Loving Life's Details

I often write about appreciating the little things in life, but it is a topic that I think bears repeating.  One thing that I really enjoy about the area where I live is the abundance of old trees.  In the midst of new developments, I am still able to find areas where ancient trees have stood the test of time.  Sometimes they are hidden in strange places throughout the city.  I consider these the lucky trees that were somehow chosen to remain standing while others fell.  Most of the time they are off in parks or countryside and beg for me to pull over and admire their detail.  Spring is the perfect time to admire natures beauty, and I often find myself wondering what each tree has bore witness to over its lifetime.  Mysterious, luxurious, and beautiful each tree inspires me to appreciate the little things in my life.


* Images & text copyright 2012 Brooke Photo Studio

Walking in Charleston

I couldn't be happier with the wide variety of walking spots in and around Charleston, SC.  I moved here in September 2011, and soon found out I was expecting my first child.  This made walking the best exercise to keep my pregnant body in shape.  Now in my 8th month of exploring the area with my husband I am happy to report many a trail walked dozens of times and that we still frequently discover new spots to stroll in the afternoon or a crisp weekend morning.  Walking has been good for our health, but also provides me with the best conversations with my husband.  It is a free, healthy activity that keeps me emotionally close with my soul mate.  Happiness fills my world, and I am thankful for each step we take together.


* Images & text copyright 2012 Brooke Photo Studio

Restrooms

It seems like lately every restroom I visit while out adventuring with my husband looks like this.  Even in neat and clean big box stores I am finding a lack of toilet paper, and precious hand soap.  There is always a sign that says to wash your hands, but not always a method to do so.

Sometimes when I walk into a restroom I am pleasantly surprised to find soap or hand sanitizer.  I even found a bathroom at a gas station with 3 hand sanitizer stations in and outside of the restroom.  I told my husband to remember that one in case we are ever in the area and the urge strikes again.

On the flip side there is a local consignment shop that I have been frequenting every week or so to look for treasures.  I have yet to find a treasure, but I have found that the last two times I was there which were just days apart there was no toilet paper.  Thank goodness for soft-ish paper towels, but it makes me wonder if the bathroom went all those days between without any toilet paper on hand.

I have taken to hoping for the best, and carrying hand sanitizer everywhere I go.  And if you are wondering why bathrooms are so much on my mind, the answer to that is simple...I am pregnant! 

Charles Towne Landing

I wanted to add Charles Towne Landing to my list of favorite places to walk in the Charleston, SC metro area, even though I visited on a camera-free weekend.

I am an admitted history buff so historical destinations are always on my list.  What I really liked about Charles Towne Landing was the 7 miles of walking trails to get my weekend exercise, and the variety of learning experiences along the way.  Due to the size of the site the parking lot was full when we arrived, but we met up with very few people along our journey.  It was a leisurely walk, and seemed like we had the place all to ourselves.

At the beginning of the trail you will find the entrance to the Animal Forest.  This part of the trail is a miniature zoo that is stocked with animals native to the Charleston, SC area.  You will find bison, elk and deer along with some more exotic offerings like bobcats and pumas.  The area is set up with plenty of space for each animal to roam so when you explore the paths it feels more like a nature hike then a trip to the zoo.  The walkway is shaded throughout which would be ideal on a hot summer day.

Following the trails throughout the rest of Charles Towne Landing you will come across a variety of historical markers and buildings.  There is even an archaeological display with commentary to shed some light on how scientists discovered the history of the area when it was first excavated.  There are also some lovely gardens to explore, and beautiful ocean views along the way.

Overall it was the perfect morning adventure and we were finished around lunch time.  A definite addition to my list of places to return.

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!

Wordless Wednesday - Italian Festival Band

Monday Surprises

Monday's have always been one of my favorite days of the week. I am a bit of a neat freak so I never leave the studio messy on a Friday. When I come in Monday it is a fresh new start to the week. I have photo shoots lined up, a list of paper work and marketing activities to do. I am fresh and ready to roll.

When we lived up in Surf City, NC life was simple. It is a beautiful, isolated beach town where there isn't much else to do. We had a few places that we enjoyed hiking like Moore's Creek Battlefield, but spent more time looking for things to do then actually doing them. I would take the long car rides to relax and enjoy my husband's company.

Now that we are in a more urban area things are quite different on the weekends. We hop into the car with a plan, and even though we usually end up miles from home by the time we are done exploring, we spend more time actually doing things then ever before. We hike, explore and visit quirky museums. We laugh when the GPS takes us down long dirt roads to nowhere.

