Carolina Wetlands, Part 8 (Rounding It Out)

Well, we did it. We made it to the final article in the Carolina Wetlands series. Thank you for following along vicariously on my journey. Often I use the final article as a catch-all, a way to catalog stories that don’t fit anywhere else. It also lets me add a few items to my lists, or to reconnect with long-ago articles published elsewhere on the site. So let’s get to it already and wrap this thing up.

Hunting Island Lighthouse

So I guess I should go ahead and admit it. I went to Hunting Island State Park in Beaufort, South Carolina solely to see the lighthouse. I have a lighthouse fixation and I wanted to add another capture to my list. What can I say? Obviously I enjoyed the beach and the marsh boardwalk trail, but I needed the lighthouse (map).

It no longer functions as a navigational aid although it sure cuts a wonderful figure. Construction began in 1859 and destruction arrived soon thereafter in 1861. Confederate forces blew it up to hinder the Union fleet’s advancement on the South Carolina coast. However, the need for light remained. A permanent lighthouse arrived in 1875 and that particular structure survives today.

Fort Fisher Ferry

Unfortunately this is an example of the one that got away. I track my ferry travels too. Then I add them to the list. So I had high hopes when I headed out to Fort Fisher outside of Wilmington, North Carolina.

I prepared a really interesting loop for a full day of touring, with the highest of hopes. Being Easter weekend, I anticipated a higher than normal tourist count and expected to wait for the ferry (map). Then I arrived at the ferry ramp — well in advance of the next crossing — only to discover that the line already exceeded the capacity of the next ferry. I’d have to wait close to two hours if I wanted to cross.

I love ferries but not quite that much. So we took a big U-shaped detour to get to Orton Plantation, which being Good Friday, was… closed. Now you see why we returned to Wilmington and spent the afternoon touring breweries.

Thus my only sighting of the Fort Fisher Ferry happened from the viewing platform at the end of the Basin Trail. I was really far away from where we stood and that’s why the photo looks so distorted. My telephoto lens pretty much maxed out trying to get a decent shot.

Rest Stop

Way back in the early days of Twelve Mile Circle, back to 2009 to be exact, I wrote an article about the decline of rest stops. That happened during the height of the Great Recession as states cut their budgets. Closing rest stops seemed to be an easy way to save money, I suppose. Fortunately many of them returned to service once the recession passed.

Well I guess I don’t have much more to say here. For some reason I took this photo when we stopped for a picnic lunch along I-95 in North Carolina (map). It seemed a lot more attractive than South of the Border, which we passed a few minutes earlier.

Cypress Methodist Camp Ground

While I’m tying up loose ends, let me go back to another long ago article. In 2014 I wrote “From Camp to Town“. It focused on towns that started as camp meeting spots for members of the Methodist Church. This movement traced roots going back more than two hundred years. Religious adherents gathered each year for a week of worship, fellowship and socializing. Sometimes towns formed around them.

Naturally I was delighted to find a Methodist camp that continued to exist in its original form. Best of all, I didn’t have to look far. It sat just a few miles away from our base near Ridgeville, South Carolina (map). The Cypress Camp Ground dated all the way back to the 1790’s. And it still meets!

A rectangular set of rustic cabins formed a rectangle around a large chapel open to the elements. Individual families own these cabins and pass them down through the generations. Thus they can spend an entire week at camp and experience every activity at ringside without ever needing to leave.

Old Santee Canal

I kind of have a thing for canals too. I know. I need help. Anyway, the surprises continued at Old Santee Canal Park in Moncks Corner, South Carolina (map). Obviously I expected a canal. I mean, just look at the name of the park, and of course I wasn’t disappointed.

However, I didn’t expect what I saw at the visitor center entrance. They made it look like a canal lock! I know it doesn’t take much to amuse me but I think most people will admit this is rather creative. I wonder if that large wooden door actually swings shut? Well, maybe not; it looks pretty stationary.

On This Site

Outside of Ridgeville, South Carolina. Photo by howderfamily.com

Believe it or not, I actually wrote an entire article about those silly Nothing Happened signs once. They came in a variety of flavors with the year 1897 being particularly popular. The trend even spread to the United Kingdom where the average date tended to be earlier, reflecting its longer recorded history I supposed.

I found an example in the wild much to my joy. Better yet, it occurred right on the grounds of the place we used as our home base for the week. Sometimes things just work out and that seemed like a fitting way to end this series.