Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Today we visited Hilton Head Island to bicycle some of the Island's nearly 50 miles of public pathways and nature trails.

First we tried the beach...fun but hard work.

We found some wildlife on the beach. Lots of lots of jellyfish.

We started our bicycle ride on Hilton Head's Pathways at Chaplin Park.

The public trails often look like this...nice and shady.

They often have furry creatures hopping around on them too.

The trail we were on led us to this skate park where Marlon demonstrated some skateboarding maneuvers.

Doug could barely stand on this rail in shoes...let alone on a skateboard.

Our trail took us up the Cross Island Parkway, a toll bridge, right beside the traffic.

A view of Broad Creek as we stop on the bridge.

After about 18 miles, it's time for a drink.

We found some more wildlife along the pathway who agreed to pose long enough for a picture...

For a brief video of our bike ride on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, click below. For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/may/hilton-head-island/ .

To be continued...

Savannah National Wildlife Refuge

Today we drove just a few minutes down the road to the Laurel Hill Wildlife Drive which is part of the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge.

The refuge includes portions of 13 former rice plantations.
We found some wildlife here at the Wildlife Refuge. Imagine that!

Here is an alligator head.

Can you find the wildlife in this picture?

We found a cave man who dressed in a fashion popular in the 1980's.

We found some birds who appeared ready to attack like those in that old movie.

We found an alligator butt.

We were able to sneak up on this turtle and snap a few shots before he ran away.

We got to the refuge about an hour before the gate would close...shocking for us. So we did not get to ride our bicycles...also shocking for us. But we did have transportation in case our car was disabled.

Gotta get out fast now. The gate will automatically close any minute now.

The refuge had a lot of lily pad type things in the water.

The last wildlife we saw that day...

We decided to take them home as pets.

For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/may/savannah-national-w/ .

To be continued...

Parris Island Pt. 2 and Beaufort, South Carolina

Next we headed down Parris Island's History and Nature Trails and found a few items of interest.

These are the remains of a Brewster Buccaneer Scout Bomber which crashed in 1943 near Page Field. Both crewmen survived the crash.

Marlon gives up...he can't read Spanish.

Little does he notice that the bottom half of the sign is in English and says it is a tribute to the Spaniards who made their mark here between 1566 and 1587.

We found this rattlesnake along the trail and decided to take it home as a pet.

In the mud on Parris Island you'll see and hear thousands of creepy little fiddler crabs. They eat delicious decaying plant and animal matter sifted from sand and mud.

The lighthouse keeper used to live here.

We came across this bird and decided to take it home as a pet.

Recruits were training on the rifle range...

but still not training on the obstacle course. This obstacle course is called Leatherneck Square.

This is a tribute to all past and present, nice and mean, Marine Corps drill instructors.

This familiar monument commemorates the 1945 flag raising at Iwo Jima.

This version, constructed of coated plaster, was used to raise money for the much larger bronze version erected in Arlington Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

A brief video of Parris Island...

Next we took a short drive to nearby Beaufort, South Carolina (that's "byew-furt", not to be confused with Beaufort "bo-furt", North Carolina).

There we found this church, the First African Baptist, which originated in 1863.

We found the house used as the setting for the 1983 baby boomer movie "The Big Chill" starring Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly and JoBeth Williams.

The same house was also used in the 1979 film "The Great Santini".

Finally, we located this house which was used in the filming of the 1991 Barbra Streisand-Nick Nolte feature "The Prince of Tides".

For more pictures of items in this entry, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/may/parris-island-and-b/ pictures 46-96.

To be continued...

Parris Island, South Carolina Pt. 1

Today we headed over to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island where they proudly proclaim, "We Make Marines".
At least one million Marine Corps recruits have been trained on Parris Island since training began here in 1915, when recruits arrived by boat.

The Parris Island Museum is an excellent source of historical information on the island and the Marines.

The oldest marine to be trained on Parris Island was 50 year old, future Illinois Senator Paul H. Douglas.

On display at the museum, you will find uniforms from all eras of the 233 year history of the Marines.

Parris Island is THE place female recruits from all over the US receive their initial training. Generally, only male recruits living east of the Mississippi train here with those living west of the Mississippi training in San Diego.

Prior to training recruits, Parris Island served as a training center for corps officers. Here's a picture of the first graduating class of officers in 1909.

Uniforms from the World War II through the Gulf War...

New recruits assemble on the ground floor of the Parris Island Museum for a museum orientation.

Brand new exhibits at the museum feature the Global War on Terrorism.

Did you know the Marines have, on occasion, been called upon by the President of the United States to protect the U.S. Mail?

New recruits perform drills many hours of the day.

One of the training obstacle courses...

Rifle formations...

"Iron Mike" is a memorial to Parris Island Marines who gave their lives in World War I.

"Molly Marine" is dedicated to the service of all Women Marines.

Check out the video below for some Parris Island footage...

For more pictures, go to http://public.fotki.com/Marlonfleenor/1/2008/may/parris-island-and-b/ pictures 1-45.

To be continued...