My Kiawah motto (and rolling their eyes my kids can attest to this) is: "A day without gators is like a day without sunshine."
Well, my friends, on our first full day at the beach, the sun is apparently playing a cruel game of hide-and-seek right now–an, at present, FOUR HOUR game of H&S. The ominous clouds that seemed to come to an abrupt halt directly over our beach chair compound, followed through with their threat 15 minutes after we settled down for some serious surf-side chillaxin’ (chill + relaxing…now THAT’S a word worth remembering…!). Although this beach is not a congested area (house and condo rentals as opposed to a series of high- and low-rise (h)(m)otels), there was a mass exodus from the beach when the droplets quickened their pace from an occasional drizzle to steady rain….which is kind of funny when you think about it–it wasn’t the thunder and lightening in the distance that got people moving, it was them getting WET…WHICH IS WHAT THEY CAME TO THE BEACH TO DO IN THE FIRST PLACE, for Heaven’s sake, but I digress. I’m talking alligators, not weather. Let’s get to it :).
Our Kiawah mornings are fairly routine: Tad gets up early and heads out for coffee and to read the local paper, I stay in bed as long as I can stand it, and the kids sleep even later. When I get up, it’s coffee until the once-full pot is drained, and uninterrupted reading ( b.l.i.s.s.). Later, after breakfast, our days are full of beach time and bike rides, and afternoons vary between trips to Charleston, usually visiting with my college roommate, shopping, more beach and bike rides, more reading, and more chillin’. Not exciting, but it IS true r.e.l.a.x.a.t.i.o.n….and our cell phones don’t ring and Tad can decompress, and it’s good for everybody.
This morning began as they usually do–Tad, out…me, coffee in hand, book in lap on our second-floor deck. Kiawah is ripe with vegetation, and although the condo we rent overlooks the 17th hole of the Turtle Point golf course, wildlife abounds. Some wilder than others.
I heard a noise, so I stood to see if there were deer beneath our deck; instead, it was a lady in her nightgown (it was around 7:30 a.m.) and she looked up to see me looking at her. She quietly said, "Alligator…a BIG one…get your camera!" and I (still in MY pajamas–thank God I don’t sleep nude!)(then again, if I did, I doubt I’d be sitting on the deck in my "pjs") grabbed the nearest flip-flops, my camera, and flew down the stairs to meet her.
Becky, as I soon found out, has been coming to Kiawah since 1979, and she could be my BFF–she loves Kiawah as much as I do, and she lurves allies as much as I do :). She said, "This one is the GRANDDADDY…" and we walked through the trees to see this:
Well, of course that wasn’t close enough, so we inched closer. I hope you’re super-sizing these pictures 1000% to get an idea of how big he is!
STILL not close enough…if Becky’s game, I’m game! Oh, and another reason Becky could SO be my BFF–when I said, "If he eats me, you take pictures…and if he eats you, I’ll take pictures!" she totally agreed. Totally!
"They" tell you not to get too close to these prehistoric beasts…alligators can travel up to 35 m.p.h. and they’ve been known to climb fences. There’s no good point of reference for readers, but this sucker measured 10′ easily from snout-tip to tail.
Uh, oh…he begins turning TOWARDS US!! YIKES!
I’m not one to tell "fish tales", I’m pretty lousy at estimating…but I think he was about 30-40 feet from us. I’ve seen hundreds of alligators at Kiawah over the past 13 years, but this fella was the biggest one EVAH! It’s the first time I remember seeing teeth, anyway.
And then…in the face of certain peril to self (and so I could share it with my family and my bluddies), I had the presence of mind to
f i l m him as he headed back to the pond from whence he came. Which is kind of creepy to consider…they’re always there, whether or not you see them… they’re.always.there.
Enjoy…I have over and over.
Don’t forget my little contest. I’ve decided prizes and they’re gonna be symbolic and cheap but good. But you’ve gotta comment to win, so get cracking!
If you post a link to the contest post and tell your readers to check me out…you automatically win something…;) (but you gotta comment to me that you did so, otherwise, how the heck am I supposed to know?).
Ok…gotta get back to the fam…while I was writing, it stopped raining. But, really, to me the sun has been shining all day :).
Love, love, love Kiawah. Nicest beach I’ve ever been on. For us it was the dolphins. Though we did see more than a few alligators too.
OHWOW!! Robin, that was awesome!! How coool! And the film! You go girl! That thing looks well fed, but i’ve heard that they can’t zig zag very well. Just a hint.
You are my hero – the bravest stinkin’ lady I’ve ever known. Too awesome.
Okay – so awesome that I’m going to make this my Weekly Delight – how is that for some comment pimping?
EEK! RUN FOR THE HILLS!
My boys want to go on vacation with you 😉
remember that kids rhyme?
call for the doctor
call for the nurse
call for the lady with the alligator purse
You sure couldn’t tuck that one under your elbow and carry it!!!
Dear robin. Oh my goodness gracious me. I would have been soiling my lovely pjs – perhaps that’s why I sleep in the nude (nah, Idon’t really). That’s very cool footage. That’s a FREAKING HUGE alligator. Looks funning walking up on all fours (Australian crocs walk on their belly).
See why I don’t climb out of the shadows much? The previous comment really goes with the Festivus post below. Am I disqualified? Do I need to repost it below? Or will you just fix it for me in secret and erase this note (which, if left in place, will only serve to underline my error) to save me the public flogging?
Karen, L*O*V*E* the dolphins, too….just haven’t seen any yet :).
Claudia, Did you see the original “In-Laws”? Alan Arkin and Peter Falk co-starred, and one of the FUNNIEST laugh-out-loud moments was when they were running from people who were shooting at them…Falk kept yelling “Serpentine! Serpentine!” so Arkin’s character would run zig-zag to avoid the bullets. It’s what I think about when I’m getting close to gators…so your advice is well-heeded :).
OOOOoooo, Karmyn, YOU, my dear, just go some MAJOR brownie points ;).
Erin, I guess you mean AWAY from my little cold-blooded friends, eh?
Kila, I’d love it, as long as the sun is shining!!
Pamela, we could get RICH off the purses…and shoes…and belts…and wallets that mutha could translate to!
Dear Little Miss Moi…I bet you really DO sleep in the nude…;). You know, I’ve never noticed a gator with such long legs before. Come to think of it, maybe the legs just go with his size in general :/.
Steve, I took care of HALF of your, umm blaux-pas (blog + faux = blaux). For fun, I thought I’d leave this one up…it might spark a little curiosity and drive some competition your way. When you come de-lurk, you freakin’ delurk! 😀
Yikes ! That is one big animal and I’m sure he has a lot of big teeth.
When is the contest over? I’ll post as soon as we return home from this day trip to Moab. Hope I’m not too late.
Swampy, too late? There’s no such thing as “too late” with me, girlie-Q…
That is a HUGE gator! Love the photos and tory and video. When are you going back?
Good point, Robin! Why do people run away from the rain when they’re actually on the beach aiming to get wet? Weird, right? Whenever my family and I experience that, we don’t go back to our vacation rentals in Panama City Beach, FL. We face the rain! We scream at the clouds and challenge the waves. By the way, about the congested area thing, we also don’t want that. That’s why we stick to vacation rentals in Panama City Beach, Florida. Not congested at all.