Coastal Companion

Your ultimate guide to the coast

Sea Turtle Walks at Edisto Beach

by

Edisto Park is located in one of the most beautiful areas on the South Carolina coast. If you’re in the Charleston area – you should try to drive out for a visit.

edisto-seaturtle7You probably already know that the loggerhead turtle is an endangered sea turtle that comes to our beaches in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida to lay eggs. Many parks on the coast have special educational programs about the fascinating sea turtle. At Edisto Park you can learn all about these fascinating animals.

After a short program, the group will go down the beach in search of a nesting loggerhead sea turtle. Kids need to be 10 or older to participate, and you will of course have to be prepared to walk, so wear you’re best walking shoes.
There’s no guarantee that you will actually see sea turtles – or hatchlings, you might see tracks, and who knows? You might be one of the lucky ones who get to see a loggerhead sea turtle returning to the ocean after laying her eggs.
The loggerhead sea turtle is the South Carolina state reptile and is the most commonly observed sea turtle off the South Carolina coast.
In any case, nesting season lasts from May – August. Usually hatchlings emerge at night and head for the ocean.

Edisto park also has a campground, hiking trails, picnic areas and a playground. So why not bring the whole gang, a picnic basket, blankets and make a day of it. There is a lot to discover in this area.

The Edisto Interpretive Center helps promote the wise use of coastal resources. An exhibit features interactive displays, including a touch tank, and explains the fragile resources of the ACE Basin reserve, the largest such natural reserve on the East Coast.

The Sea Turtle Walks take place every week in July on Tuesday and Thursday at 9:00 PM – till whenever. Tickets are $10. Please call (843) 869-4430 to make reservations for the Sea Turtle Walk. Spots go fast, so call now.

Click here to watch our weekly show with  The Sea Turtle Walk at Edisto Beach State Park, South Carolina. as the pick of the week.

Edisto-Sea-Turtle

Year Round Sea Turtles Program
Interested in learning more about the sea turtles? Sea turtles have lived on the earth for about 150 million years, before the time of the dinosaurs.

Don’t despair, beside the seasonal sea turtle walks, here are a few ideas for other interesting programs lasting year round.

South Carolina Aquarium
Find it more about sea turtles at the aquarium. Here you will meet current patients, learn from sea turtle experts speak, and you’ll find out what goes on behind-the-scenes at the sea turtle hospital.

Tours are offered Wednesday, Friday and Saturday
from 1:00-1:30
$10/adult, $5/child for the behind-the-scene tour + cost of admission to the aqurium. Adult admission is $17.00 and kids under 11 years of age $10.00.
Reservations are recommended, please call (843)577-FISH.

If live in the area, take a look at the yearly aquarium membership. It comes with a lot of extras, and if you’re planning to do any of the special programs it is definitely the best way to go.

For a family of four it’s $135/year – and you can bring 2 guests. Check the website for details.  www.scaquarium.org

Georgia Sea Turtle Center
In Georgia you can visit the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island, a marine turtle rehabilitation, research, and education facility. The center opened in June 2007 and provided state-of-the-art emergency care to sick and injured sea turtles. Jekyll Island is unique among Georgia’s developed islands for its significant annual turtle nesting.

Visitors to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center will learn about sea turtle conservation, rehabilitation, and the sea turtles fascinating journey from egg to adulthood.

There are different programs offered during the year; behind-the-scenes, sea turtle walk and more.

Check out the website   Georgia Sea Turtle Center or call 912-635-4444 for more details.

Jody Espina and Friends – Savannah, Georgia

by

Saxophonist, Jody Espina, has done it all. He is a highly regarded and much in-demand Jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and flutist with a unique and personal sound. From 1985 to 2008, New York city was his stomping ground until he relocated to Savannah Ga, in the Spring of 2008.

He has performed and toured with The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Mel Torme, Milton Berle, Patty Page, Eddie Arnold, Louis Bellson, Don Alias, Bob Moses, Dave Douglas,, Lew Solof, Vic Juris, Harvie Swartz, the Charlie Persip Superband, Rachel Z, and the Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble. He is a frequent conductor of Soundpainting and has given seminars and workshops in Europe and the United States teaching it.

He has performed in recording sessions, jingles, appeared with Broadway pit orchestras, and played in pop, R&B, funk, and avant-garde groups. He has done numerous sessions for film, television and CD recordings. Jody is president of the internationally renowned, JodyJazz Saxophone & Clarinet Mouthpieces.

Jody Coordinated the Jazz Department at the Hoff-Barthelson Music School in Scarsdale NY. He also was Adjunct professor of saxophone and clarinet at Concordia College in Bronxville, NY.

Jody was Professor of saxophone, clarinet and flute in Barcelona, Spain, and the Director of the Big Band at the Aula de Musica i Moderna Jazz.

He has been involved with the Grammys In The Schools Program, bringing performing artists to inner city schools and has written and performed “What Is Jazz?” -an entertaining educational concert for children.

In Savannah, Jody is a Board Member of The Savannah Children’s Choir, and does coaching for the Jazz band at the Savannah Country Day School and also gives lessons for the Salvation Army.

