My husbands birthday was a couple days ago, if you follow me on social media you are probably well aware of this, and we love outdoor activities, so I took him kayaking for his birthday on the Ashley River with Charleston Kayak Company at our favorite, Middleton Place.
Now being from Hawaii, we have kayaked before, and I also paddled a little in high school in outrigger canoes, and it is something we love to do! We however had not done it in years, and lately had been dying to do it again, and plan to get our own kayak later in the year, fingers crossed! I had looked online to see what Charleston offered for rentals, and when I came across that it was offered at Middleton Place, I about jumped for joy! Y’all know we are obsessed with Middleton Place! If you are new to my blog, you can check out some of my other posts I have on how much we love it,ย here, is a guest post I did, and here!
So since it is summer, and hot, humid, with a side of hot, we booked in the early a.m. so it would be enjoyable, and it could not have been a better day! It was a little cooler than usual, cloudy, and a slight breeze, we really lucked out! We met Luke, our instructor, he gave us a quick overview of the areas we could go, what to be on the lookout for, how to correctly hold the paddles, etc. We got into our life jackets and into the tandem kayak, and off we went! We wanted to stay on the main channel for the most part, because during our conversation with Luke, he pointed out a school of dolphins heading up the river during high tide, and we wanted to try and catch up to them, but we didn’t find them. We saw one baby one, but that was all. However we did see a ton of gators!!! Now initially we were a little nervous about them, but Luke said they really are very skittish, and when they see you they run and hide. We found this to be very true. No gator got anywhere near us, and when we would head straight towards one on the river, they either dove down or swam away. We felt perfectly safe. We saw the biggest ones I have ever seen up close, it was pretty awesome!
We were on the water a little over 2 hours, and it was really beautiful! We were the only ones there the entire time. Very quiet and peaceful, with the occasional bird call, and pitter patter of crabs along the shore, and reeds blowing in the breeze. On our way back there was a thunder storm off in the distance and we could see the lightning and it was very moving to see mother nature at her finest. We cannot emphasize enough how much we loved it and would do again. We already are making plans to take my parents in September when they one to visit, and we would like to do the Swamp Kayak Tour in the winter time too!
I also wanted to give you an update on everything else going on in our world as I have not posted in awhile. We have been so busy with birthdays, the goats, going to the beach, and finishing up projects here and there that comes with owning our historic home. I will get back into the swing of things shortly! ย Until next time, Mahalo for reading!
Mary says
It looks like you had so much fun! I’ve never been kayaking and can totally picture myself going in a circle the whole time. Lol. I love the goats and the puppy. ๐ What a great thing to come back to!
Anonymous says
Gators!
?
The swamp kayak tour sounds incredible!
Could those goats be any cuter! I think not.
Happy late Birthday wishes!