Christmas on Kiawah Island, Charleston, South Carolina

A wonderful waterfront retreat can be found on Kiawah Island which is near Charleston, South Carolina.

Kiawah is south of Charleston and John's Island.

Delta airlines runs a 50 seater jet directly from La Guardia in NYC, to Charleston.  The flight was pleasant, and about two hours.

The first evening, Christmas, was spent at the Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina. We had a delicious dinner there after spending some time in their pub.

Pelicans were perched on pilings on the dock.

The sunset looking out from the dock at Charleston, was beautiful.

Our family rented a six bedroom house on a lagoon on Kiawah Island.  This actually turned out to be a real bargain, considering the huge size of the house and the large dining room, kitchen, living areas, and proximity to the ocean beach.

In addition to the waterfront, the house backed up to a lagoon. 

There was a wooden bike path over the lagoon which lead to the ocean beach.

Houses right on the beach are overwhelming.  Maybe a bit too large.

I was wondering what was going on inside these homes.  Ours was large, but these were really big.  What did they use all of that space for?

 For all of us, it was about the beach, where even in an off season, beauty was everywhere.

Beach vines just after the boardwalk.

Tiny shore birds skirting the incoming surf.

A Horseshoe Crab shell in the sand.

 The underside of a starfish.

Large American Stiff Pen shells were everywhere,

 

as were sponges, Dead Man's Fingers,

Moon snail shells,

and Whelks, and their egg cases.

The little sand collar, next to the Whelk's egg case, is made by the Moon snails so that they can lay their eggs inside the protective ring.

These branches were both yellow and shocking pink.

An egg case from a Skate.

The beach has fine sand, is very wide, and surf crosses the beach in flat ripples.

Walking along this beach is both tranquil and refreshing.
 

On the paths to the beach, Live Oaks grow, covered with Spanish Moss, which hangs gracefully down.

 

We all had a wonderful time on Kiawah Island, and continued our vacation by visiting the many sites in historic Charleston, and on John's Island.