What do you get when you cross a natural wetlands, a bit of forest, paved and unpaved trails, an old Moorish estate, and access to a beautiful white sand beach on the Atlantic Ocean? Huntington Beach State Park, a 2500 acre state park located in Murrells Inlet about a 25 minute drive from the house.
It was an active day at the park at not quite the start of the Labor Day Weekend, and the first thing we saw on the way to the Visitors Center to pick up a map of the park was a tour group on Segway scooters.
and there were 3 or 4 others that were behind.
Not a typical activity in a state park.
in front of the Visitors Center.
that led to Mullet Pond.
A few pics from the overlook.
From the Kerrigan Trail, we walked the paved Atalaya Trail between Mullet Pond and Mallard Pond. There were a number of safety signs about what to do if you see an alligator, but sadly (sort of), we didn’t see any.
The following pics are of the much larger and greener Mallard Pond.
Heading all the way back on the trail, we came to the entrance to Atalaya Castle, the winter home of Archer Milton Huntington and his wife, Anna Hyatt Huntington. There are no longer any furnishings in the house, and it has not been completely maintained, but you still get a sense the the Moorish style home.
The outer walls form a square, with the east side facing the ocean. Within the walled structure, there are two grassy inner courtyards with a covered walkway and tower in the center. The one-story living quarters consist of 30 rooms around 3 sides of the perimeter.
as we plan to go to the Brookgreen gardens, which Archer created and which displays a number of Anna’s sculptures.
was this structure where oysters were shelled.
had fireplaces
Finally, we walked the short path from Atalaya to the beach. There were a number of people out enjoying being near the ocean.
Peckish Travels 