Has anyone else spied the new WALMART commercial featuring Morris Island Lighthouse? It's at the very beginning of a commercial featuring a couple that travels all over taking pictures. Kinda neat to see Morris Island selected, instead of the more "usually" photographed ones.

Last week I was watching an oldie from the 40's this shows lighthouses have been around for a good while.probably as long as me.At the very end the movie ended up under the George Washington bridge at jefferies hook light. Bill O'Brien oseabee

Have seen several San Fran area lights on reruns of Nash Bridges lately and the picture, The Rock ws on the other night and boy was Alcatraz done badly....and Fort Point was given a big role also...
Derith

I think that commercial was filmed in & around Charleston, as I also recognized the Shem Creek area on the commercial (the shot with all the shrimp boats).

The pics of Morris Island were very nice, though. He seemed to be at the northernmost tip of Folly Island to get a picture of that clarity (a guess).

Savannah Brian

Brian,

I agree with your guess. It looks exactly like it diwhen we was there last October (2000).

We drove down to the end of Folly Island and walked down the road past the Loran Station. There was a photo shoot going on for a catalouge that day.

We got as close as you can to Morris Island without a boat. It's in bad shape- the lantern room is empty and there is no island. We later saw the metal frame and part of the prisms for the Fresnel lens from Moris Island at Hunting Island in SC.

That's a very nicely restored light. They have some of the building restored also. it's in a nice park.

You can see a very small Sullivans Island Lighthouse from the beach at the end of Folly Island. There is a much smaller view of morris Island from the beach below Sullivans Island Lighthouse.


Dennis

Wheland, the last time I was in Charleston (which is quite often), the northernmost point of Folly Is. was closed off. I don;t know if this will be a permanent thing or not.

Fortunately for Morris Is., the state of South Carolina purchased the lighthouse from the organization, "Save The Light", whihc had been the steward of this light. The state is leasing it back to them for $1 a year for 99 years. This opens the door for state funding to preserve the light.

This group is doing some really good work. Check them out at www.savethelight.org .

Savannah Brian

Is the northenmost part closed off totally, or just closed off to vehicles? When we were there in April it was closed off to traffic, but we were able to walk out to the beach opposite the light. We walked back to where we parked by way of the beach.

Very interesting because we were there at the max low tide and it almost looked like you could walk out to the light.

Dave

It was my experience also that the road was closed to vehicles only. You were directed to park about 400 yards away and there was no sign stating you could not enter on foot.

As I recall the sign had the name of a County Govt. on it. I may be mistaken, but that's what I recall. We walked right by the foundations of what were either buikdings from the old Coast guard facility or the lighkeeper's house. there were no signs saying what they were.

There was a young woman sitting at the gate across the road, but she was part of the crew doing the photo shoot and was there to open the gate for any authorized vehicles to gain entry or exit.

The tide was a little higher when we were there so you could get close, but not as close as when you were there.

Dennis

From what I recall, it's closed off to vehicluar traffic for sure. I seem to remember a USCG sign on the gate stating no tresspassing, so my wife & I turned around. I'll look into this further.

Savannah Brian

[This message has been edited by Savannah Brian (edited 01-15-2001).]

We were there this Fall and parked at the area of the public beach and walked about 1/2 mile to the old lighthouse area. This was our second trip and have had no problem getting to the beach near the light except for the "sandy" walk. I got some wonderful photos.

I stand corrected about access to the northern tip of Folly is. This is from www.savethelight.org :

"Here are specific directions to find the Morris Island Lighthouse:


TO FOLLY BEACH. If northbound and before reaching the Ashley River bridge, turn right off US 17 into SC 171. If southbound and a short distance west of the Ashley River bridge, turn left into SC 700. Continue on SC 171 to Folly Beach and, at the second traffic signal one block before a hotel at the end of Center Street, turn left onto East Ashley Avenue. Continue for 3.3 miles to the entrance of an abandoned Coast Guard LORAN station. Although vehicular traffic is denied entry by a locked barrier, pedestrians are allowed to walk the 0.25 mile to the beach for a spectacular view of the lighthouse.


