Kayaking with "The Council"...and Kevin

My latest "outing" with friends, otherwise known as The Council of Wise Women (and Kevin) was a GREAT DAY! Even though the start of it looked like it might be a "weather-challenged" day, it turned out to be perfect weather!

Of course, with any momentous event in our daily lives, I should give some background information on how this GREAT DAY evolved.

Donna's birthday was back at the end of March, the 26th to be exact. Typically the birthday person will pick a restaurant and we will all go there for dinner. Donna decided she didn't want her birthday celebration with us to be centered around food (and I was happy for a change in the routine too!) and she mentioned that she would like to go kayaking. We all thought that was a terrific idea.

Dori heard good things about a kayak outfitter called Swamp Girls and called them to get the details. Turns out they are based in Hardeeville, SC and would be able to do a Sunday kayak trip for us to Ebenezer Creek, near Rincon, Georgia about an hour from where we live.

So we all met up at Belfair's recreation center on Sunday, and by "we all" I mean, Donna (Happy Birthday Girl!) Melissa, Eddye, Dori, Me and of course our "token male" Kevin. We pile into Donna's car and off we go to meet the Swamp Girls (Sue and RoseMary) at a gas station at the intersection of Highway 278 and I-95. No problem, we even manage to get there only 2 minutes late! :) It's about another 45 minutes to get to Ebenezer Creek, but it's no worries since we are following Sue (aka...SwampBoss) who is towing 8 kayaks...it would be kind of hard to lose track of her!

We get to the launch site and get everything set up and kayaks adjusted, have a brief paddling lesson, meet the other 2 guides who are coming along with us (Don and Mary) and one other solo paddler Mac (from Savannah), who Sue said was a doctor and Eddye hoped was a psychiatrist if he was coming with our group! :)

We all get into the water (in our kayaks of course!) one at a time and start paddling. Sue gives a really nice commentary on the environment and points out lots of interesting things, mother and baby eagles, alligators, herons...it was really peaceful. The creek/swamp was very placid and the water level was very low so we got to see the roots of the cyprus trees...very cool.

After about an hour of paddling we pull up onto another landing with a little picnic shelter and it's LUNCH TIME. The Swamp-chef (RoseMary) had pasta salad, cold chicken, chips and salsa, pineapple and strawberries and "killer" brownies (which could quiet possibly be THE BEST brownies I have ever tasted...secret ingredient...rum...who knew!) AND since it was Donna's birthday, Mary had made a German Chocolate cake, needless to say, there weren't may left-overs! And our kayaks were much lighter on the afternoon paddle! :)

When we were finished with lunch we headed back out onto the water and paddle for another hour or so before going back to the landing where the cars were parked. By the time we finished helping get the kayaks out of the water we were back in the car around 3pm-ish and heading for home...or so we thought. We took a wrong turn at one point and got a bit turned around, but between Melissa calling Sue the SwampBoss to get directions and asking a passing car, we managed to get back to I-95, we just took the scenic route! :)

We were back at Belfair shortly after 4pm. It was a great time, what a fun way to celebrate Donna's birthday, and I can't wait to see the pictures from this outing.

This was a great way to see a beautiful area. And since some of our group hadn't kayaked before it was the perfect first time experience since we didn't have to fight the tide. And the best part is that my arms (or abdominals) are not sore from paddling!


Happy Paddling!