Active Weekend

Where has this week gone? It is Thursday and I haven't even had a chance to share my weekend adventures with you yet. I guess it is that little thing called work ... and the fact that I am in my busy season over at the studio. But being busy with work is not an excuse to be lazy, I have still managed to get in my long after work walks and active weekend adventures.

I have said this before, but it is worth saying again. I am loving living somewhere new! There are so many good places to go and walk around on the weekends that even though I go back to places that I loved, there are still plenty of new options to explore. Using the power of the internet I have been able to find so many amazing places to visit with little research time involved.


Let's start with Saturday. Saturday always seems to be the smoother adventure day because we usually plan to go somewhere that charges admission while on Sunday's we are off to remote locations that are often free. This Saturday was so cool and crisp I decided that we should go for a longer car ride then usual and check out the Riverbanks Zoo.

The zoo was pretty standard zoo like, and quite crowded so we got in a slow walk around the grounds. I don't know if it was the early morning hour or a testament to the care given to the animals, but there seemed to be more animals awake then we usually see when visiting a similar establishment.

The animal side of the zoo was an okay size, but I was looking for some more walking so we crossed a bridge over to the garden side. On the garden side we were greeted with a great walking trail through the woods up to the formal garden with some inclines that added some much needed effort to the walk. With the time we spent in the garden we were able to get in a 4 hour walk which is above our usual 2 hour minimum walk for a weekend day.

Looking back I actually enjoyed the wooded trail to the gardens even more then the zoo! Most people seemed unsure about crossing the long bridge and walking to the gardens so it was almost deserted over on that side of the park. If we lived closer by I would certainly buy a yearly pass.

After our 4 hour zoo adventure my husband and I were ready for lunch! We searched around the area, and as luck would have it found an Italian Festival. There was music and food to be enjoyed, and it was a different way to spend the afternoon. I got some interesting personal images of the band's luggage and was pleased with our find. All in all it was a full and fun active Saturday.

On Sunday we decided to go back to the Francis Marion National Forest to search out two small interpretive trails which were both short, but hopefully by walking both we could get in our usual 2 hour hike. First on the menu was a newly discovered bagel shop, and then we continued on to the forest.

Armed with coordinates for the GPS we found the Sewee Shell Ring Interpretive Trail fairly quickly.  This was a secluded trail on the Intercoastal Waterway where we were the only people there for our hour long visit.  There was minimal history about the middens of ancient Native Americans which did not satisfy my anthropological curiosities, but the trails through the forest and boardwalk over the marsh had spectacular views and made for the perfect morning walk.

With things going so well we made a quick stop for some water and headed off to the Battery Warren Interpretive Trail to learn some more about the Revolutionary War.

The drive took us deep into the country side, which is not uncommon when searching out these remote locations.  Then we found an unmarked dirt road so we knew we were close.  Unfortunately after several miles the road became more and more sandy and my tiny little Mini Cooper got stuck in the dust.  Lucky for me my husband is handy in a crisis so he pushed us out and we had to give up on getting to the trail from that direction.  The day was starting to get late so we decided to leave that trail for another Sunday.

All in all a great weekend with some nice hikes involved.  This weekend the fair is in town so we might be sticking closer to home and indulging in a few classic fair treats and ferris wheels!