Archive for January, 2012

Weather Report: January 30, 2012

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

It seems as though Edisto Island has decided to skip winter altogether as this week brings with it another week full of sunshine and warm temperatures.

The only downfall to the week is that there might be an occasional smoky afternoon or evening as several fires in the region continue to burn and smoke blows out over the water. These far-off fires should not pose any problem to anyone’s safety, but anyone with respiratory concerns should stay indoors of the smoke is bothersome.

Other than that, like today, much of the week will be in the high 60s with tons of sunshine and little chance for rain. The lows should hold steady right around 50 degrees at night throughout the night.

Clouds might pop up from time to time throughout the week but for the most part the sun will shine through. Thursday is the only day where there is a significant chance for rain, but the high for the day will still be around 68 degrees.

Although the week looks like it will be warmer than the weekend and have more sun, the current forecast for Saturday and Sunday includes partly cloudy skies with a high of 65 for Saturday and cloudy skies with a high of 62 for Saturday. But, as any long-time Edisto lover can tell you, the clouds almost always part and allow for the sun to shine back through and onto the beach.

If you’re going to be in the area this week or weekend, think about taking the boat out for a trip to Bohicket Marina on nearby Seabrook Island where boater’s can dock and come in to Red’s Ice House for a meal and drinks.

To get to Bohicket Marina from the Atlantic head shoreward from the North Edisto River’s outer marker and stay between the red and green buoys. Take a right up Bohicket Creek and stay between navigational buoys. Bohicket will be on the starboard side (that’s right side for those of you who don’t speak boater’s lingo).

You can also access Bohicket Marina from the Intracoastal Waterway by going south down the North Edisto River (put your boat in at the landing next to the McKinley Washington Bridge to cut down on travel time) and look for the Red Q marker on your port side, which will be just before entering Bohicket Creek. Continue to navigate up the creek staying between the buoys until you reach the marina.

It’s a great way to visit another island while staying on Edisto and provides boaters with a scenic trip through the waterways.

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Weather Report: January 23, 2012

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

It’s another week of spring-like temperatures here on Edisto.

There are few things as beautiful as sitting on the porch during a chilly January morning sipping hot tea watching the sun rise up over the ocean and shine through the fronds of the palm trees and today was no exception.

The high today is to be around 70 degrees and although weather reports call for a partly cloudy day, I’ll venture a guess and say that it will be sunny all day long, which is good because Thursday and Friday could be dreary.

Thursday’s high of 70 degrees will be marred with cloudy skies and a 20% chance of rain. By Friday, expect to be indoors for much of the day as there is an 80% chance of showers and severe thunderstorms all day long that will bring with it chillier weather.

Friday night’s low is forecasted to be in the low 40s, but the clouds will move out and give way to a perfectly sunny weekend.

Both Saturday and Sunday will experience highs near 60, but by Sunday night the low will drop down to just above freezing, so be sure to shut your windows before going to bed.

If you’re visiting Edisto during this last weekend of January, consider taking the boat out to do a little fishing in the creeks. Red fish should be out in massive numbers in the warm water close to the edges of the marsh and in shallow areas near sandbars. They put up a strong fight once on the line, so be prepared to go to battle if you do decide to fish this weekend.

If fishing isn’t your thing, visit Edisto’s newest art gallery, Palmetto Moon, at 101 Jungle Road and check out all the local art for sale to either put in your beach house or take home with you if you’re just here for a visit.

 

 

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A Southern Seafood Favorite: Hush Puppies

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

Frugal moms everywhere know that getting the most bang for your buck when it comes to groceries is important so it’s always great when leftover ingredients can be made into something new. It’s even better when that “new” recipe becomes a favorite for the whole family.

Hush puppies, the fried dough balls popular at seafood restaurants, are one of those recipes. They’re made out of cornmeal, milk, water, and chopped onions, and then fried in lard previously used for a fish fry.

