March 24 -31, 2025 Return Trip with Stops

 March 24

We left Gwynne's Monday morning and made our way through Amish Country, to Beth's sister's house in Thomasville, PA.  Fun catching up, seeing some of their amazing mineral and fossil collection and enjoying a visit with Anita's son Mike's young family.

Anita and Kevin with William, Ava and Benjamin.

.March 26

We left Wednesday and drove south bypassing both Baltimore and Washington DC.   Someone had told us about Alligator River Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina, so we headed that direction.  Stopped at the nearest campground we could find - Oregon Inlet - which is a national seashore site at the start of the Outer Banks.

Campsite wasn't fancy but had electric on this cold night.

Greg said to call this picture "Just Us" as our footprints were the only ones on this part of the beach.

Pretty sunset over the ocean.

March 27

Set the alarm for 6:00 AM  so we could be at the Alligator River Wildlife Refuge for dawn.  The area is noted for black bears and red wolves and dawn and dusk are good times to see wildlife.

The roads were gravel/dirt, but in good shape.  Sunrise was gorgeous, with lots of low mist.

Saw a few great blue herons.

and this vulture.

and finally a black bear.  We followed him for a while as he moved along a trail not far from the road.  

We then enjoyed this trail.

Apparently there are beavers in the area!

A combination of golden dried reeds and new spring growth.

Some dirt paths and some boardwalks.

March 28-30

We continued south, heading for Beth's cousin's house not far over the border to South Carolina.  We spent  the night at a Cracker Barrel in North Myrtle Beach, then headed to Sandy's in the morning.

We hadn't seen each other since our teens, but thanks to Facebook we kind  of were in touch over the past 10 years or so.

Sandy lives in Murrell's Inlet and what a great location!  She is minutes from Huntington Beach State Park, and close also to the beautiful Brookgreen Gardens, where she volunteers.

Here's Huntington Beach, first a walk in the wetlands.... 

I thought this reflection was cool.

And then some time on the beach.  Water was too cold to get above ankle deep!

Cannonball jellyfish.

These are tiny creatures called salps, not related to jellyfish, but look similar.  They are washed ashore occasionally and none of us had ever seen them before!  Looked like diamonds scattered on the beach.

Had some great ice cream for lunch, then went back to Sandy's for a bit before heading to the gardens.  The person at the ticket booth recognized Sandy and waved us all through - thanks!

When you purchase a ticket, it is good for 7 days, and we soon understood why.  The gardens are huge and there are beautiful sculptures throughout the grounds.  Also a few buildings with sculptures and other art.  

Some amazing woodwork.

Sandy enjoys photography too, so the three of us took lots of shots!

One building had a display of art created by their volunteers and Sandy had this pretty piece!

Sandy pointed out this fox squirrel!  Almost twice the size of our grey squirrels at home.

We finished the day with a delicious dinner at  J. Peters .    What a great visit!

Next days we drove, drove, drove.  Home.