Atalaya Castle - Part One

Hey All! I couldn't wait to share our latest camping trip with you to Huntington Beach State Park.  It is located on the coast of South Carolina right between Murrell's Inlet and Litchfield Beach and is located right across from Brookgreen Gardens.  Atalaya Castle is located on the oceanfront on the grounds of Huntington State Beach Park.

Atalaya Castle (or Atalaya) built in 1931, was the winter home of a philanthropist, Archer M. Huntington and his wife, sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington.  She is the sculptor of many of the beautiful pieces seen at Brookgreen Gardens.

Arthur built Atlaya with a combination of Moorish Revival and Mediterranean Revival architectural style.

It is located just a short distance from the campground near the visitors beach access of the park.  We rode our bikes over one evening after it was closed to get pictures of the outside and came back for a self guided audio tour a few days later on the inside.  Group tours are available as well as non audio individual tours.   We have been here a few times before and did the audio tour this time because it was not available before and we really enjoyed it!  Because I have so much to show you I am breaking this trip into a few different posts.  I hope you will join me for each.  This post will focus mainly on the grounds of Atalaya outside and inside the courtyards.

Walking around from the entrance we see the side of Atalya castle here.  Her living quarters consisted of 30 rooms total and was built intentionally to be more for residential purposes then for entertaining.  This pictures is looking towards the servants quarters who were a necessary while in residence. 

This is the backside (or front) that faces the ocean.  There is now much foliage and a vast amount of dunes that separate Atalaya from the ocean keeping her safe from storms and erosion.

She has received some damage from the weather and aging through the years.  Atalaya remained a private residence until being leased to the state in 1960.  Only recently has she been adopted by a group who is now sponsoring tours and festivals to preserve and protect this beautiful landmark.

This is the outside of the center sun room that faced the ocean.

It was surrounded by three outdoor seating areas accessed by doors that have been bricked in.

All of the grills are original to the house and were designed by Anna herself and built for protection from the Hurricane winds.

The grills are so very beautiful and span the entire house.  They are everywhere on the outside of the home as well as the inner courtyard.  

Are you ready to go in?

Remember I told you we were going to stay focused on the outdoor areas right?  So with that being said, we are now standing in the enclosed entrance and about to walk through this door towards the courtyards.  They are located on both the right and left of this long narrow walkway.

We have now stepped into the courtyard on the right.  

The courtyard is filled with sabal palms and was where Anna's animals were allowed to roam free.

Atalaya means "Watchtower" in Spanish and was so named accordingly.

Here you are looking at the watch tower which is in the center of the complex.

At the foot of the tower on both sides is a trough for the animals to drink water freely.

The sidewalks are all original to the home and were designed to catch rain water runoff for a watering systems for the grounds.  That is why they have the grooves next to them.

Many of the walls on the inner courtyards are covered with creeping fig vines.

There are also several stairs located on the property leading up to the roof.  They are no longer available for access.  I surely would have loved to have gone up there!

Also closed off to the public was this area downstairs.  I couldn't even begin to tell you what this leads to as we didn't ever find out and it wasn't on our audio tour. Hmm??? A dungeon maybe?  I bet this is included in the Friday night ghost tours!

To say I was fascinated with the beautiful teal blue green grill work is an understantement.  I was positively spell bound!  I am every single time I get to see them.

I especially love the views from the inside looking out!  I can only imagine what a dreamer Mrs. Anna must have been.

And now to show you one of my most favorite parts of this home.

I just adore this long narrow covered walkway through the two courtyards.

I adore the moorish brickwork used in here.  It reminds me of a brick fence we had in the home I grew up in.  I remember climbing my fence so much as a child because I could put my feet in the holes to go over the top to my friends house.  LOL!  Oh, I digress!

Within the center of the walkway the brickwork design becomes even more beautiful!

I was thrilled to see all the beatiful plants in place along the sides here as it was intended to be.  When last we were here before the group, "Friends of Atalya" took on this building it was not filled.  

It is just stunningly gorgeous and they are doing a beautiful job!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the outside grounds of Atalaya as much as I do!

 I also hope you will come back again later when I post the second part of Atalaya to show you the inside.  I hope to also post again on some of the wildlife on the grounds at Huntington Beach.  

If you are ever near the south end beaches close to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina you really should visit Huntington Beach State Park and Brookgreen Gardens.  Both are great day visit destinations.  You will be mesmerized!

Thank you so much for visiting with me today. 

Have a great day everyone!

Tossing Out A Few Lifelines!

Help!  Will someone please throw me a lifeline?  LOL!   This picture really shows how I feel out here in Blogland lately.  I feel so out of the loop and floating in space out here!

source; http://www.rtci.net/Nevada/Lifeline_Program.aspx

First things first! I am claiming my blog here today on Bloglovin!  Why?  Well, because it's seems the thing to do since apparently Google reader is ending tomorrow.  

 I admit I barely understand what all this is about and what all I need to do so please try and overlook it if I say something ignorant about this okay?  OK!

