Well it looks like we'll be going to visit our friends in Sun City, SC every year in March while I have off from my job at the local community college for it's Spring Break.

We drove there last year and combined it with visitng my brother in Roanoke. This year we flew and combined it with parts of FL.

I did not expect to get to very many lighthouses on this trip- the only one I was counting on was the Hilton Head Rear Range. We had missed out last year because we left it to the last day and got to the gate of the community it's in too late to be let in.

Esther and I spent our first day, Saturday, in SC going our seperate ways. She and our friends Phyllis and sherry went to tea and I went to the Rear Range lighthouse.

I used the directions on the Lighthouse Friends website and they worked just perfectly. The lighthouse is on a golf course in the middle of a upscale housing area. It's very difficult to get a clear shot of the whole lighthouse due to the trees that have grown up all around it.

Here's the best I could manage-

Hilton Head Rear Range Light



Here's one with some of the problem trees-



I decided since I was on Hilton Head I might as well drive down to Sea Pines and see the Harbourtown Light which was the catalyst that started me down the road to Wacko status.

The light is open to climb but my knee has been bothering me so I opted to not climb it- or any other lights i went to that I could climb. I had climbed this one- and all the others I got to this trip that could be climbed - at some point in the past.

I figured i'd just go to the gift shops on the ground and see the same things.

Here's a shot of Sea Pines Harbortown light. It looks like it could stand to be repainted shortly.

Sea Pines Harbortown Light



Sunday was spent in the Charleston, SC area. Believe it or not our first stop - and most important for some - was the closest Dunkin donuts store to Sun City, SC. It's on the outskirts of charleston and we stopped for some coffee- and yeah we had some donuts as well.

We were discussing what to do and since it was still before noon I suggested we drive down to folly Beach for Morris Island Lighthouse. The people we were visiting with are not Lighthouse Wackos but they enjoyed the trip we took last year to hunting Island so I figured they would enjoy this one as well. They said sure let's go.

We programmed the lady- what the crew took to calling the portable gps system I brought because it spoke with a woman's voice- and off we went.

The weather was gorgeous- high 70's with very few clouds and medium humidity.

The group raising money to save Morris Island has this marker at it's driveway which is just before you cross onto the roadway that leads you to the light-



We continued past the foundations of the buildings that were part of the coast guard base that used to be here. You have paved right up to where the beach starts.

Here's some shots of Morris Island - as well as one of both Morris Island and Sullivan's Island (it's replacement) across the Charleston Harbor and one of just Sullivan's Island LH.

Morris Island



Morris Island & Sullivan's Island (it's there , really)



Sullivan's Island



We left there and had the "lady" take us to Charles Towne Landing which is the original site of charlestown. Here's a website about it-

http://www.charlestowne.org/

We spent a good part of the afternoon here. We then took a drive down to the Battery in charlestown and then took our leave of charleston and drove back to Sun City.

Dennis