Lunchtime on Daufuskie Island
The Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge is all about lunch this week. The challenge is to photograph any aspect of your lunchtime experience with a phone. One post, from Wind Against Current, features two of my favorite bloggers having lunch on and off their kayaks in a variety of locations, and it got me thinking. Often, the quick snacks we have while in the middle of exploring new places involve the spontaneous use of whatever is at hand – sometimes resulting in a McGyver approach to lunch.
We were vacationing on the Carolina coast and decided to visit Daufuskie Island. One of the Sea Islands, it has no bridge, and that has protected it from the rampant growth of neighbors like Hilton Head Island. It’s a beautiful place where remnants of the old Gullah culture – an African culture that escaped assimilation because of the isolation of these islands – might still be seen, if you know where to look. (Nearby, St. Helena Island has kept Gullah culture alive at the Penn Center, a school opened in 1862 to educate freed slaves and made a National Historic Landmark in 1974.)
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That mid-July day was sunny and the beach was steaming hot. A starfish seemed to mock our discomfort with a nonchalant wave:
We saw a message in the sand – I guess someone found that perfect conch shell, but they didn’t want to lug it around in the heat.
A Willet eyed us and posed nicely.
We decided to take shelter behind the dunes under some scrubby cabbage palms. Scrounging through our backpacks, we found an apple, a small can of tuna & crackers, a little container of peanut butter I pocketed from the hotel breakfast bar, a bag of chips, and water. We wanted to share the apple but had no knife, so that tuna can lid made a good apple cutter. The shade sure felt good.
Refreshed, we walked back down the beach, then turned inland to walk sandy roads back to the dock. We had a boat to catch.
Near a tiny stream leading out to the beach, I found an old, neglected cemetery.
It was one of the old Gullah cemeteries, overgrown and beginning to wash away.
For Gullahs, burial near the water draws one closer to Africa, across the ocean;
graves may be lost to erosion over time,
but perhaps the loss more ours, for the history, than theirs
…perhaps the final wash into the sea cleanses and unites every being.
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The old oaks hold many secrets on Daufuskie.
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If you have a minute, take a look at some resources on this magical region of the U.S. Better yet – go there!
and find more Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge submissions here.
bluebrightly 
Thanks for inviting us along on your lovey picnic, Lynn. I love that huge old oak and those gravestones. I love to explore old cemeteries when traveling. Good use of the tuna can lid to cut your apple. 🙂
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Me too – once I looked on google maps for the more out-of-the-way-looking places while I was visiting Florida (near Ft. Myers) and noticed a Cemetery Rd. Had to go there, and sure enough, there was a gorgeous old cemetery there. They can be fascinating.
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I know what you mean. I’ve seen a lot of great cemeteries down south. Europe also has some amazing ones; I found some beautiful ones in Greece. 🙂
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Anytime!
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Lunchtime | Flickr Comments
How unusual to find an old cemetery! The Unknown Grave photo is very haunting. The beach looks like a lovely place for lunch, and the first image made me smile! 🙂
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They were taken several years ago with a little point & shoot…thank you!
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Oh, what beautiful oak trees…and that is quite an image of the beach, too…wow. 🙂
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It’s a very beautiful area, it really is.
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Daufuskie Island is now on the list – your shots are all so beautifully captivating and inviting, and what a great way to chop that apple!
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The whole region is fascinating – I’m glad you enjoyed this, and thanks for taking the time to comment.
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A perfect place to enjoy lunch and just be one with nature. The beach just beautiful and peaceful.
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It is – the Sea Islands, of the coasts of S. Carolina & Georgia, are very beautiful!
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Beautiful, I wonder if the person returned for the conch before the tide washed away the message.
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Thanks! The conch was gone, but the message was till there – must have been puzzling to the next beach-walkers.
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Good group of images– we visited Sapelo Is a few years ago and your pictures bring back a lot of nice memories.
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I’m glad – it’s so beautiful there – wish it weren’t so far away!
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Beautiful pictures. My husband and I plan to return to the island the next time we head home to Hilton Head.
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Thank you – have a great time and take pictures!
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