On New Year’s Day we woke up and decided to give Botany Bay one more try. It was closed the previous day for hunting, but we hoped it was open today. Jack was really disgruntled about not being able to come with us two days in a row, but the website was very clear that dogs were not allowed. We were both relieved when we pulled in and saw the gate was open. They also had some volunteers helping at the entrance who gave us a very nice map and instructions on the driving tour. The nature preserve is actually two former plantations and there are some ruins throughout that you can look at. We decided to do the driving tour first and save the beach for last, which I recommend, or you can skip the driving tour which really wasn’t that interesting. Here’s the pictures of the driving tour.
The remains of an old ice house from one of the plantations
The ice was kept in the hole in the ground which was cool to see
This section ran along the marsh which was beautiful and we were lucky enough to run across this woman who brought her horses to take a picture. I love moments like that.
The roads really weren’t in great shape but we managed ok
For many years there was a caretaker on the property and this tree had a stone set in memoriam
There are worse ways to be remembered
The reason this is perfect for a nature preserve is this natural dam which divides the body of water into smaller sections for the birds
One interesting relic was this beehive well which was created by slaves in the 1800’s
My favorite spot of the entire driving tour was this beautiful area with overlapping oaks. I tried but my picture couldn’t really capture the depth and beauty of it
Finally we made it back to the beach and were surprised by the number of cars. It’s a half mile pleasant walk to the beach area and we saw lots of families with small children making the trek.
At low tide these oyster beds are uncovered and the birds come out to feed. It was a bit chilly so we didn’t see many but the beds were neat.
I also had a chance to try out my new magnetic Pocket Plus. I have tried so many water holders I can’t even count them but this is really cool. It allows those of us who go beltless to use magnets to hold the pouch and it didn’t hurt me at all. I really liked it and highly recommend it.
It was a pleasant walk but so far nothing really special, but it was free and it was a beautiful day. Then we came out on the beach and wow, just wow. There are places that you see things you have never seen anywhere before and this was one of them. Here are the pictures and yes it really looked like this although the scope was impossible to capture. This area was at least a mile long and because you can’t take shells there were tons of them.
The beach is full of huge oak trees. Too many to count
When I say huge I mean huge. This is the root system of one of them.
It’s important that you come close to low tide if you want to see these trees all jumbled up and exposed, although we’ve seen some great pictures of the standing trees surrounded by water at high tide.
Many of them have been there so long they are covered with barnacles and there is surprisingly little trash as you walk along
We did see this one huge metal piece from a ship which was cool in and of itself because who knows how old it is.
I loved the gorgeous shells people stacked up places. It was a statement. I saw the shell, but I am not taking it. I stacked a few as well. You would never see this at a regular beach.
We walked for a couple of hours and could have stayed longer but I started getting hungry. It’s a really special place, totally free, and I hope you get to see it on your travels. Just don’t go on Tuesday!!
Here are some pictures Lee took!
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Camper Chronicles 
Love the photo of those overlapping oaks. Feels like a fairy tale scene.
It was super peaceful
These are really beautiful photos!