Parking on the Edge

Here at the Edge of America, Folly Beach, SC, its popularity has reduced available parking considerably. Even on a cool, somewhat blustery Easter Sunday, Folly still draws a crowd. While it appears that we have parked in the sand, at the water, on the edge of the Edge of America, we are next to a delightful mural painted on the wall of The Terrapin Restaurant. The No Parking sign is no more real than the Palmetto trees reflected in the hood.

Every square inch of buildable beach sand along the coat has become extremely valuable. Folly was a bit slower to appreciate, but once the other beaches were fully built over, Folly caught on in a very big way. The new houses are huge, often garish and frequently overdone in design and ornamentals. We saw one beach mansion which boasted an elevator on its FOR SALE sign. We have never imagined much less seen evidence of an elevator in any dwelling which we'd recognize as a legitimate beach house.

A quick tour of Folly confirmed the impact which development is making on the island. We did, however, notice that many of the modest idiosyncratic cottages have held on, dug in as it were, and defied the developer. Whether the owners are the remnants of the classic Folly rugged individualist or just new folks who fell in love with the funky little places, we can't say. We are glad to see a considerable number of holdouts. The fact that we can still find colorful, inventive murals suggests that preserving some of Folly's character might even be commercially viable.