Spiral Bound Journal

Wandering the Low Country

With snail-slow leg movements, Dana and Quinn pressed the pedals on their beach-bound bikes. Even September being the start of Hilton Head Island's off season, they found the beaches still littered with people. Sure, they had some space to plow through the sugary sand closer to the dunes and resorts, but riding on the packed sand closer to the water wasn't all that easy. With high tide approaching, the amount of area with hard enough sand was shrinking, and it seemed like everyone wanted to walk in that path. The crowds thinned a bit the further they pedaled away from Coligny Beach. After a bit, they found a spot empty enough where Dana felt comfortable stopping.

"What are you doing?" Quinn asked.

"Taking pictures, of course," Dana told him as she crouched on the sand. "What else would I be doing? You gotta document something like this!"

She unslung her camera backpack straps and pulled the bag around her waist to open up the back. She wrestled the camera out of the bag with one hand and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear with the other. Once the camera was in hand, she brought it to her face and lined up her shots. She fired off a few frames before lowering the camera for a moment.

"Gonna get the guys out?" Quinn asked.

Dana nodded. "Yeah. It might take a moment, so you should have a moment to get some pictures of your own."

Quinn gave Dana a small smile before fishing his phone out of his pocket. Dana took that as her cue to retrieve the guys: two snowman plushies and a stuffed green caterpillar with a red noggin. She stood up out of her crouching position long enough to walk over to the bikes. She set the plushies on the sand next to one of the bike tires before heading back to her previous spot. It took her less than a minute to get the shots she wanted. With that done, she stood to full height and began putting her camera away.

"How are you feeling?" Quinn asked.

"Better now that I've shucked the shirt and am waltzing around in this bikini top," Dana told him.

"Want some Haterade?"

"Yeah. That sounds good."

"Any flavor preference?"

"Nah. Just something with some sugar and sodium. Lord knows I've been a salt lick for the last two hours."

Quinn chuckled and fished out a bottle of vivid green liquid. He handed it to Dana, who wasted no time twisting off the cap and taking a hearty swig.

"Too bad we're not getting a breeze off the ocean right now," he remarked. "It would certainly help you stay cool."

"Yeah, it would, but for now I'm shit out of luck. Kinda wish I'd brought a towel so I could dive into the water real quick."

"Well, then you'd be an even saltier salt lick."

"True, but there are showers around where I can rinse off all the salt."

"Who says you need to swim to use them?"

"I suppose, but I feel weird stripping down to my bikini to shower given that I'm not even damp, my gross sweating aside. God, I wish I knew why sweat so easily. This is getting old."

Dana paused to chug some more Haterade. When she finished, she looked over at Quinn, who was looking at the low waves breaking on the shore. She thought about how today was more relaxed compared to her cranky heat-provoked fatigue during their St. Simon's Island visit a couple days prior. Here in Hilton Head they had bikes and had more opportunities to stop for a moment. Everything from gnome villages along the bike paths to Brutalist-inspired town parks caught their attention throughout their visit to this part of the Low Country. As much as she wouldn't have minded standing on this part of the shore forever, Dana did want to bike around a little more before doing some shopping and grabbing a bite to eat.

"You seem to be doing better today," Quinn said.

"I am," Dana agreed. "It wasn't pleasant on Saturday, but I'm glad we had that talk when we were on St. Simon's. And I appreciate you taking it a bit slower today. This area is certainly walkable and bike friendly, but at least we understand that you can't walk this entire island in a couple hours or so. It's just not possible. I didn't even realize how much this place spreads out."

"Me neither."

"And to think we've only trekked on a small part of it. Maybe one day we can come back and wander other parts."

"Already planning a return trip?"

"Maybe. But before that, we should get a little more use out of these bikes and then wander the stores. Maybe they'll have a nice hot sauce shop or something."

Quinn chuckled. "I see where your priorities lie."

"You damn right. Shall we?"

"Lead the way."

Dana took that as her cue to go to her bike and raise the kickstand. More cycling awaited.





Happy Ride ▼

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