We woke up early on Friday, May 19th to get packed and checked out of our condo. Our time in the Smokeys was over - and even though we weren't quite ready to leave - we had more adventure waiting for us before heading home.
However, before hitting to road, we had to enjoy this view one last time!
Once we left our condo in the Smokeys, we headed east toward Congaree National Park. Our plan for the day was to spend several hours there. But first, we had to drive through North Carolina. This time, we stopped to get a photo with the state sign.
We made it to South Carolina!
After about four hours of driving, we arrived in Congaree National Park just after noon.
We ate lunch out of our food bin in the Harry Hampton Visitor's Center parking lot, then went to check out the visitor's center. Pretty much the first thing we saw as we approached the visitor's center was this mosquito meter. At first we thought it was a joke, but we quickly discovered that it was for real! Thankfully, the mosquitos were "moderate" on the day we visited.
The visitor's center wasn't much to write home about, so we made our way through it fairly quickly. Then, it was on to the Boardwalk Loop to really discover what Congaree is all about!
The Boardwalk Loop is 2.4 miles long and winds through a small portion of the national park. Sometimes, parts of the boardwalk are under water, but this was not the case on the day we visited. It was, however, wet with moisture and a little bit slick in spots.
We quickly discovered why mosquitos have such a presence in the park. There were many spots of standing water! The park is very swamp-like, but it's not a swamp.
We heard woodpeckers and many other birds while walking the boardwalk. We also saw a few lizards and other small creatures.
The trees were so unique and pretty!
We saw many bald cypress trees with their broad base. They are able to stand in the soft earth because they have a very complex root system that helps hold them in place.
However, the most unique part of these giant trees were the "knees" that help stabilize them. These knees - along with the fog and mist - gave parts of the boardwalk a horror movie type feel. Eeep!
The area is also known for feral hogs, and we did see one. Unfortunately, we smelled it first as it was deceased and decomposing. Blech!
Brecklyn
Brooke
Enjoying all the giant trees and lush green!
We stooped and piddled and took our sweet time on the boardwalk. It took us several hours to walk the whole thing because we were trying to really soak it all in.
At one point, the boardwalk follows along the bank of Weston Lake for a short period of time. While we were walking that section of the boardwalk, Bren exclaimed that he saw an alligator. I hadn't seen anything about gators in the visitor's center, so I questioned him. He insisted that he had seen one swimming in the water.
As we continued to walk, there was no doubt that something was swimming in the water. And the more we watched it, the more it looked like it could be an alligator. Then we heard other people saying it was an alligator!
Although we were fairly certain that what we saw was an alligator, we told the kids we'd ask about it when we got back to the visitor's center. They practically ran the rest of the loop because they were anxious to find out!
At the very end of the boardwalk loop, we ran into a park ranger who confirmed that they did have alligators who live in the lake and that it was very likely what we saw. The children were excited with this information and asked to walk back to the lake to see if we could see it again. Unfortunately, the visitor's center and boardwalk loop were closing early at 4:00pm that day for a special event, and we did not have time to walk back to the lake.
We had hotel reservations that night in Augusta. Once we checked into our hotel, we ate at a delicious family-style Italian place called Giuseppe's. The LeFlores had visited the Smokeys and Congaree just a few weeks before and recommended it to us. It was amazing, and we were thankful for the recommendation! We spent the remainder of the evening relaxing in our hotel and preparing for our long day of driving ahead.
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