Mark built a camp fire, and we had a bratwurst dinner with our favorite dessert of smores. That was when the local welcoming committee arrived. We had a whole flock of ducks waddle by to see if we had any leftover scraps.
We don't feed wild animals, so we didn't feed these welcoming ducks either. But they hung around for the rest of the evening.
This flock is obviously used to park visitors, and didn't mind posing for close-ups.
We have been blessed with cooler weather, so we enjoyed a nice walk around our new campground. We found this turtle sunning himself in the lake, and it seems to us that he has an extraordinarily long neck.
Denisa loves chasing butterflies, and this one landed long enough for her to take its picture. Even though it looked solid blue, we realized when we saw the pictures that its upper wings were touched with red. Beautiful butterflies are another of God's wonders.
The flock of ducks on the other side of the lake likes snacking in the water, rather than begging in the campground. There is some delicious-looking green spaghetti hanging out of the front duck's bill.
We also found Mother Duck, guiding her seven little ducklings around the lake. After nine days in busy Myrtle Beach, it's nice to enjoy the solitude and peace of Little Pee Dee State Park!
We were fortunate to meet a local couple at the campground, and they gave us great advice on things to do while we were in the area. We followed their advice to eat at Webster Manor in nearby Mullins, South Carolina. We also took their advice to go early, because there was a long line by 12:00. We would have never found this place on our own, and it was delicious! They are only open for lunch, and they serve the best buffet we have ever tried. We should have taken a picture of the home-made desserts, but all we got was the outside of the manor.
After eating way too much, we waddled down to the South Carolina Tobacco Museum. We learned much here about this crop that has played a big part in this state's economy.
This probably would have been a 30-minute stop, as we would have normally walked aimlessly through displays that we understood little about. But we got a first-rate personal tour from the museum's director. Reggie is a native of Mullins, and he had lots of stories about the items throughout the museum. So our 30-minute stop turned into a very entertaining two-hour stop. He had procured many of the items himself during the 17 years in his position as director.
We noticed a sign for the "Wildlife Action Resource Education Center," so we turned down the road to see what we could be educated about. We are still confused about its mission, but this unmanned area looks to be a site for summer camps and educational field trips. The picture below looks like a green lawn. But it is actually a pond, completely covered with lime green duck weed.
There was a boardwalk that took us out to the middle of the green pond for a closer look.
While we were wandering through the education center grounds, we spotted this group of pitcher plants. A carnivorous plant, the green tubes are actually pitfall traps, filled with digestive juices where they trap their prey. Yummy!
We were on the way to another landmark that our friendly local couple recommended--a kayak float on the Little Pee Dee River. We found the little town of Mullins to be extremely helpful in finding the best place to put our kayaks in the water. The people sitting at the table next to us at lunch didn't know, but they called a fishing friend of theirs for advice for us. The woman at the chamber of commerce didn't know, but she called a friend named Eddie, who gave us his phone number in case we had any problems finding it. Then Eddie actually found us on the river in his motor boat to be sure we were enjoying our float. Mullins might get the award for the friendliest town we have ever visited!
The Little Pee Dee is a black water river surrounded by public land, so it makes for a pristine kayak trip. We paddled up-river until our arms were too tired to continue, then floated back to our put-in site. It was a special ending to our free stay at Little Pee Dee State Park!
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