Despite the temptation to escape the Southern heat, we had the opportunity to work with some friends in South Carolina again this summer. We met the Mermaid of Hilton Head in 2018, and found that she and her partner were pretty cool despite the whole mermaid situation. Colby and I joined them for their 2021 summer season, and since this may be their last year doing mermaid tours we couldn’t miss out on the fun!
The mermaid tours are tailored for tiny human fun and follow one of mermaid Nina’s kids books. The young ocean ambassadors learn about how to protect the oceans and their inhabitants, and get to talk to Nina and ask her questions. Since the busy tourism season overlaps with sea turtle nesting season , it is great that a fantastical ocean resident advocates for how these visitors can look out for the loggerheads and their nests. Colby has the extremely important job of boat captain, safely ferrying guests to and from the mermaid cove and keeping the mermaid at a safe but pleasant conversation distance. Alyssa has the far more satisfying role of villain, interrupting each tour with attempts to capture the mermaid (thus far unsuccessfully- dammit).
While mermaid tours make up the majority of the summer gig, we have also run some dolphin watching and sunset cruises. Luckily we usually have some resident bottlenose dolphins around for people to enjoy, and the sunsets can be incredibly beautiful.
In our down time we have enjoyed being close to both Beaufort, SC and Savannah, GA. With the great restaurants and fascinating history it is easy to find a way to enjoy our days off the water. We did some parasailing for Colby’s birthday, the Pat Conroy Tour in Beaufort and a Comedy trolley ride in Savannah. We don’t have too much down time, but have been enjoying reading Pat Conroy’s books while we spend our summer in the lowcountry area he loved.
We have also been enjoying this years new furry companion, Mercury. Last summer our girl Sheba passed on, and thinking that Apollo might be lonely without another feline friend we adopted Mercury. In hindsight Apollo might have been just fine as an only child… However he has been a very tolerant big brother and both kitties seem to be handing a summer in the RV well.
We just have a week or so left of tours this summer season, so we are enjoying the cool critters and beautiful coastal scenery while we can.
herbivorous adventures 
I love reading your updates! Stay safe!
LikeLike