Pawley's Island - Still arrogantly shabby

Georgetown county was my setting for the final weekend of duck season, even though my sources told me that a recent aerial bird count revealed a scarcity of birds in the area. The end of the season was celebrated from the outpost of Pawley's Island, and the only ducks that were encountered were the loons rafting just off the beach and the mergansers and buffleheads fishing in tidal creeks. A rainy Saturday gave way to a blustery Sunday, but there was still a few opportunities to scour Pawley's for signs of life. Crossing the causeway onto the island brings you to Myrtle Ave. which passes through the historic district an dead ends at Midway inlet. One of the oldest seaside resorts in America is easy to walk around in, and historical markers make it easy to acknowledge the Island residents of the past. Rice planters had early outposts at Pawley's to escape malaria and they included the LaBruce family of All Saints Parish, and Robert Nesbit who owned Caledonia plantation. Joshua J. Ward was a rice planter who went on the be the S.C. Lt. Governor from 1850 to 1852. The All Saints Academy schoolhouse remains today and its headmaster Robert F.W. Allston became Governor of S.C. from 1856 to 1858. Plowden Weston served S.C. as Lt. Governor from 1862 to 1864 and his home is now called the Pelican Inn and serves guests visiting the Island. Not many visitors are headed to the beach in January when a Nor'easter is blowing though, and a thoroughly pleasing commune with nature was accomplished. The photos depict the Pelican Inn, the copious sea foam that was generated at high tide when the ocean was battering the groins, and the sun trying to shine despite heavy clouds.