After exploring the Savannah area, Abbey and I turned back North for Hilton Head Island where we had friends to see. It was atypically cold and rainy nearly the whole time we were there, but at least that meant we had the beach to ourselves.

Hilton Head Island is a barrier island, just like Sapelo Island that Abbey and I visited a couple days earlier. Hilton Head is full of wealth, and it shows. I’m curious how much tax revenue the town brings in, because the pathways are beautifully landscaped boardwalks and the beach access has bathrooms, changing stalls, showers, fountains, etc. that are all top-notch. This is all a polar opposite to Sapelo. I enjoy seeing both ends of the spectrum.

When I started working at Beaver Valley, Dave was my boss. I learned many lessons, specific to nuclear and not, under his tutelage, and we’ve kept in touch since he retired four years ago. Steve is another Beaver Valley guy with great stories and a rational intellect that can only be described as German. Along with their wives Sharon and Denise, and Abbey’s good friend from college David, we went out for drinks and dinner. We all had a fantastic time. I drank too much Guinness and was somewhat miserable the next day.

Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge is on the island right next door to Hilton Head. David, Abbey and I tried going when it was lightly raining one day, but as soon as we got down the trail a little bit, the winds started raging and it just poured. We were all soaked to the bone – the rain jackets and umbrellas did nothing! Abbey and I decided to try again on our way out, and we’re glad we did. We saw our first alligators of the trip, and were in awe at the bird life.

I hate to turn this blog into a place where I post pictures of birds, but I like birds, and I like taking pictures of birds. Maybe I’ll go a little overboard this post and then dial it back a little next time.

This is a Tricolored Heron. You can generally identify them by the fact that they are three colors.

These are Black Vultures. They are highly social. They find dead stuff to eat using their eyesight. Turkey Vultures are opposite. They are solitary. They find dead stuff through smell (best sense of smell in the bird world – can smell a corpse a mile away).

Pied-Billed Grebes are part submarine. They can be swimming along, and then just slowly submerge down into the water. They catch lots of yummy fish down there.

Cheers!