Sunday, August 23rd at 5 p.m. at Four Points by Sheraton Historic Savannah – 520 West Bryan Street. (Bryan & MLK). The event is free for Coastal Jazz Association members and $10 for non-members. Join and admission is FREE.

www.coastal-jazz.org OR 912.675-5419

jazz-tabbed

Staycation Sucks

by

The other day a press release came in from a travel company that recently did a survey about the so-called “staycation”.  The results of the survey made the company come to the conclusion that a “Staycation sucks”.

Obviously these people don’t live in our beautiful coastal area.  Here we call a vacation just that, a vacation. We have no reason to leave and go very far because we live where others come to vacation.  Everything is already here, beaches, ocean, beautiful nature, exciting adventures, shopping, restaurants, entertainment and much more.  So to be forced to spend your vacation on the coast – honestly, it’s not punishment.  We do it all the time!

The whole “Staycation Sucks” is actually a fun, and inventive promotion for selling last minute travel. This is what LastMinuteTravel.com found out in the survey:

“…seven out of 10 people (73 percent ) would prefer a vacation to a staycation, but end up planning staycations because they believe it costs less (72 percent).”

We wondered what kind of questions they asked the American people in the survey.

Would you like to vacation at a nice resort where you get delicious food cooked to order every day and fancy drinks with umbrellas served by beautiful waitresses in bikinis by the pool? Or do you prefer a staycation?

Barking up the wrong tree
Personally, we always hated the term “Staycation”.  Maybe because it sounds very similar to a command you would bark to a dog.  “Stay, Buster – don’t you even think about going on vacation in the neighbor’s backyard!”

While doing research about the origins of the word, we found that according to Wikipedia one of the possible originators might have been a comedian appropriately named Butt.

Brent Butt is the very talented Canadian comedian from the comedy TV series Corner Gas.

Somehow this word became immensely popular in the media in May 2008, right before vacation season.  Soon public relations people and everyone else jumped on the bandwagon, and now not a day goes by without another press release or other with the title “Staycations” shows up in our inbox.

It is clear the word is here to stay. Believe it or not, “Staycation” was even added to the 2009 version of the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.

How could this happen, why “Staycations”?  Mercury News had found the answer.

“John Morse, president and publisher of the Springfield-based dictionary publisher, said staycations have become so popular the dictionary could not ignore them.”
Mercury News

We tend to agree with LastMinuteTravel.com – staycations suck, and a majority of the U.S. population apparently agrees.

So stop the madness.  Instead of a dreaded staycation we suggest a vacation or weekend getaway on the coast of South Carolina, Georgia or Northeast Florida.  Become a Coastal Companion instead of a miserable staycationer. When you visit our coast it is always all vacation!

Jekyll-Island-Beach

Free Weekend at National Parks on the Coast

by

Visit one of our national parks on Saturday July 17th or Sunday July 18th without paying admission. The National Park Service offers a couple of free weekends every year, and one of those weekends is coming up in July.

It’s the perfect opportunity to take family and friends out to a state park for a visit. This weekend you can for example visit Fort Moultrie, the Castillo de San Marco or Fort Pulaski.

Below is a complete list of participating National Parks in our area:

SOUTH CAROLINA
Fort Moultrie National Monument – Charleston, South Carolina
The National Park Service’s fee-free weekends apply to Fort Moultrie, a unit of Fort Sumter National Monument. Fort Moultrie is a unit of Fort Sumter National Monument. The site is located on Sullivan’s Island and is accessible by car. Fort Sumter is always free – but there is a fee for the ferry boat ride to the fort.
For more information about Fort Sumter visit http://www.nps.gov/fosu

Fort Frederica georgia
Fort Frederica National Monument. Photo: Georgia Department of Economic Development

GEORGIA
Fort Frederica National Monument – St Simon’s Island, Georgia
Spanish and British forces clashed on St. Simons Island in 1792. Fort Frederica’s troops defeated the Spanish troops. Georgia remained a British colony.
For more information about Fort Frederica visit http://www.nps.gov/fofr

Fort Pulaski Savannah Georgia
Fort Pulaski National Monument. Georgia Department of Economic Development

Fort Pulaski National Monument – Savannah, Georgia
The Battle of Fort Pulaski in April 1862 featured the first significant use of rifled cannons in combat. The fort surrendered, which was a turning point, signaling the end of masonry fortifications.
For more information about Fort Pulaski http://www.nps.gov/fopu

Cumberland Island National Seashore – St Marys, Georgia
Cumberland Island is Georgia’s largest and southernmost barrier island.
For more information about Cumberland Island http://www.nps.gov/cuis

FLORIDA
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument – St Augustine, Florida
The Castillo was constructed to defend Spain’s claims in the New World. It was never defeated in battle. The Castillo witness to over 330 years of history and culture and is an impressive place to visit.
For more information about Castillo de San Marcos http://www.nps.gov/casa

Fort Pulaski
Fort Pulaski National Monument. Georgia Department of Economic Development