Although late August is the time to escape the city, it comes with one very travel prohibitive drawback…evening thunderstorms. Attempting to fly down to Charleston, South Carolina for the weekend, I was faced with this incoming tempest. Needless to say, my flight was canceled.

Despite the travel setbacks and delays, I eventually made it down to Charleston (NY -> DC -> Atlanta -> Charleston, whew!). Looking to do something a little different, we signed up for Coastal Expedition’s Folly Creek Sunset Kayak tour. Waiting to get started, we watched fisherman unloading their catch of the day to sell. And then, off we went to kayak the creek.

One of the major draws of the creek kayak tour is the opportunity to get close to the native wildlife of the low country. This includes swooping gulls diving to catch their fishy prey.

Even more exciting than the bird-watching opportunities was getting very, very close to a pod of dolphins. This group was hunting right before dusk with their baby dolphins in tow. It was hard to get a good picture, but the surfaced so close we could almost touch them. Baby dolphins have to be taught how to breath using the blowhole, so the youngest will surface to get more oxygen. We saw them breaching the surface!

The great thing about having a guide is both their knowledge of the history of the area and the wildlife along with the fact that they will keep you from getting lost (shout out to our great guide, Brodie!). He really tailored our time on the creek to our interests (seeing more dolphins and bird facts along with some history).

Although the dolphins were incredible, the main event was technically the sunset. We were able to position ourselves perfectly to see it dip below the horizon. After that, we had enough paddling and headed for shore.

And for dinner…we cooked up some of that fresh fish from the seafood shack! A simple pan-fry transformed this fish into a delicious meal.

When flying back to New York, I always try to get a window seat on the left side. That is where you can get the best view of the city as the plane enters its decent. The sunset view only made it a more spectacular welcome home.