Beautiful Botany Bay

Whenever I visit Charleston, South Carolina, I never miss a chance to go to beautiful Botany Bay.  Botany Bay is a wildlife preserve located on Edisto Island.  It is about an hour’s drive from Charleston, South Carolina.

Edisto Island holds a special place in my heart as it is

where I accepted my first teaching position twenty-eight years ago.  I taught second and third graders at Jane Edwards Elementary School my first two years teaching.  The school building and grounds have not changed much since I taught there.

When I was teaching at Jane Edwards Elementary School, Botany Bay was not open to the public.  It became what it is today in 2008.  I am so thankful that this beautiful area is open to the public today.

To get to Botany Bay, from Charleston, you will follow these directions.  You will turn left on Botany Bay Road before reaching Edisto Beach.  One landmark to help you find Botany Bay Road is a tree on the right hand side of 174.  This tree is always decorated in some fashion.  Since my family and I visited just after Christmas, the tree was decked out in holiday attire.

One of the most photographed areas of Botany Bay is the tree-lined drive into the area.  The oaks arch over the dirt road and welcome visitors down towards the beach.

There is a gate at the entrance of Botany Bay.  The gate will open one-half hour prior to sunrise.  This will still allow you plenty of time to take the short hike to the beach in time to catch a sunrise.

I have had many trips to Botany Bay that have offered spectacular sunrises.  We visited Botany Bay this time on New Year’s Eve morning.  We were thankful that the rain held off for our visit.  There was a very brief period of color as we walked the beach and photographed the remains of trees of the past there.

Once back home, I enjoyed processing my images using Topaz Impression.  The Topaz Impression gave a look of drama to my images from that morning that was not present in the straight images.  I used Topaz Impression on all of the images used for this post except the one of the tree and the flag at the entrance of Botany Bay.

The next time you are visiting the Charleston, SC area, don’t forget to make a visit to one of my favorite places, Botany Bay!