Which leads me to my new favorite thing about Monday's -- finding out what is on my camera! I am usually jumping right into a photo shoot on Monday morning so I get an extra treat when I grab the images off my camera. Now I have a whole collection of weekend images to sort through on my computer, and hopefully some will become blog entries. It has let me take my photography career where I photograph still life and products in the studio all week back to an artistic venture on the weekends where I photograph something interesting if it happens to be in my path. Some of these weekend images do end up in my stock portfolio, but most of them end up in my personal collection of memories.  It is refreshing to have some fun with photography, and not just have it all be work.

I'd love to show you some of my weekend images on this Monday post, but I am in the studio and work calls -- there is a photo shoot I must finish up with another on its heels before I can think about diving into the images that just came off the camera.  Lucky for this post I have plenty of stock photography images in my collection to illustrate these Monday words.

More Adventure Then Exercise

Sunday was a little bit of a failure exercise wise, but local road tripping with my husband is always a good adventure.

The excitement was still there from Saturday's swamp walk so I decided to find another new walk to do on Sunday.  We settled on exploring one of the portions of the Palmetto Trail and set out to find the entrance.  The Palmetto trail runs the entire length of South Carolina so it has been on our must see list for hiking since we arrived.

When we arrived at the trail head there was something a little bit suspicious going on in the parking lot so I wasn't 100% sure that I had picked a great place to hike.  We had a choice to go towards the coast on the Swamp Fox Passage, but that route involved crossing a large traffic filled road so we ended up walking in the other direction on the Lake Moultrie Passage.

There was more trash then usual on the trail as we entered, but we did walk through the woods, over the train tracks, and up a large hill to a stunning view of the lake.  We admired the graffiti and I saw some interesting smoke stacks on the other side of the lake that I thought would be a great subject for some stock photography.  We admired the graffiti on the lake shore and decided to go back to the car, and try to find another (perhaps cleaner!) trail head closer to the smoke stacks so I could grab a shot or two.

Lucky for us there was a map close to the parking lot that we had overlooked when we entered the trail.  We grabbed it and were on the go.  It was another gorgeous fall day so I was happy riding around with my husband with the windows and sunroof open.

Enroute to the smoke stack we found the burial place of Francis Marion.  He is a local historical figure from the Revolutionary War whose name pops up frequently in our area so we made a little detour to visit.  It was set back down a long road in a peaceful location that provided some good quick history facts.

My husband is getting very good at searching out things we see in the distance -- in fact I might share some more of our recent finds in a blog post later this week!  My sense of direction was confused, but he somehow got us right on top of the power station with the smoke stack that I wanted to photograph.  It was an okay vantage point, and I took a few shots, but knew they were not as good as the ones I had gotten from our adventure at Riverfront Park in weeks earlier.

Then we saw some signs for a housing development that looked like it was on the other side of the plant so per usual the day lead to adventuring down a dirt road with no idea what we would find.  I was able to get some great images through a fence and the vantage point was much closer.  I don't generally bring all of my photography equipment with me on a weekend day so I was working with a wider lens then I needed for the right shot so this closer vantage point greatly improved my results.

With a couple stock shots in my camera we set out to find a 6 mile loop trail near the lake to get in our long walk -- the original reason that we started adventuring this day.  We were able to find the road which of course turned out to be another long dirt road, but to our disappointment the road was closed off and the location of the trail was unclear so we ended up giving up and headed back towards home to have a little grill out for lunch and relax.

We didn't get in as long as of a walk as planned, but the adventure certainly was sweet.

Swamp Walk

On Saturday morning I was up and rolling ready for a swamp walk in Francis Beidler Forest at the Audubon Center.  My husband insisted in a quick pause for some blueberry pancakes before we embarked on our adventure, and I do have to admit that they were delicious.

Fall is my favorite season, and there is nothing more exciting then living in a new place with so many sites to visit all around.  We have been in the Charleston, SC Metro Area for a month and two days now and the new adventures have not slowed down one bit!

Some of our gems involve time searching the web, but we found out about this trail in a more simple way.  Soon after we completed our move I had my husband drive me by the entrance to the hotel we stayed in where I collected a pile of tourist brochures to get us started on our local explorations.  This was a great way to find many places to go and things to do without having to do too much research.  They are often places with higher entrance fees, but so far the quality and experiences have been worth the price.

Our GPS took us to the forest quickly via the interstate even though it was a little bit out in the country.  Once we got close the roads narrowed and soon turned to dirt so I knew this was going to be a good adventure.  Along the way the roads were lined with overflowing cotton fields ready for harvest.  I took a few quick shots for my stock photography portfolio, but was much more excited about reaching our destination.

Down a long dirt road in the shade we found the Audubon Center where we forked over the admission fee to gain access to the 2.75 mile boardwalk through the swamp.  It was still early in the morning so the other visitors were few and far between.  The 30+ year old boardwalk was worn, but sturdy and gave us a closer look at the swamp then we have gotten at other locations.  The fall breeze was blowing through the shade making the day just perfect for a long walk.