So why are they called hush puppies?

The reasons behind this vary, but from what I’ve heard, the name comes from old southern hunters who would go out into the woods for the weekend with their dogs and then enjoy cooking up their catch over a fire. To quiet the barking dogs, the hunters would fry up a little cornmeal in the leftover fat in the pans and then toss it to the dogs to hush them up.

Another theory is that the name originated from the frying of salamanders.

In the south, some people refer to salamanders as water puppies. While most people wouldn’t want to eat a salamander, during hard economic periods, some people would catch salamanders and fry them in a pan along with some cornmeal and have them for dinner. However, this was seen as something embarrassing and salamander-eaters wanted to keep it a secret, so the unsavory meal was dubbed “hush puppies.”

However the delicious fried morsels got their name, the most important thing is that they are so tasty and easy to make.

To make hush puppies you’ll need:

1 box of Jiffy cornbread mix

½ cup of grated onion

2 tablespoons of skim milk

1 slightly beaten egg

2 tablespoons of sugar

3 tablespoons of self-rising flour

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of black pepper

2 crumbled slices of white bread

 

Mix everything together until the mixture is wet. Then refrigerate for 30 minutes to 5 hours. After removing the mixture from the refrigerator, heat oil to 350-375 degrees.

Run a spoon under cold water and then take a spoonful of the hush puppy mixture and dip it into the hot oil until it releases from the spoon. Do this until there are six or seven hush puppies in the oil. It’s important not to overload the pan with hush puppies because it will cool the oil and not cook properly.

The outside of the hush puppies should be golden and the inside should be cooked inside. Make sure to tip your hush puppies over if they don’t automatically roll over in the hot oil. This will make sure they are cooked evenly.

Adjust the heat of the oil as needed. Allow the hush puppies to cool slightly before eating them.

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A Cold Swim

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

In the summer months, the water temperature right off the coast of Edisto is in the upper 80s and inviting to just about everyone. This time of year the water temperatures are in the lower 50s… and hardly anyone wants to take a dip. But here’s something that might be shocking to most people: swimming in cold water can be good for you.

Every month there are people who make it a point to get in the water no matter what the temperatures are. In all my years on Edisto Beach, I wanted to experience the ocean while it was cold so I went in for a swim one December. This was years and years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday.

I wore a bathing suit with a shirt over it thinking that might make it seem warmer. It was about 60 outside and the water was probably the same. I walked in and it was cold, but not unbearable. I got all the way in past my waist and hopped around a little thinking that I was cool for being able to brave the cold water. Then a wave came and suddenly I found myself soaked all the way up to my neck and immediately retreated back to the shore, wrapped myself in a towel, and shivered for about an hour.

Although I’ll never get back in cold water, everyone should give it whirl at some point. But, to make the experience more enjoyable, take the following things into consideration:

  1. Wear a swim cap made of neoprene. This is stronger than standard latex caps and helps hold in body heat by protecting the head from the chilly water. Remember that the head is where most of a person’s body heat escapes from so trap the heat in with a cap.
  2. Neoprene socks can also help keep in body heat and protect feet from stepping on shells or seaweed on the ocean floor.
  3. Forget your swim trunks or bathing suit and wear a full body wetsuit. It won’t keep you from feeling the cold water, but it will help keep in your body heat.
  4. Wear ear plugs as a way to further keep your core body temperature stable.

Once you’re all suited up then get in the water. It’s a good idea to have someone else with you either in the water or on shore just as a safety precaution. It’s also important to remember that Edisto Beach has no lifeguards so swimmers should always make sure they are experienced with ocean swimming before getting in the water even if the ocean appear calm.

If cold water swimming is something you enjoy and decide to on a regular basis then here are some health benefits you could experience:

  1. The shock of cold water causes the body’s immune system to kick into gear because the temperature acts as a shock to the system. After repeated shocks, the immune system becomes trained in a sense to better fight off infections.
  2. As anyone who has ever been in the shower when the hot water runs out knows, cold water hurts. The body’s natural way to soothe pain is to release endorphins, so each time swimmers take to the cold water the body sends a surge of endorphins into the system.

