These days were great. After a couple of hiccups of course.

After Melissa’s younger sister and fiancée arrived later on Saturday evening, they realized their bed frame was sagging a little bit in the middle. Unfortunately for them, they arrived a little late in the evening for the host to really be able to rectify the situation. The good news was, the handy man came around some time between 2-3:00pm with tools and equipment to get the job done.

The morning was pleasant, as we ventured down to the beach and set up shop. The weather was on point. The sun was shining, the water warm, and the company was amazing.

The girls quickly took to their building of sand castles and frolicking in the ocean as kids tend to do when faced with a week of sea and surf.

After the beach, we broke off back to the condo and grabbed some showers, and quickly turned around to hit the shops and acquire dinner. We ended up at this one spot called The Bounty Bar.

There we enjoyed a hodgepodge of edible delights. Ranging from loaded French fries covered in cheese, bacon, and ranch, to the delectable fish and chips I enjoyed. Sounds basic I know, but the quality was superb.

The next morning was more beach and sand. We sought out the umbrella vendor and quickly employed his services.

The tide was in when we arrived down there, and once settled in, we discovered a sand bank where the high tide meets the official shore. There, we discovered a layer of a thick shell deposit embedded into that shelf. We spent an hour or so combing through the battered shells, and Melissa, with her luck, discovered a few solid ones to take back as souvenirs.

After beach hours, we came back in and had a bite to eat before our next big adventure kicked off.

As a group we decided that a sunset paddle-board excursion would be up next.

Charleston SUP Safaris, a paddle board excursion through the Folly Beach water ways, would be our next trek around the area. We opted to hit the sunset/ dolphin tour they offered as a group of six. Now, most of the people I went with had already been somewhat experienced in the paddle boarding life, I was not one of them. I had recently tried my hand at it on a lake this summer, but let’s just say, there wasn’t much success. I spent most of the time climbing back on the board instead of standing on it and propelling myself forward.

This time however, there was success. Come to find out, the size of the board and the size of its occupant really does matter. I’m 6’3, so I needed a longer more wide board to sustain my balance. The one on the lake did not meet those requirements.

It was a two hour tour, battling a full moon high tide. So for the first little while we were facing an up river battle. The water was really beautiful, but next to the bank was a treacherous zone we were warned of before embarking. Next to the bank was full of oysters that were sitting just below the water, so we were told to sit down and paddle out to deeper water, more towards the dock side. After we reached the “standing zone”, we all lifted up and began the journey up river.

After about 20-25 minutes, we spotted what looked like a pod of dolphins up river feeding. We all were giddy with excitement, especially the kiddos. As we got closer to the pod, they were coming up and taking breathes as we stood around, silently, watching them with awe. They are a good indicator of a healthy ecosystem Charleston has strived to maintain in its waterways.

Once we got a little further up, we paddled over and into this little inlet that wasn’t affected by the currents, where we could rest up, drink some water and just enjoy the beautiful surrounds. The sun was beginning to set, and that’s where we took a lot more pictures of the scenery. I’ll tell you all this, it was truly magical. The clouds were perfectly dispersed through the sky, giving us a wonderful few of the wondrous blazing orange and yellow highlights of the setting sun.

As we set back to the put in area we had embarked from. Our guide (Katie), told us it would be a much easier ride down the river than up, which was a nice bit of information after the endurance pace we had faced earlier and she wasn’t lying!

We basically just pointed the boards down river and let the current do the rest.

On the way back, a different pod of dolphins, or maybe the same one, was coming back up river. That was another great thrill!

With the sun just setting below the horizon, Melissa snapped a few great photos to add to the collection of our trip.

We made it back, all of us in one piece, and maybe a little more sore than we started, but well worth the efforts and adventure!

I highly recommend this place for one of your adventures when in Folly Beach, South Carolina!