A couple of weeks ago I flew out of Hilton Head airport for the first time. A few minutes after take off, I noted Fripps Island and Hunting Island on our right, then a big body of water, then a beach community that I couldn’t quite place. After consulting the map, I learned it was St. Helena Sound and Edisto Island that I saw from the US Air twin-engine prop.

Yesterday, we drove to Edisto Beach. What took five minutes in the plane, took more than an hour and a half by car. Such is the nature of watery land. More times than not one goes around, not over.

While our nearest beach is but 20 minutes away, we like to see what the different beach communities offer. Since moving to the Lowcountry 16 months ago, we’ve visited beaches on Sullivan’s Island, Edisto Island, Hunting Island, Hilton Head Island, Tybee Island, St. Simon’s Island, Sea Island, Jekyll Island, Cumberland Island and Amelia Island. Edisto was most reminiscent of Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island in the northeast corner of Florida. Both have a laid back, old school beach town feel with relatively modest, but still high-priced homes on the beach.

It was a sunny day with a strong breeze. We saw dolphins just offshore, swam in the inviting ocean waters and read our books under the umbrella.