Thanksgiving paddling

Happy Thanksgiving!





After a late (but relaxed) start this morning, A and I went kayaking. We rented the tandem kayak yesterday and will return it tomorrow morning. We started out a little after 11 am at the Isle of Palms Marina, paddled up Morgan Creek to Cedar Creek, a creek system that technically divides the Isle of Palms from the island next door, though you wouldn't guess when you're on the creek that they are two separate pieces of land. Cedar Creek dumped us into Dewees Inlet, right next to the ocean, which looks absolutely enormous from inside an 18' paddle boat. From there, we paddled a short way up the inlet to the Intracoastal Waterway, which took us back to the marina.





Google maps says our route was 6.7 miles, but we turned down the wrong spur once or twice, so I'm sure we paddled at least 7. It was fun. We saw all kinds of birds--herons, sandpipers, ducks, pelicans, and more that I don't know by sight. One of the herons was absolutely massive! They were all pretty sizable, but this one had to be four or five feet tall. He was amazing. I took some pictures of the birds, but none of them came out particularly amazing, and I am tired, so I will not post them. I did get to use my waterproof camera case, finally, and wow am I glad I brought it! We and everything in our boat were soaked by the end of the trip. We're pretty sure we are missing something on the technique, because it doesn't seem like we should drip bucketfuls of water into our laps while we paddle. Oh well, still fun.





We saw a deer swim across Cedar Creek about a quarter mile from where it meets Dewees Inlet. The creek is pretty wide there, and it was a small deer, so we were impressed. It is climbing out of the water in this picture--perhaps a bit hard to see:





After the kayaking adventure, we cleaned up and went to a fancy restaurant for dinner with A's parents. Everything was delicious, and I ate way too much. Hooray Thanksgiving!