Dear Daytrippers,

How many Daytripping stories over the years have begun with “the bus broke down” and ended with unexpected treasure? This is one of those. I am at Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina on a beeline for Fort Myers, FL but planned a quick overnight stop – you know my MO – arrive just in time for a quick dinner and an evening event then back on the road first thing in the morning. Entering the park I am immediately surprised by my surroundings. I am driving a causeway through a freshwater marsh to my right and tidal salt marshes to my left past a boardwalk with observation towers. It is almost sunset and photographers are waiting for sandhill cranes, egrets, osprey and herons to fly in. Later I discover that a pair of bald eagles are currently nesting here and this park is one of the East Coasts’ premiere birding destinations, particularly during the winter migration period. Setting up the RV I hear waves crashing on the shore but the can’t see the ocean. I have been looking forward to wading in the Atlantic so decide to take a quick jog to the beach. The trail is a boardwalk which passes over spartina grass and what they call black pluffmud, through a coastal forest of oaks, red cedars and lots of creeping wines. I see a sign “Alligator’s Live Here” followed by “It is Illegal to Feed the Alligators” and remember an alligator tour in New Orleans where the guide told us they love marshmallows. Next, I see a notice to respect dark time for sea turtles and I am already loving this place. It is now twilight. Silvery sandpipers are feeding at the waters edge, the water is perfectly smooth and they appear to be standing on nothing.
My stop here was planned to visit Brookgreen Gardens annual event “Nights of a 1000 Candles” which this year coincides with the East Coast’s instillation of Bruce Munro’s amazing “Field of Lights” – here it is called “Southern Light”. Having toured “Field of Lights” in Paso Robles last year I was eager to see it once more.

Brookgreen Gardens, founded 1931 by Archer Huntington, heir to a railroad fortune and well-known philanthropist and his wife, Anna, a noted 20th-century sculptor, is the first every outdoor public sculpture garden and was built to showcase Anna’a work. Called the “floral jewel” of South Carolina, Brookgreen’s 9,000 acres preserve the 250 year old Live Oak trees planted in the early 1700’s when today’s garden was a thriving rice plantation. Brookgreen contains the largest collection of American figurative sculpture in the country, displayed in a stunning garden setting. Tonight, those oaks, the sculptures and already majestic gardens come to life amid more than 4,500 candles – hand-lit each night – countless sparking lights and bagpipers piping carols. I walk under ancient live oaks dripping in Spanish moss and dazzling white lights, admire the sculptures surrounded by fountains illuminated by floating candles and into “The Field of Lights” where 12,000 stems of light slowly change colors, creating a shimmering, mesmerizing effect. It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Next morning, preparing to head out bright and early, the side outs on the RV will not operate and I cannot operate the RV with side outs out! Turns out it will be two days before a mobile RV repair service can come to my rescue. So, the unplanned adventure begins. Two days to explore the beach, hike the nature trails, birdwatch and hope to see alligators – sadly I am too late for the sea turtles.

Remember Anna and Archer Huntington? This state park is 2,500 acres of their 9000 acre estate. The couple left both the park and the gardens as their legacy. Ayalaya Castle, Archer and Anna’s striking, Moorish-style winter home is a short walk from my campsite. The home was built during the Great Depression using local workers to help boost the economy. The castle has thirty rooms laid out around three sides of a courtyard. In the center of the courtyard is a water tower after which the house was named. ‘Atalaya’ means ‘Watchtower’ in Spanish. In addition to the house and studios for Anna to work on her art are animal enclosures where the couple kept horses, bears, monkeys and a leopard. The rambling fortress is separated from the ocean only by dunes and low thickets so was designed to withstand hurricanes. Many of Anna’s significant works were sculpted here. Several of those pieces are now at Brookgreen Gardens. During World War II, the Huntington’s let the United States Air Corps use Atalaya as a barracks and a radar unit. After the war they returned only briefly and then following Archer’s death in 1955 Anna only visited twice before her death in 1973. In 1984 Atalaya was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and stands as a monument to the creativity and generosity of the Huntington’s.

After touring Atalaya I went in search of a park ranger to piece together the family connection to our beloved California Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino founded by Henry Edward Huntington and his wife Arabella Huntington. I was given an abbreviated history of this family beginning with their emigration from Great Britain in 1633, prominence in the Revolutionary war, important role in the early Latter Day Saint movement and involvement in American railroads, art patronage and philanthropy. Did you know Arabella Huntington was the widow of Henry’s uncle Collis Huntington – one of the Big Four? And finally the connection – Henry and Archer were cousins… fascinating I know, but enough for today.
Back at my campsite sitting by the fire I think again how much I wish you were all here with me. I look forward to sharing my new discoveries on future tours.

Missing you, stay safe
John