SUP Lesson

Colonial Dorchester State Park, Summerville, SC 

Today is cold and damp but yesterday was an extraordinarily warm midwinter gift. I grabbed a sandwich and was sitting on a bench at Colonial Dorchester State Park watching a young father chase his daughter. They were laughing and taking turns tagging each other when they paused to watch a group of stand up paddlers go by.

The little gal called out wanting a ride and the paddlers turned around and came to the bank. Dad helped the four year old on the board and off they went. They were all so patient and kind and she got an experience she will never forget.

And now it's so cold and gray again it is hard to believe it even happened!

Before & After - Colonial Dorchester Park

Colonial Dorchester, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Colonial Dorchester State Park - Bell Tower

There isn't much left of what was once a lively community. This bell tower was added to the church in 1751. The lengths the settlers had to go to for the freedom to worship in the manner they preferred makes me feel very lucky to live in modern times. These Puritan Pilgrim descendants left England in 1620 to live in this spot only to have South Carolina declare that Anglicanism was to be the official church of the colony. Sigh.

Colonial Dorchester State Park: Abandoned at the start of the Revolutionary War, the town of Dorchester has all but disappeared, leaving only a handful of original structures remaining. Visitors can stand below the towering remains of the brick bell tower of St. George’s Anglican Church, catch a glimpse of a log wharf during low tide or view the fort made of an oyster-shell concrete called tabby.