I See the Sea Shore

Francis Marion National Forest

After slowly journeying eastwards from the Catawba Nation's lands for several days the airship and its crew followed the Greater Pee Dee River southeast until they were almost to the coast. Pine and Fir trees gave way to Hickory and Oak while forest thinned out to become wetlands and estuaries.

Carya illinoinensis commonly known as Pecan Tree

Smells changed entirely as the airship journeyed from the Carolina Piedmont to the coastal region. And the humidity, a constant throughout South Carolina, became soul-crushing. Some of the coastal scent was the salt tang from the Atlantic and some was from the spring flowers. By now the calender showed March and March at the coast was as warm as May further inland. Shrubs, both native and naturalized, bloomed unceasingly.

Hibiscus grandiflorus commonly known as Swamp Rose Mallow

Angel Oak

This is what an oak tree should look like! NOT all chopped, maimed, and mutilated (as they so often are here in Sweden).

"On Johns Island stands the majestic Angel Oak. Estimated to be between 300-400 years old; the tree towers 65 feet high and has a circumference of 25.5 feet. Its area of shade is 17,000 square feet and its largest limb has a circumference of 11.5 feet, and a length of 89 feet. Live oaks are not particularly tall trees, but have wide-spreading canopies. Only in the very old specimens do you find massive limbs resting on the ground, as you do the limbs of the Angel Oak. The City of Charleston acquired the Angel Oak Park in 1991." - From the City of Charleston's website.