We took the first loop slowly, pausing to take some photographs and watch alligators and turtles swim about.  We decided to do a second loop more for the sake of exercise that we completed at a quicker pace as the sun began to warm the swamp.  With the two loops I felt like we got our usual weekend 2 hour walk and was satisfied that we got some exercise in the process.

The highlight of the trip was the size of the trees.  South Carolina has been careful to preserve old trees in abundance, and we are in awe every time we see them.  In the swamp there was a cypress tree in particular that was set aside that really stunned us.  It was more of a hollow shell of the tree preserved in time, but the boardwalk had a staircase that allowed us to peek inside and view the sky through the height of the trees body.  While inside the sound of woodpeckers echoed in one of those life moments that will always stick in your mind.

Adventure in Santee Canal Park

Over the weekend I had a great adventure with my husband at Old Santee Canal Park in Moncks Corner, SC.  Not only does the park have a great variety of walking trails, but they also have a very affordable canoe rental service as well.  I have had it in my mind for quite some time that I wanted to rent a canoe and go for an adventure so this was the perfect opportunity.

The canal was full of plant life and algae so it was a good workout to paddle through the muck.  It took us about an hour and a half to paddle to the far end and then back.  While returning our paddles we were treated with an up close encounter with an alligator as seen in the photo.  We also walked some of the nature trails in the park which included wooded paths and some beautiful boardwalks.  It was fun to be able to walk along the path that we paddled through earlier in the day.

This kind of outing is my ideal form of weekend exercise - out in nature and something new.  I enjoy my weekday workouts, but it is much more fun to break things up on the weekend with something like this.  Not only did I get exercise, and have a little adventure, but I also got some quality time and conversation with my husband as well.

Boardwalk at Riverfront Park in Charleston, SC

From my walk a few days ago ...

Pumpkin Patch

There is nothing that I would rather do on a crisp Autumn day then visit a pumpkin patch.  When I opened the window over the weekend to find that a cool breeze had finally reached South Carolina I headed over to my computer to find a pumpkin patch nearby.

HDR Photograph I took at the local pumpkin patch.

My husband enjoys indulging my New England upbringing and after popping the address into our trusty-at-least-most-of-the-time GPS we hopped into my well traveled Mini Cooper and set out on a new adventure.

With the sunroof down I remembered a childhood filled with hay rides and adventures on the farm to find the perfect pumpkin for Halloween.  This moment marks the end of summer which signals to me a rush to enjoy the sunlight as the days shorten.  I started to build a list of places to walk, and fairs to see while at the same time dreading the moment that I want to jump out the door into nature when my husband comes home from work and I see that the sun has dropped too low into the sky for my adventure.

HDR Photograph I took at the local pumpkin patch.

Welcome to my favorite time of year.  It is time to explore.  You can find this farm at 2620 Hanscombe Point Road, Johns Island.

Farmers Markets - Eating Local & Imported

In my hunt for a great place to buy vegetables, I have visited two grocery stores and two farmers markets in my area so far.

The first place I visited was a large grocery store chain that I was used to finding good vegetables in when I lived in North Carolina.  I was disappointed by both the quality and variety of what was available.  I bought a few items, but in the back of my head knew that this store would be for other things on my list like toilet paper and paper towels, but not for vegetables.  The second grocery chain I visited was much better for variety and freshness, but a little bit pricy on some items.

Over the weekend I was able to visit two very different local farmers markets.  The first one I went to was in Downtown Summerville South Carolina.  This market was what I would consider to be a true farmers market.  All of the vendors were local farmers, fishermen and craftspeople selling a seasonal selection.  Lucky for me there are lots of wonderful fresh vegetables this time of the year in South Carolina and we were able to purchase enough vegetables to eat for about a week for exactly $30.  This is not only less then we would spend at the grocery store, but the vegetables were of a higher quality as well.  I also feel good about shopping at this farmers market because we are supporting our local farmers who I want to keep in business for a long time since they produce a product that I need on a daily basis.  The market was small, but the variety was bountiful.  Another bonus to this visit was writing down the name of a local farm and looking them up on the internet.  I was able to discover that they offer a seasonal farm share where I can reserve a box of their freshest fruits and vegetables to pick up weekly.  I missed the Fall session, but have a plan to sign up for this service in April for the spring session.

Downtown was a success, but I also wanted to check out the offerings at the local flea market since I live close to the Fair Grounds where it is held each weekend.  What I found there was a wider variety of offerings, including some more exotic fare, but the bulk of it was imported.  The people are still local, but the food is not.  As far as freshness was concerned I thought everything looked on par with the grocery store or better in most cases.  I enjoy supporting local farmers, but I can also see myself supporting local people for some imported fruits and vegetables to add some more variety to my diet.  I didn't purchase anything from this market since I had already gotten several bag fulls from the other, but I will certainly be back in the future to browse.