If you use Google reader to follow my blog then feel free to go over to Bloglovin and follow me there now instead.  I myself mostly use my blog roll with friend connect to follow blogs.  I admit I kinda freaked and thought that Google reader and Google friend connect were one and the same.  They are not, but I wasn't taking any chances so I transferred all my blogs that I follow over to Bloglovin just in case. Talk about grabbing a lifeline at the last moment.  Whew!  Thanks so much to all of you who are posting today about Bloglovin who got me motivated here.  So go on, and click on the Bloglovin follow me button I will installed near the top of my left side bar. That's the lifeline I am throwing out to you, to keep you in touch with me. 

source; businessinsider.com

All this week, I can't help but think about poor Paula Deen and all of the controversy she is muddled up in right now.  I can certainly sympathize!  Why?  Because I get how it feels when your previous supporters start stacking up against you.  I've been kinda feeling that way about blogging a lot lately.  I know I don't fit the mold of many of those I have enjoyed blogging with and like Paula  have rubbed a few people wrong at times too. I've been dumped too and it's not a good feeling!  But here's the thing.  Why doesn't the media seem to understand or want to portray who Paula is?  Are we all so hell bent on being politically correct at all times that when someone fails to meet status quo we are willing to dump them immediately?  When did we stop considering the whole picture, in favor of only what we would prefer to see?

I see a woman who was raised in the south and has pulled herself up by the boot straps more times then most of those going after her have ever had to do.  I see a woman who is sincere about admitting her mistake even if you didn't like "the way" she said it.  To me, she came across the same way as she has always came across.  She's a very saucy southern lady!  No pun intended there. LOL!  I really just wish that everyone out there would try to be a little more forgiving and tolerant of others, even in their mistakes. Just because the media and many of her supporters contend that we shouldn't be so quick to forgive doesn't mean that we should all fall into this same way of thinking.  Too bad the media isn't letting us comment on this.  Fortunately, the media doesn't write my blog, and for this I am very thankful to be able to just put this out here.   I am sure I could go on and on about this a whole lot more but I'm won't.  Let me just end it here with saying I am willing to throw her a lifeline, because yes, we all need one every now and then, don't we?  

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=142761195926550&set=a.142575665945103.1073741828.142355792633757&type=1

Praise God for sending us the best lifeline of all!  Thank you Jesus!

Happy Sunday Y'all!

A few Makeovers for the 4th of July

Hi All! I am going to do my best to throw out a very quick post here.  We are literally heading out the door this AM with our camper again for the beach.  Soooo, what am I doing online here?  Well, I just had to share this little makeover project with you.

Do you remember these shutters, I got from the thrift store? 

Or do you remember this wooden tray?

How about this wooden tray?

And how about this old basket?  Remember I promised I had some ideas on what to do with them?

Well I certainly did, and here they all are!

Sorry for the fuzzy pics, I was using my cell phone and it's hard for me to see how clear it is while snapping away.  I do have some more pics of these makeovers on my camera before I took everything to the booth, but I don't have time to download all of those right now. 

Here are the shutters!  I painted them red, hotglued some flower pots and added fourth of July flowers.  I love, love, love these!

Speaking of love, love,love!  Here's my tray makeover!  This was the first time I have tried a stencil transfer.  It was easier then I thought.  I did learn a very important lesson though.  You need to let your stencil dry thoroughly before glazing over it.  LOL!  A hairdryer would have done the trick just find.  So much for hindsight, right?

 Here's the old bread tray!  It's ready for a little fourth of July entertaining now too!

Finally if you look under the bread tray you can see my old basket got a fresh whitewash finish.

I also made a few fourth of July mason jars to throw in my booth too! 

I love having a few seasonal items for sale so very much, it's what makes having a booth even more fun for me.

Well, I really gotta go now!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful week.

I'll be sitting by the shore and dreaming some more!

Ah! At Home Blowout Sale!

Hello Everyone!  I just wanted to give you a heads up on great sale coming up this weekend with Mary's "Ah, At Home direct sales business!  It's such a great blowout sale it's going to be 4 days this weekend instead of three.  Everything is $9.99 or less! All existing old inventory must go!

http://marykeels.athome.com/home.html

This will be the last time all old inventory will be on sale.  Our three day weekend sales will continue but it will be on new merchandise only.  It's a great time to shop for beautiful decor at closeout bargain prices.  

I have purchased many things already and can tell you the quality is simply excellent! Our weekend sales typically sell out fast too so don't delay (as I have done) and miss out on something you really want.  

This sales starts at midnight tonight (actually 12:01)for all of you on PT for the rest of us on EST it's 3:01am.  Hope you come on by and shop with me at; http://marykeels.athome.com/home.html

Burlap Beach Bags

Well, why not, right?  While shopping at one of our local feed and seed stores I came across some inexpensive burlap bags already sewn with a drawstring and blank. Sorry, I didn't take any before photos of the blank bags. They were simply calling for me to take them home and do something fun with them.  I thought of all sorts of wonderful ideas!

I really wanted to make something seasonal for my booth though and when I came across these wooden signs from Michaels I knew exactly what I would do. 

I simply printed out a graphic, cut it out like a stencil, traced around it and filled it in with paint.

Waalah!  My first bag was done!

As you may have guessed already I took my inspiration from each little wooden sign.

I also wanted to keep it simple!

There you go!  Three bags done, and ready for the beach.  LOL!

These three bags actually went to the booth for sale.  

This was such a quick and fun project!  I loved doing something seasonal on these and may just have to continue with that trend.  I hope they sell well!

Well there you have it friends, what do you think?

I am linking this up with the following parties;

Met Monday

Inspire Me Tuesday

Thanks for stop by, have a great day!