been identified in this park than in all of the Carolinas!

We went to Murrells Inlet to do some errands.  Our first stop was the CVS.  We both got Flu and COVID vaccines.  It was simple and free!

We went to Publix for a few groceries and for fresh water fill and we fueled the Jeep.

This afternoon we biked about 7.5 miles through the park on a paved bike path.  It was another gorgeous day.  We saw gators and turtles and dozens of wood storks and a couple of spoonbills.  We followed the path parallel to Highway 17 and then through a neighborhood with big and beautiful beach houses.

This evening, we packed steamed shrimp and whole grain sourdough and took our picnic out by the pier.  We watched the birds.

We were waiting for the sun to go down and we got a FaceTime call from Kyle and Wade.  It was dinnertime!  Wade was loving his meal!

 Tomorrow, we will leave this place and head south to Charleston.  This was a really cool park and I hope that someday we get an opportunity to come back and explore some more!