Learning About Oysters...

While on Hilton Head, we wanted to take a boat ride to experience the local wildlife and see the much talked about dolphins.

So, on Tuesday, we headed to the Old Oyster Factory and joined our tour guide, Jared on a small boat and headed out to learn about the waters! (Jack's Band-Aid is from falling on the mini-golf course. Only Jack.)

We headed out at high tide, boated for about two hours and had to head in due to it being low tide and the boat wouldn't be able to get back to the Oyster Factory.

When we headed out, all we saw was the marsh grass. When we boated in, we saw all this "dirt." Well, I quickly learned, it wasn't dirt, but oysters and they were everywhere! 

A friend of Jared's tried his hand at an ice-cream boat. He lasted a year in Florida with that gig and headed back to Hilton Head. The boat has been parked here for years! There was once a big ice cream scoop on top of the stack.

Sam and Jason were on dolphin watch. Where's Jack? He is sitting by my struggling to stay awake! Put him in a car...he is out...We found out the same goes with a boat! Who knew!!

It didn't take long until a dolphin fin was spotted near our boat!

Did you know the back of every dolphin fin is different? Just like our fingerprints, no tow dolphin's have the same pattern on the back of their fin.

This big guy came right up to our boat to check us out.

Unfortunately, I missed the picture of the year as it came out of the water and went right along our boat. I caught it just as it went back down in the water and it didn't come back up! Darn it!!

Jared got picked us some edible grass. It was extremely salty and tasted just like pickles! Sam stated, "WOW! This is some good grass!" Hmmmm....

Jared picked us some oysters, popped them open and showed us the insides. I am not an oyster fan and...I still am not an oyster fan! Slimy is an understatement. And boy are those shell edges sharp!  Jared explained that the "whack" the edges off so people don't cut themselves.

Time went so fast! We came back with oyster shell, mussel shells and some really good TASTING grass!

Thanks to Jared for giving a family from Iowa a great Hilton Head tour! (He thought for the longest time we were from Idaho!!)