Blythe Island, March 19

I will try to keep tonight's edition brief, since last night's was so long.

We left Hilton Head for Blythe Island, a couple of hours down the road.  The campground here is much more rustic, with unpaved roads and lots of dust.  But each camp space has lots of room, with vegetation between each, so there is privacy.

Franklinia alatahama

We took it easy this afternoon, since yesterday was so full.  It was 86-88 degrees here, a good day for hanging around.  Tomorrow promises to be much cooler, more suited to activity.  I read "Bartram's Travels" for awhile, and surprisingly, it was about the coastal plains of South Carolina and Georgia!  We would have passed the place where Bartram discovered Franklinia today, not too far off I-95, "on the waters of Cathead creek, a branch of the Alatahama."  Franklinia alatahama  is a large shrub or small tree which was collected by William Bartram at this one location over 200 years ago, and was never again found in the wild.  Luckily for us, he propagated the plant in his own garden, and it is from his seedlings that the plant still exists today. It flowers in mid to late August.   I have seen it in Philadelphia gardens, but it does require some protection from harsh winter weather.

We did go into the small town nearby, Brunswick, for dinner.  Isn't "Yelp" wonderful?  We used it to select a place for dinner, and came up with a little hole in the wall that was really very good.  It is the sort of place I wouldn't have the courage to stop at without another's recommendation.  (I admit it, I am a coward.)

"Indigo Coastal Shanty, Where Vacation is 

a State of Mind"

Salmon

I had 'Salmon dredged on Moroccan chemlouly rub, grilled and served over jeweled couscous with a feta yogurt' (left), and Lee had 'Charleston sauté, with local shrimp and country ham, sweet peppers, ripe tomatoes, onions' and grits.   His was more southern than mine, but both were excellent.  And for dessert, we split

'Bahamian bananas sauteed in key lime juice, brown sugar, and Bahama's rum with melting vanilla bean ice cream'.  Yum!!