Across Charleston Bay one can see the towering Charleston Lighthouse on Sullivan's Island. At the gate's turnaround there is free off-road parking. On weekends this parking lot is usually full. If it is, park on one of the side streets and walk the short distance to the station's entrance."

So it seems that one can walk out to the tip of Folly & get a great view of Morris Island light!

Savannah Brian

I was watching the A&E channel this AM when a zocor medicine commercial came on.The commercial ending showed a sail boat sailing past the cuckolds off the coast of Maine. Bill O'Brien oseabee

I bet you did not know there was a lighthouse in the Rhode Island area that is an exact duplicate of Pigeon Point.

Well, there is. At least in the Rhode Island of Providence. The have a story line about a recluse at a Lighthouse on Lair Rocks.

They are using Pigeon Point as a standin.

Some nice shots of the lighthouse and it's surrondings. Done very carefully to not show the shoreline very distintcly.

I'm sure it wil be repeated at least twice later this year. I'll be watching the listings and post it when it comes up again.

Dennis

I also saw Providence and thought the light looked like pigeon point but could only see as far as the first window.I happened to catch it just as I was about to shut TV off.when I saw the light I ended up watching the rest of the show.Bill O'Brien oseabee

They were very careful in how they shot the lighthouse. only a few shots showed it in the daytime. And most showed only part of the lighthouse.

Still there were some nice shots of the whole thing.

Dennis

Thanks for the "Heads-Up" on the L/H on Providence. We were racking our brains to remember where in R.I. it might be????
Thanks again to you L/H wisemen !!!

Harry and Judy

Providence, the show, spent a lot of time on the LH. Thanks for the info about which one it was. I think the lighthouse keeper is being setup(I hope) as a recurring character. So, stay tuned! I rooting for the wedding to take place there.

Anythings posible. I agree that the character will probably return.

I had a strong feeling when the first named the light that it was not going to be one that existed in RI.

As soon as the first shot of the light base with attached building was shown I thought it might be Pigeon Point (we were there last May), but I was not sure until the first daylight shot.

I hope they have a nice long story arc on this one.

Dennis

I am soo glad that I am not going crazy. We also watched Providence last night and spent the entire show looking through all our lighthouse books. I know we didn't see all the lighthouses around Providence, but we saw quite a few in '98. I thought for sure they wouldn't use a lighthouse from the west coast when they have so many of their own.

When they first showed it I told Roy that it looked exactly like Pigeon Point. We were there last summer and I took plenty of photographs of it. I knew we could come to the forums and find out which lighthouse it was.

I too am looking forward to the continuation of the keeper's storyline. This will give me a lighthouse fix until we can go visit one for real. Looking forward to the end of cold weather and summer vacation.

Thanks again for bringing this thread to the forums. We'll keep an eye out for more lighthouses on t.v. Take care everyone

Carolyn

I went on a providence site and they said that the lighthouse in that episode was "believed to be at Pigeon Point
lighthouse last night. It is on the Pacific coast, south of San Francisco, near the town of Pescadero". The interior shots were thought be be built on a stage.

It is Pigeon Point. that's exactly where it is located. It's about 1- 1/12 hours south of San Francisco. depends on where in the area you start from. I did not think to got to Providence's webpage.

Did not even realize they had one, but then again doesn't everything have a webpage these days.

Thanks for the info.

Dennis

first of all the scenes shot inside the lighthouse.the old oil house would need rubber wall to get every thing in.I check the chatham Ma. web cam regularly to keep tabs on my old home town.their web cam has a direct link to providence and from there you can get on the program fan club site.If any one wants the Chatham web cam adress let me know.Bill O'Brien oseabee

I was busy last night, but I taped Providence. Have not watched it, but the TV listing in next week's TV Guide has the Lighthouse Keeper back into the mix.

Circle your calendars 2-16 8 PM EST. Or whatever works for you.

Dennis

We just finished watching the Providence episode.

They went back to the Lighthouse a couple of times. they even gave it a real name this week- Sakonnet Point. There actually is a Sakonnet point Lighthouse in Rhode Island. Here's a link to some info and a picture.
http://www.lhdepot.com/database/uniquelighthouse.cfm?value=228

The story arc continues next week.

Dennis