Early Mornings & Tropical Storms

Happy Friday friends!
Grab your iced coffees and settle in for story time.
I've got a good one.

My final tale in this mini-series of Charleston area adventures brings us to Folly Beach and Botany Bay.

With a cameo from Tropical Storm Ana.

My luck with the weather down near the ocean is never good this time of year: Exhibit A.

Let's be honest.
I was so bummed that this tropical storm had plans to just sit and churn over the exact area we planned to explore - for the exact 3 days we were there.

We pulled up to the hotel at the height of the storm and I unloaded all of our stuff in hurricane force winds and a soaking rain. Only to find out we couldn't check into our room for a couple hours. Frustrated and uncomfortably wet, me and my electricuted style hair crawled to the nearest chair and just sat there staring at the radar on my phone. Business professionals attending a conference at the hotel walked by, and gave me the funniest looks - probably wondering if they should throw me money.

Feeling completely clueless as to what to do next, I decided we can either sit at this hotel and pout, or make lemonade out of these lemons.

And you know what happened?

THIS.
YOU GUYS.


The Weather Channel featured a photo my mom took of me dancing on the beach at Botany Bay.
I've been a huge fan of the weather channel since I was a little girl. I've loved storms since I can remember and was on the news for spotting my first tornado at age 6. This was a dream come true for me.

So here's how it happened.

The sun started to poke through the clouds on our drive to Botany Bay.. so I began to feel hopeful.
Then we pulled up to the head of the trail and saw this.

A fierce wall cloud from Ana's hurricane formation, rushing in towards us. Illuminated perfectly by the position of the sun... I was in storm chaser heaven.
So I ran to the water to meet this storm front and DANCED.

"The Earth has music for those who listen"


I honestly couldn't contain my excitement as I saw this huge wall cloud moving in towards us.
This time around, I loved the rain and my messy hair! ;)

I ran, climbed trees, collected shells, did cartwheels...pretty much felt 8 years old all over again.

You know what's cool about being in this right place at the right time...half the sky was clear blue while the other half was a hurricane. So glad I took photos to help visualize it, because it's really indescribable.

After this evening at Botany Bay I felt silly for pouting in the hotel lobby. I think a life lesson I pulled from this is to remember that everything happens for a reason. Sometimes the reason is a hard lesson that will help you evolve. Other times it's to direct you into absolutely beautiful moments that you couldn't imagine in your wildest dreams.

That night I was too excited to fall asleep. After a day playing in a hurricane at the beach and knowing we were getting up at 5:00AM to catch a sunrise.... I was restless to say the least.

This sunrise was special though. You see, at Folly Beach there is a massive boardwalk that photographers line up at to take photos of the early morning sun poking through the wooden beams, as angry waves crash up against them. It's truly something else. And I was ready to join the club.

5:00AM. Alarm goes off. I throw the blankets off, run a tooth brush over my teeth and grab my camera gear then excitedly yell: READY!

First thing I do when we step outside is look up at the sky. I can see stars!
YES.

We begin our 20 minute drive to Folly Beach. As the sky starts to emit a faint blue glow, I begin to see a wall of clouds.
NO.

We get to the beach minutes before the projected sunrise. With my boots laced tight and my eyes tired and puffy, I run through the sand to the pier, only to find photographers already lined up in the best spots.
Damn it.

But then I look up and realize...that wall of clouds was actually another one of Ana's hurricane bands...and it was moving directly towards the sun.

So, I never got my prized sunrise shot.
Better luck next time.
Once we realized the party was crashed, we packed up my camera and decided to drag my feet walk to my favorite Folly Beach breakfast joint: Lost Dog Cafe.

By the time we were done the sun came out and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
But of course.
So with bellies full of Lox and Coffee, we decided to take the long way back to our car.
You know, there's something so rejuvenating and peaceful about walking through neighborhoods early in the morning before anyone's awake. Laughing at trashed balconies from parties the night before.
House cats strolling down the street without any worry of cars.
It was kinda-sorta the highlight of my day and pulled me out of my funk.


We were trekking 3 hours home that morning so before we trapped ourselves in a car, we decided to skim the beach and take some photos anyway despite our ruined sunrise.

It turned out to be such a lovely morning. I remember taking deep breaths and sipping my hot coffee while walking alone around the belly of this pier. I think my life lesson from this trip is to have no expectations.
Life will handle the rest.

I hope this mini-series inspired you to get out there and explore.
No matter where you live (or what the weathers like) there's something new to be found.


Wishing you a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!
How fun it would be to share an icy cold beverage and swap adventure stories...
;)