In addition, the cold water stimulates the parasympathetic system, which is the body’s go-to system for releasing neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine which are of the utmost importance when it comes to staying in good spirits. Low levels of these neurotransmitters cause depression, so if you’re feeling blue take a dip in the ocean.

  1. The cold causes blood to really get pumping, which exfoliates the skin and flushes out impurities.
  2. Your body has to work twice as hard in cold water as opposed to warm water, so cold water swimmers burn twice as many calories as their warm water counterparts.

If any of this seems like something you’re interested during these cold months, then get out there in the water and take a swim. Or, if swimming in the cold doesn’t seem like your idea of a good time, then wait until May or June when the water warms up again before getting in.

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Weather Report: January 16, 2012

Monday, January 16th, 2012

It looks like this week will be another warm one on Edisto.

Monday’s are the most dreaded day of the week, but it’s hard to feel down about going back to work when it’s 61 degrees and perfectly sunny. If you’re visiting Edisto, get out the bike and ride all over the bike path that winds throughout town.

You might also consider getting some firewood at True Value Hardware Store on Highway 174 to make a fire in your house or rental unit when the predicted low of 49 for the night is reached.

Tuesday will be the warmest day of the week with a high of almost 70 and lows around 55, but the forecast calls for a mostly cloudy day.

Rain is predicted for Wednesday and it will also be the coldest day of the week with a high of 59 and a chilly low of 39. Rainy days on Edisto are perfect for driving into town and taking in some shopping, especially with most of the stores on the island being closed or having shorter hours for the winter season.

Downtown Charleston has lots of shopping, but chances are if it’s raining on Edisto it’s raining in Charleston, and nobody likes to walk around in the rain, so check out the Citadel Mall located at 2070 Sam Rittenberg Boulevard or the Tanger Outlet Mall in North Charleston located at 4840 Tanger Outlet Blvd 768. Both are just a little more than an hour away but have tons of stores, restaurants, and entertainment options.

Thursday will also be chilly with a high of 57 and low of 38. The forecast calls for a partial cloud cover and a slight chance of rain.

The Friday and weekend temperatures will be right around 70 during the day and around 50 at night. There’s a very small chance of rain, which means the weather will be perfect for anyone looking to get away for the weekend and come to Edisto for some relaxation.

If you’re visiting Edisto this week, be sure to visit Grover’s Bar and Grill located 21 Fairway Drive in the Wyndham Resort. The restaurant is open to the public, does not take reservations, and has a casual dress code. The food is excellent and fresh all year long. Definitely take advantage of one of the chef’s specials while you’re there.

 

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Hermit Crabs on Edisto

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

Whenever my youngest cousin comes down to Edisto, she always wants to find shells, but is adamant that the shells we find come without eyes. This is because one year when she was even younger we found a really pretty shell, picked it up, and out popped a hermit crab. She screamed, ran back to the house, and I laughed at her not knowing that she would develop a lifelong phobia relating to shells with eyes (aka hermit crabs).

Of all the crabs on the beach, hermit crabs are the luckiest of the crustaceans. They’re kind of like RV-enthusiasts who bring their homes with them wherever they go, only in this scenario the homes we’re talking about are random shells washed up on the beach and not $100,000 mini-mansions on wheels.

The reason hermit crabs live in shells is because unlike other crabs that come equipped with their very own hard shells, hermit crabs have soft bodies and they have to take up residency in shells to ward off predators. Generally, the crabs find old snail shells or any other type of shell that has a cavernous interior so that they can pull their bodies inside while keeping their legs and heads – and eyes – outside of the shell. They tuck their legs and heads in when not crawling around, but if their shell gets picked up, more often than not the hermit will thrust its head and legs out just to let whoever it is holding the shell that it’s occupied.

