A week in Myrtle Beach

Well, we are on our way home at last after having a week in Myrtle Beach on our way north.  So, girls, this is your last blog.  Next Monday you are stuck with ME!  I'll try not to make this too long so you can work on getting your books up to date, because that is what we will be looking at next Monday.   

One day in Myrtle Beach, we went to the Ripley's Aquarium, and I took a lot of fish pictures.  Here is a collage of some of them.  I'll also put a few on that I especially liked. 

 What a sad face!

 How would you like to meet this fellow in the ocean?  The shark has a LOT of teeth!

Which end is the head???

 This is actually a Sea Anemone, and it was attached to the glass.  Anemones are actually predatory animals, similar to jellyfish, though they are named for a flower. 

 Who does this little fellow remind you of, Anna and Rylee?

Such a pretty little guy! 

There was an area where you could touch the fish as they swam by, and this tiny little girl was loving it!  Her face lit up with a huge smile every time she touched one! 

I love watching the seahorses!  They are just so cool!  Remember the ones in the Maggie Muggins book girls? 

Another thing I love watching is the Jellyfish.  There were lots of different ones to see, but this was my favorite. 

 Another place we visited - twice - was a place called Brookgreen Gardens, and it started out as a collection of sculptures - usually life-sized- throughout the gardens.  My favorites are the horses. 

 I also sat and had a chat with this fellow! 

 There were also a kazillion flowers in the large gardens!  So pretty! 

A butterfly just happened to come along and sit on one of my favorite flowers! 

 There was a bit of a zoo at this place as well, and we saw a lot of different birds. 

But my favorite was this tiny bluebird who came to visit us as we ate our lunch.  He was completely free. 

This beautiful little horse is a rare breed of horse, native to South Carolina, and is called a Marsh Tacky.  Anna and Riley, see if you can find out where they originated. 

We toured the zoo with a man who was showing some of the animals, feeding them, and talking about them.  This River Otter was enjoying his fish lunch.  

This VERY large alligator and his mate (behind him) were sunning themselves on a lovely warm day.  Alligators have to lie in the sun in order to digest their food.  They do not eat all winter, and are just now being fed again, since they cannot digest in the cold weather. 

Alligators are hatched from eggs, and the two alligators above are the parents of this two-year-old baby. 

 There were several foxes in a large penned area, some of them were gray foxes.  In previous visits we have seen them sleeping in trees, which is kind of surprising.  This red fox is enjoying a snack. 

 This is an injured female eagle, who cannot survive in the wild, and she has laid an egg.  But it is illegal to hatch eagle eggs in captivity, so her egg was replaced by a plastic one.  She doesn't seem to get it! 

Papa eagle has also been injured, and cannot fly.  He sure does look stern, don't you think? 

 There was an informational session with some creatures, including this tiny little Screech Owl.  Anna and Rylee, see if you can find out how big these owls are when full grown like this one. 

We were happy to see this wild turkey in the deer enclosure, though the deer did not come close enough for a picture.  We saw a whole herd of deer moving through the trees, but they didn't come close. 

 Anna and Rylee, I thought you might enjoy seeing a couple of the Lego sculptures.  These deer are life-sized, and all made of Lego.

And this butterfly on a flower was in front of the Butterfly House, which wasn't open when we were there the fist day, but was  opened for the season 2 days later.  Since our tickets were good for a week, we went back!  But it was a rainy, and even a thunder-stormy day. 

 The butterflies were not very active, but this was a very pretty one called a Painted Lady.  You can see what the enclosure was made of, so when it began to rain, we had to leave or get soaked!

 And this one was fairly active.  He is called a Zebra Longwings. 

There were a few very pretty butterflies, but I think the old faithful monarch was the busiest of all!   

 This beautiful sea gull is called - yep, you guessed it! - the Black-headed Seagull!  We did spend SOME time at the beach, but it was pretty cool, and we were kind of busy seeing musical shows, etc, and didn't spend a lot of time walking the beach.           There were a few brave souls who ventured into the water, but the water was very cold, and all I did was get my feet in! 

Well girls, this is it!  The last blog.  I'll be seeing you next Monday!
Until then.........