Scenes from the ditch

I feel like I've put a pretty negative spin on the Intracoastal Waterway.  It really isn't as bad as I've made it out to be.  It isn't all bridges, shoals, murky water, and developed shoreline.

Like this...

Or this...

Or this.

Some stretches of the ICW run through exceptionally beautiful and pristine natural areas.  Many are National Wildlife Refuges and nature preserves.

Dolphins play in the South Carolina sunset

Salt marsh

Kiawah's shadow

The diversity of birds is unreal

Bacon n' eggs on the road

The other day, as we traveled through a South Carolina section of the ICW,  I looked over and noticed turtles sunning themselves on a log.  Wait a minute... turtles?  Freshwater turtles??!  I couldn't believe it.  I dipped a piece of line in the water and tasted it.  Yup.  Freshwater.  I just assumed that we'd be on salt water for the entire length of our journey.  But somewhere along the way while I wasn't paying attention, the salt marsh turned into a lazy Cyprus swamp.  The Waccamaw river to be exact.  Suddenly, I felt like I should be in a canoe instead of a 40 foot sailboat.  I expected to see whitewater around every bend.

Baby yellowbelly slider

Cyprus?

Osprey nests abound!

Our anchorage on the Waccamaw

No fish landed...

just leaves.

Mayfly hatch!

Riley's self portrait

It was a really nice change to be in an entirely different ecosystem. We even caught a glimpse of an alligator! 

I couldn't help but wonder what the barnacles on the bottom of our boat were thinking.