Throughout the life of a hermit crab, they can have many different sized shell-homes as they grow. Sometimes they even forego shells and move inside other hard items found on the beach including soft drink cans, although on clean beaches like Edisto that’s a rarity.

In the summer months, many visitors to Edisto end up going home with a hermit crab as a pet. Some are sold in various gift shops here on the island, others are found in the sand. The good thing for all the parents out there who just can’t say no to their kids is that hermit crabs are very low maintenance pets.

All they need is an old fish tank with a gravel bottom, various shells of different sizes so that when the hermit crab gets bigger it can take up residency in a new shell, and food and water dishes. Keep a spray bottle of water handy because they need to be sprayed once a day to keep from drying out (and so they can remember the feeling of the ocean’s mist).

Keep the cage at about room temperature or warmer and then enjoy the crabs. They can pinch, but if they are regularly held and played with they become used to human interaction and most likely will not pinch any fingers.

It’s a good idea to handle the crabs often because despite their name, they are actually very social creatures and like to have contact with people and other hermit crabs. This interaction is important for the longevity of the hermit crab.

At one point during my years on Edisto, another cousin and I decided to adopt a hermit crab and we ended up with six of them. We named them Frank, Furter, Reba, Scott, Enrique, and Fancy. They all loved climbing around together and racing on the carpet. But then Furter died and Frank followed suit. Then the cat got a hold of Scott and we were left with just Reba, Enrique, and Fancy. Once their little crab condo was down to half of its original occupancy, all of the crabs just got kind of lethargic. We adopted them all in July and by September they were dead.

According to many hermit crab enthusiasts, properly cared for crabs can live to be 75 years old whereas the typical hermit crab taken home by vacationers lives for a couple of weeks or months. The average lifespan for hermit crabs in the wild is 25 years.

One of the most interesting facts about hermit crabs is that they really do enjoy the company of others and should almost always have a friend whether they’re in the wild or kept as a pet. It is said that hermit crabs are one of the few species that find soul mates and once that mate is found they prefer to be together forever – and what better place to live out one’s life with a soul mate in tow than Edisto Beach?

 

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Weather Report: January 9, 2012

Monday, January 9th, 2012

It’s winter on Edisto Beach, but tell that to the forecast.

Today’s high of around 70 seems more like spring than early January, but nobody’s complaining. There’s a 30% chance of rain, but something tells me it will blow out to sea and leave the beach dry and sunny. Tonight temps will drop down into the 50s, so if your house has a fireplace or at the very least some snuggly blankets, it’s the perfect time to open the windows for the cool breeze and hide out under covers.

Tomorrow the weather will be much like it is today, but cloudy with a 20% chance of rain showers.

Wednesday’s the day to stay indoors. The forecast calls for a chance of severe thunderstorms midweek which means the palm fronds will be slapping up against the houses and lightning will illuminate the shore. It’s all something to see from a safe distance so drag the rockers out onto the porch and watch the storm. The high for Wednesday is 66, but it will get down into the 40s after the storm.

Thursday will be another cloudy day with highs in the upper 60s and lows in the 40s. There’s only a 10% chance of rain so don’t let the cold weather keep you off the beach or from exploring the island.

Friday is forecasted to be the coldest day of the week with highs in the upper 50s and lows just around freezing. However, it should be a perfectly sunny day.

Visiting Edisto this week? Take advantage of the sunny skies and warm temps and drive down Yacht Club Road (right off of Palmetto Boulevard about two blocks before the marina) and park where the road dead ends.

Walk to the beach via the beach access point and explore the bottommost tip of the beach. The sand is flat and soft and during low tide much of the beach is uncovered making it a hotspot for shells and sharks teeth. Also go down just about an hour before sunset and watch the dolphin pods swim, play, and feed. Stay for awhile and make a memory of the sun setting over the water.

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